In memoriam: Leza van café ‘In de Welkom’ in Dworp

Regula — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 04:06:29 +0000

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8 december 2017 stierf Leza.

Leza was 66 jaar de kranige cafébazin van In de Welkom in Dworp. Haar echte naam was eigenlijk Barbara, maar iedereen noemde haar met veel genegenheid Leza. Het café was 110 jaar in de familie: de grootouders van haar reeds overleden echtgenoot, Michel Wouters, kochten het in 1906. Michel was niet alleen cafébaas, hij was ook de laatste burgemeester van Dworp; vandaar dat het café soms ook ‘Bij den burgemeester’ wordt genoemd.

Als Michel burgemeester was dan maakte dat Leza de ‘first lady’ van Dworp, en dat was zij zonder twijfel.

Toen ik Leza voor het eerst ontmoette om haar verhaal vast te leggen voor mijn boek was ze net 90 geworden. Haar geliefde café stond overvol bloemen en enkele dagen ervoor werd ze in een oldtimer met open dak rondgereden in haar Dworp, begeleid door de zestig ‘Dworpse Bikers’ die elke zondag in haar cafeetje samenkwamen.

Maar Leza was ook bekend buiten de dorpsgrenzen van Dworp. Bierkenners en café toeristen kenden haar voor haar formidabele geuze schenkkunst. Leza kon wel vier glazen geuze tegelijk uitschenken en deed dit met grote concentratie. Vervolgens bracht zij nog zelf iedereen zijn bier op haar kleine sloefkes.

Toen Leza als kind over de vloer kwam ‘In de Welkom’ had ze nooit gedacht dat ze er ooit zou wonen maar nu zoveel jaren later vond zij het ondenkbaar om haar café achter te laten. Zolang haar hoofd er nog bij was zou ze blijven café openhouden.

Op 8 december verliet haar hart het café en was Leza niet meer.

Hoe het verder moet met haar geliefde ‘In de Welkom’ dat weet ik niet. Dat wist Leza ook niet.

Ik kan enkel maar hopen dat dit iconische café nog jaren openblijft zodat er nog lang kan verteld worden over Leza tussen pot en pint.

Voor de vele jonge stamgasten was Leza een grootmoeder, voor de anderen een dierbare vriendin. Nooit zal er nog een vrouw bestaan in Dworp die zo geliefd was als zij.

Slaapwel lieve Leza. Slaapwel Barbara.

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For 66 years Leza was the formidable landlady of café ‘In de Welkom’ in Dworp. Her real name was Barara, but everyone lovingly called her Leza. The café had been in the family for 110 years: the grandparents of her late husband, Michel Wouters, the last mayor of Dworp, bought the café in 1906. That’s why the café is also nicknamed ‘At the Mayor’s’. As Michel was the mayor than Leza definitely was the first lady of the village.

When I met Leza to write down her story for my book she had just turned 90 years old. Her café was packed with flowers and a few days before she was driven around the village in an open top oldtimer accompanied by the sixty ‘Dworpse Bikers’ who congregated in her café every sunday.

Leza was also famous outside village borders of Dworp. Beerlovers and café tourists knew her for her excellent beer pouring skills. Leza was able to pour four pints of geuze beer at the same time and did this with the concentration of an eagle. With her 91 years she still served her customers at their table, taking small steps in her little slippers.

When Leza visited ‘In de Welkom’ as a child, she never thought she would ever live there but years later she could not imagine herself anywhere else. As long as she could she would open the doors to her café.

On 8 december the doors closed and Leza was no longer.

What will happen to her precious ‘In de Welkom’ I do not know. Leza didn’t know this either before she passed. I can only hope that this iconic café will remain open for decades to come so that Leza can live on in the stories that are told.

For the many young customers Leza was a grandmother, for the others she was a dear friend. Never has there been a woman in Dworp who was loved more than Leza was.

Sleep well Leza. Sleep well Barbara.

The post In memoriam: Leza van café ‘In de Welkom’ in Dworp appeared first on Miss Foodwise.

My Books: Belgian Café Culture

Regula — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 14:17:59 +0000

UPDATE 2021 – Belgian Café Culture is getting a 5 year anniversary edition with a new cover! I am so very pleased! Publication date in early November!

