Restaurant interiors by Axel Vervoordt

 

Today I would love to introduce you to 3 restaurants, of which the interior is designed by our Belgian decorator and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt.

For these restaurant interiors Axel has chosen for an earthy tones color palette.

The first restaurant is the ‘Atelier Privé’ restaurant of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany.

Source here

Restaurant tables with the Axel Vervoordt Home Collection ‘Gainsborough Desk Chair’ in the Atelier Privé gourmet restaurant of the Bayerischer Hof Hotel.

Notice the limewashed walls.

Source here

Linen upholstered and slipcovered dining chairs.

Source here

Slipcovered ‘Folding chairs’ from the Axel Vervoordt Home Collection.

Source here

Source here

BAYERISCHER HOF

MUNICH – GERMANY

http://www.bayerischerhof.de/

 

The second restaurant is restaurant ‘The Roji’, situated in a medieval cellar, in the historical center of Antwerp, Belgium.

The Japanese word Roji means ‘garden path’.

This restaurant is recommended if you love the Japanese kitchen.

The 13th century basement is a unique location to book your dinner visiting Antwerp.

Source http://www.roji.be

 

Wabi Sabi inspired interior design by Axel Vervoordt.

Source http://www.roji.be

 

Enjoy a drink in front of the open fire before having dinner.

Source http://www.roji.be

 

Source http://www.roji.be

THE ROJI

ANTWERP – BELGIUM

http://www.roji.be

 

The third restaurant is ‘Sir Anthony Van Dyck’ in Antwerp.

The restaurant is named after the Flemish Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641).The building is fully restored in the 17th century spirit, by Axel Vervoordt.

Source http://www.siranthonyvandijck.be

Plastered walls and authentic floor tiles.

Source http://www.siranthonyvandijck.be

The restaurant with its warm color palette.

Source http://www.siranthonyvandijck.be

Again the slipcovered dining chairs, a trademark of Axel Vervoordt.

Last year we had our first Belgian blogger meeting in the restaurant Sir Anthony Van Dyck. Read my blogpost about this meeting here.

Picture by me

Our last year’s blogger meeting at the restaurant Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK

ANTWERP – BELGIUM

http://www.siranthonyvandijck.be

_________

Visit AXEL VERVOORDT  at  http://www.axel-vervoordt.com

 

If you ever visit one of these restaurants, please let me know your thoughts!

Wishing you a great start of this new week!

xx

Greet

At Home with May and Axel Vervoordt

 

Dear readers,

I wasn’t planning to post today, but I really had to mention this!

May Vervoordt, the wife of the Belgian antiques dealer and decorator Axel Vervoordt, introduced her new book.

‘At Home with May and Axel Vervoordt: Recipes for Every Season’

May reveals her secrets to enjoy a simple and light cuisine at every season.

Almost all of the ingredients for the dishes grow in the private garden of the Vervoordt’s castle in ‘s Gravenwezel.

 

This morning I received my copy and I can’t get my eyes of it.

It is not just a cookbook but also a guide to be the perfect hostess!

The pictures, taken by the photographer Jean-Pierre Gabriel, are exquisite!

 

Cover of the book

To order the book, click here or here.

                            

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook and/or enjoys good and healthy food in a beautiful setting.

 

 

As an ‘appetizer’ please watch the following video’s !

Enjoy!

Video link : http://vtm.be/voor-de-show/gastvrouw-van-de-sterren

 

Video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yuNVTPOevI

 

Congratulations to May with this fantastic book!

xx

Greet

The art of storage

 

I just love the way Axel Vervoordt is storing furniture and decorative items.

 Kanaal, a former distillery complex at Wijnegem (near Antwerp) that the Axel Vervoordt company purchased in 2000, is the perfect location to store lots of antique furniture.

It is always so inspiring walking around the warehouses of Kanaal. Visiting Belgium, you really should visit this gorgeous site!

