by Nina Dähne
Raphaël (46) from Antwerp
One place he kept returning to was Rue de Namur. The starting point was the Place Royale, a square in neoclassical style where the main market and the royal palace used to be, which had since been replaced by various art galleries. Walking from the Place Royale through Rue de Namur towards Porte de Namur, one passed many small and a few larger coffee shops.
He enjoyed coming there on rainy weekends. Although he considered himself an introvert, he liked to spend time among people as long as he did not stand out too much. In the coffee shops of Rue de Namur, one did not stand out and he liked that. On bad-weather days, the place was swarming with people, but everyone was focused on themselves and their companions and paid no attention to the commotion around them. So one was alone, but not too alone.
“Tich” was the name of the coffee shop he particularly liked to visit. It had many different facets. Hipsters loved Tich because it was more of a concept store than a simple coffee shop, where you could buy organic soap hand-made in Belgium or Falcon enamelware. Couples liked to nestle in the comfortable armchairs, slowly getting closer in a feel-good atmosphere. From the long table came the clatter of students eagerly typing on their laptops so as not to miss their deadlines, not to disappoint professors, and not to disappoint parents. For vegans and vegetarians, allergy sufferers and just about any taste, there was a wide variety of coffee creations, delicious pastries and a few hot dishes. Families were just as welcome as loners like him.
These were the reasons for Tich being a unique café, but not the reason why he enjoyed coming here so much.
Nowadays, cafés had lost the significance of the former coffee houses. In the time when cafés had emerged and spread, their social importance had been very high. They provided space for many different activities, from being a place to conduct business to serving as a venue for events and social occasions. They served as a space for enlightenment, making knowledge and current information accessible to a wider mass. People could go there to read, exchange or discuss.
He found this presumably slightly romanticised idea of former coffeehouses most appealing. At a time when he sometimes felt he did not quite fit in, did not know if he still felt at home in Brussels, Tich was a steady constant. Here, he could come to absorb the atmosphere that, he imagined, coffee houses might have had. In those perfect moments, he felt right in this city because everything regained a little meaning. Not too much meaning, just enough to make Brussels feel a little more like home again.
Despite the modern concept, the relaxed atmosphere: in fast-moving Brussels, everything that had made coffee houses so special was embodied in Tich.
© Nina Dähne 2023-01-28