A week after the launch of Pride And Pudding, exactly one year ago, I started working on a new book, a passion project…

This book ‘Belgian Café Culture / Authentieke Belgische Cafés (in English and Dutch) is a plea to carefully handle the fragile café heritage of Belgium. For too long have we taken these little cafés for granted. Not enough have we stopped to think about their history and their relevance in our culture. They are part of our social and cultural patrimony in Belgium. When I walk the streets, everywhere I look I see forgotten and lost cafés.

When I read in the papers that a much-loved café was going to close down I went to visit it, to talk to the people there who were about to lose their local. I was probably one of the last to document it. Nothing could be done; the owners of the building wanted to renovate the café and there is wind of a more hipster implementation. For this reason alone a lot of authentic cafés have had to go.

Although this heritage has always been staring me in the face, I only realised how fragile it is, and how important it is to preserve it, after taking a Belgian beer sommelier course which involved a lot of homework visiting cafés. The news of the closure of café Den Akker gave me the drive to do something about it in the only way I know how: by writing this book and documenting the importance of it.

But the need for modernisation is not the only reason why so many old Belgian cafés disappear. The ones that have been in the family for generations often disappear because there are no children who want to take over, or because no-one dares to take over an old-fashioned café. The cafés that have been closing in the last 5 years mostly become residential dwellings. All that remains are the memories of those who used to drink there.

A café can be the centre of a community, where people laugh and cry together over a glass of ale. Where disagreements are settled with words and sometimes with the fist. But where people often help those who are in need. Listen to those who would otherwise only have silence as a reply. Births and weddings are celebrated, but so are the dead.

Clubs meet at cafés and in the past they also doubled as village or theatre halls. Cafés often had a small shop, a smithy, a hairdresser or a butcher’s shop. This was very common before the 1980s. Today there’s only one café shop left and you can count the café hairdressers on one hand.

In the larger cities the cafés were also where people waited to be given work from the factories or the docks. It was also where they were paid at night. A café landlady from Antwerp remembers the drama well when men spent their entire wages on beer and went home without a dime. There was a café on every street corner in those days…

This book is dedicated to the landlords and ladies who have been running these cafés for generations or have been preserving the original interiors purely out of understanding of their importance. This book is not about me, it is about them and their livelihoods. Our Belgian Café.

Belgian Café Culture or Authentieke Belgische Cafés is a bilingual edition English/Dutch. Published by LUSTER, 272 pages and hardback finish.
Written, photographed and designed by your truly. The cover is by my husband Bruno Vergauwen.

If you’d like a signed copy (25 euro plus shipping), or a signed copy with a signed photo print (50 euro plus shipping), please get in contact. There is a Dutch and an English cover.
Alternatively you can also contact the publisher directly or go to your local bookstore (in Belgium) or order online at the usual places (Amazon, or Waterstones to name two)

I will be sharing the limited edition version soon, this will contain a signed book, signed photoprint, and a ‘Zageman’ a kinetic toy used in Belgian Cafés in the past (why you’ll read in the book where I explain the folkloristic customs). This edition will be limited to 10 only, and will be available for 99 euro plus shipping, or 150 euro for a painted ‘Zageman’ kinetic toy. More info and pictures soon, we’re making the ‘Zageman’ as we speak. (See the video here for a preview >)

My husband created these amazing kinetic toys which were traditionally used in Belgian cafés! Available for sale, just a few of them

For press get in touch by emailing me.

Because I want to share this book as much as I can to tell people about this fading heritage, I’m giving away 2 copies of the book. I’ll pick from the comments below, just tell me why you think this is important to be documented, or tell me about fading heritage in your country or region. Or another story! Post! Let’s get this conversation going!!

Update: The winners are Gabriela Athayde and Rossella Di Bidino. Please get in touch with your address! (see my email on the contact page!)

Some Reviews

In Dutch:

Antwerp Beer College >

English

French

Fiers de nos Bières >

The post My Books: Belgian Café Culture appeared first on Miss Foodwise.

Belgian Café Culture Archives - Miss Foodwise

In memoriam: Leza van café ‘In de Welkom’ in Dworp

My Books: Belgian Café Culture

Some Reviews