Elsen

Brie-live us when we say, in a somewhat soulless shopping street in Leuven’s city center, there is actually an abundance of good bacteria. Lovers of stinky cheeses are lured in by the enticing aroma of a good hundred stonkers, some matured by the Elsen family themselves (father Fried, his wife Freya and sons Reinout and Willem-Jan), who have been running this joint since 1995. The local pavé de Louvain with fenugreek rubs shoulders with foreign cheeses (A Filetta Corsican brocciu, Munster AOP from Alsace, Montgomery cheddar, etc.), in a narrow, blue and yellow tiled shop, that also carries its weight in charcuterie too – filet d’Anvers, duck rillettes, pork cheek aspic…. Not forgetting the fancy pantry goods too, like honey, De Nolf crackers and cheesecake. As they’re always on the lookout for something new, the family often head out on their motorbikes to meet producers from all over France!! // Laszlo Dela

THE HIDDEN GEM: The pas de gueuze, a Ghent cheese rubbed with Tilquin beer by the Elsens themselves (€42.20 per kilo).