Brood is a beacon for lovers of good loaves and all things crispy and buttery. Stéphanie Browaeys used to work in finance, so it was understandable that during the height of the Covid pandemic she decided to lockdown her suits to sell bread instead. Since 2022, she watches all of Ixelles wait patiently in line in front of her gem of a bakery, to get their hands on her croissants with laser-sharp layers, apple turnovers that you want to curl up inside of and, if you get there early enough, chocolate and almond croissants, hazelnut babka, cinnamon rolls, panettone with a wonderful honeycombed structure, and matcha cookies. Needless to say, bread here means the naturally leavened stuff, made with unfortified flours and slow fermentation techniques, available in several variations, like spelt, flax seed, cacao and dark chocolate, figs and hazelnuts… There’s even take-away coffee too. // Idoine Gérard

The hidden gem: The puff pastry brioche, which would also make for an interesting tattoo (€10.20).