The way Axel Vervoordt is displaying his collection of antiques, turns every single piece into ‘a piece of art’ !

Axel Vervoordt Photo credit Joël Laiter

 

Axel Vervoordt Photo credit Joël Laiter

 

Axel Vervoordt Photo credit Jan Verlinde

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Jan Verlinde

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Vincent Leroux

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Jan Verlinde

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Vincent Leroux

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Guillaume De Laubier

 

Axel Vervoordt  Photo credit Joël Laiter

 

What do you think about Axel’s smart way of storing furniture and decorative items?

 

For more information about Kanaal, click here. For opening hours, click here.

To know more about the Axel Vervoordt Company, click here.

www.axel-vervoordt.com

 

xx

Greet

 

I am so sorry for not knowing the names of the magazines where I found these images. The images, published in earlier issues of magazines, I filed long time ago and I only took note of the name of the photographer.

Weekend News

 

KIM CLIJSTERS WINS AUSTRALIAN OPEN FOR THE FIRST TIME !!!

Congratulations Kim! We are so proud!!

___

 

AXEL VERVOORDT OPENS ART GALLERY IN ANTWERP

Gunther Uecker “Black Rain”

source : http://www.axelvervoordtgallery.com

 

In the Vlaeykensgang, located in the city centre of Antwerp, Axel Vervoordt opens a new exhibition space.

He will focus on the ZERO and the GUTAI art, an international movement of the sixties, who sought harmony between man, nature and technology in which light played a dominant role.

For more information : www.axelvervoordtgallery.com

___

 

Wish you a wonderful weekend!

xx

Winter Exhibition Axel Vervoordt

Twice a year I am visiting the Castle of Axel Vervoordt. In Summer time for the Summer Exhibition and in Winter for the Winter Exhibition.

Yesterday my sister and I visited the Castle and Kanaal.

We started our visit at the Castle of ‘s Gravenwezel. The weather was fine, it was rather cold, but sunny!

 

Me at the entrance gate of the castle.

 

My sister walking in the garden.

 

Here and there we noticed some Christmas decoration.

As you can see here at the background, the green festoon at the gate.

 

And as this lovely but simple Christmas entrance fence! Very inspiring. It is not difficult at all to make one yourself!

 

I am so sorry I can’t show you pictures of the inside of the castle, because we are not allowed to take pictures.

But I can tell you that I discovered a lot of Wabi-influences inside the castle.

If you want to read more about the Wabi-inspirations of Axel Vervoordt, you can read my blogpost about it HERE.

 

Afterwords we went for a visit to ‘Kanaal’ in Wijnegem only a few kilometers from the castle. This is the place where a lot of activities (Art & Antiques, Home Collection, Interior design,..) are based.

 

The Kanaal is a former malting plant which consists of industrial warehouses and adjoining grain silos.

 

 

The Column hall that houses the private collection art of Axel Vervoordt.

 

Home collection seats.

 

In the corridor of the warehouse, next to the entrance of the workshop, we noticed this beautiful huge chandelier ‘sac à perles’ hanging!

It immediately brings you into the right Christmas mood!

 

The corridor of the warehouse.

 

For more information please visit the Axel Vervoordt website www.axel-vervoordt.com

 

I wish you all a wonderful Sunday!

xx

Do the Belgians follow Axel Vervoordt back to basics?

I can’t wait to receive my copy of the new book of Axel Vervoordt. It should be published this month! Here is the cover of the book I found on the internet. It will be titled “A Way of Wabi”.

To order the book : click here.

And now you will ask me ‘What is Wabi?’

Here is what I found at Wikipedia : ‘ Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”.It is a concept derived from the Buddhist assertion of the Three marks of existence, specifically impermanence.’

Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetrie, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes.

Wabi stands for rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can also be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance.

Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.

Wabi and sabi both suggest sentiments of desolation and solitude.

Wabi-sabi learns us to find the most simple objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful.

