Renard Bakery

Having solidified its place on the bustling Place Fernand Cocq and in the hearts of Ixelles locals, this popular bakery is renowned for making your mouth water as you patiently wait your turn during rush hours. Taken over by Laurent Maes (who grew up in Bruges bakeries before studying political science) and Sophie Broes, Renard Bakery has built its reputation on a wide assortment of homemade, slow-cooked sourdough loaves. Their best-sellers? The rustic grey flour sourdough made with a mix of stone-ground wheat and rye flours, as well as the much-loved Verviers, a sinfully wicked sugar and almond brioche with a puff pastry crust…. Waiting in line, we’re drooling over the delicious patisseries, like the raspberry, lemon or chocolate croutes that are rites of passage, the cappuccino cake with a creamy dulce de leche center, the bolus or the palmier with crispy caramelized layers, as well as the moist rosemary and red onion focaccia, or the sausage and fennel bread that’s guilty as charged! Is that all? No! Sophie has put together an impressive display of cool pantry staples (Buddy Buddy’s range of nut butters) and/or farm-fresh produce (eggs from Boer Olivier, milk from the Laiterie des Ardennes), as well as florentines, mallow cakes and homemade granola to treat your belly to. // Jessica Fletcher

THE HIDDEN GEM: We’ve got a whole lotta love for the chocolate praline cake with its wonderfully crunchy base (€4.40 a cake).