We’ll have yet another knight in our midst after Sept. 6 when Bart Vandaele, the chef at Belga Cafe on Capitol Hill, returns from his native Belgium.
That weekend, Vandaele will be knighted by La Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs, or the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Mashstaffs, descendants of Belgium’s ancient brewers’ guild.
“I’m very excited,” Vandaele told us last week. “It came as a little bit of a surprise.”
“It’s kind of a reward,” he added, noting he’s been to Belgium to visit the breweries multiple times and has been an unabashed promoter of their products here in Washington.
Vandaele’s Labor Day weekend will involve a big festival at Market Square in Brussels, where the guild will christen new kegs of beer.
He’s not the first local beer expert to win the honor. Bill Catron, the former beer master at Brasserie Beck, was knighted in 2007.