Wabi may be interpreted as the imperfect quality of any object. Sabi could be interpreted as the aspect of imperfect reliability, or limited mortality of any object.

This is of course a short explanation of the Wabi-Sabi philosophy. You can find so much more about it on the internet.

So I will remember that wabi – sabi stands for finding beauty in imperfection, that it values simplicity, pureness and modesty. Back to basics!

At The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht, March this year, Axel Vervoordt gave us yet a glimpse into his new Wabi – Sabi world. See also my blogpost about TEFAF 2010 .

His booth at Tefaf was surprising!! It was a sort of preview of his new interior decoration philosophy!

Axel explained :” The booth is conceived in the traditional Zen concept of ‘Wabi’, which values a refined and sophisticated simplicity and which symbolizes the beauty of imperfection and incompleteness.”

Axel Vervoordt has turned this aesthetic sense into a contemporary and univeral idea that will be fully explained in his new publication “A Way of Wabi”.

TEFAF 2010 Axel Vervoordt (source Tefaf website)

TEFAF 2010 Axel Vervoordt (source Tefaf website)

TEFAF 2010 Axel Vervoordt (source Tefaf wesite)

When I visited the castle of Axel Vervoordt last summer, I noticed that a few rooms of the castle were already redone in the Wabi aesthetic sense! Just gorgeous!!! I really have to admit that it gave me a peaceful feeling! I am sorry I have no pictures of it, because we were not allowed to make pictures inside the castle. But I might think that in his new book, you will discover these rooms.

So keep your eyes open in the next coming weeks. I am sure we will see more of this new ground Axel Vervoordt breaks!

Do we, Belgians, follow Axel Vervoordt in his way to Wabi? Of course we will! He is the master, we are his disciples!

What will the world do, what will you do? Please tell me your thoughts!

xx

Axel Vervoordt’s website : www.axel-vervoordt.com

The beautiful garden of May & Axel Vervoordt

 

As a lot of you know, 2 times a year, in summer and in winter, the castle of ‘s-Gravenwezel, owned by our famous Belgian antiques dealer and decorator Axel Vervoordt, is open for public.

As I am a huge admirer of the work of Axel and his wife May, I won’t miss any opportunity to visit the castle.

I thought about you, all my readers and blogfriends, and wanted to share with you some pictures I took of the castle and its gorgeous garden! The weather was so beautiful this Friday, so I was able to take a lot of good pictures to share.

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle, that we have to respect because Axel Vervoordt and his family live in it.

I hope you will enjoy the tour of this fantastic garden!

If you want to read more about Axel Vervoordt and his castle, please visit http://www.axel-vervoordt.com.

 

The entrance gate of the castle.

 

The back of the castle.

 

The entrance.

 

   A view seen from the balcony.

 

Another view from the balcony.

Every where around the castle you notice the beautiful rhododendrons.

 

A lovely terrace in front of the entrance of the castle.

 

Isn’t that a gorgeous orangerie?!!

 

Notice the wisteria!

 

May vervoordt loves to bring in flowers and plants inside the castle. In every room of the castle you notice flowers of their own garden.

A view from inside the orangerie towards the pool.

 

I call this a still life of stones.

 

There are the rhododendrons again!

 

Me, sitting in the outhouse (one of my favorite places in the garden) in front of the pool. A wonderful place to relax!

 

Only a part of the huge kitchen garden!!

 

What do you think about the boxwood ? Beautiful isn’t it!

 

Every  where you walk you discover something surprising!

 

 

 

Throughout the garden there are places to relax…

or…

…to dinner!

 

 

 

A beautiful weathered oak table.

 

  And after spending a fantastic afternoon and enjoying the castle and the garden, we had to leave the castle!

Thankful to Axel Vervoordt and his family for sharing with us their beautiful private home, I am looking forward already to the winter exhibition!

 

xx

All pictures are taken by me.