Vartkess Knadjian, CEO of diamond company Backes & Strauss, on Antwerp, Belgium: best breakfasts, hidden gems (not just the kind you wear on your finger) + more...
The first place I take visitors in town is…
The old town near the Cathedral. It is a warren of medieval streets and the heart and soul of the city, teeming with splendid bars, excellent restaurants and quirky, interesting shops.
There’s no better place for breakfast than…
Dagelijks Brood. Communal eating at long pine tables: freshly baked wholemeal bread, homemade organic jams washed down with great coffee.
For a special-occasion dinner I would…
head for La Luna, whose first-class Belgian chef has drawn on global cuisine to tweak classic dishes. Flavours from Italy, Japan and Thailand fuse to enhance perfectly cooked local produce.
One of the hidden secrets of Antwerp is…
the Central Station. Newly restored with the most modern facilities, it is an architectural masterpiece that retains the charm and beauty of the golden age of European rail travel.
Most overrated tourist attraction is...
I can’t think of one. Antwerp is a hidden gem that only a small number of sophisticated and well-informed tourists discover. If anything, it is underrated.
To shop for new clothes I go to…
the small streets around Huidvetterstraat. Boutiques sell the very best selection from the very best European designers. The fashion-conscious go to Nationalstraat where the cream of Belgium’s fashion scene clusters in almost decadent profusion.
One of the best mementos of Antwerp would be…
Del Rey chocolates. In a country so famed for its chocolates, the best chocolatier still turns out unbelievable products, made in-house, a stone’s throw from the station. Despite numerous offers, the owners resolutely refuse to open anywhere else. True perfection that needs to be tasted to be believed.
One of the city’s best innovations is…
how it reinvents its diamond business to keep pace with the world. A square kilometre houses the world’s biggest and most innovative diamond companies.
If I could live anywhere else in the world it would be…
the hills north of Nice, in France.
One of the biggest surprises of 2009 has been…
how rare and beautiful luxury products crafted in time-honoured ways have been so little affected by the global recession. At the end of 2008 I was very nervous as to how our Backes & Strauss diamond watch would fare. I’m surprised and a little relieved to find the market for the best of the best luxury products is still remarkably buoyant.
Vartkess Knadjian was in Sydney for the launch of Fairfax & Roberts’ new diamond showroom .
Source: Qantas The Australian Way November 2009