THE MAISON DANDOY

Address: Galerie du Roi 2, 1000 Brussels

Phone : +32 2 669 52 12

Email : boutique.galeries@maisondandoy.com

Monday to Thursday from 10am to 7pm Friday to Sunday from 10am to 8pm

Once upon a time ... Belgian cookie factory (the oldest in Brussels) known for its unavoidable typically Belgian cookies, such as speculoos : the real one, the unique one, the one made with good butter, good brown sugar, flour and a subtle mix of spices, including clove and cinnamon. :

Its name comes from the Latin 'speculum' (mirror): it would be an image, the reflection in a mirror of a character.

Brussels' little « madeleine de Proust » ?

In Belgium, the tradition is to give Speculoos to good children for St. Nicholas' day.

The Great Saint always comes to drop chocolates, speculoos, mandarins in the shoes of (good) children in the night of December 5 to 6.

The Ketje of Brussels wears his St. Nicholas costume during the St. Nicholas procession of the Ordre des Amis of Manneken-Pis.

Saint-Nicolas, is one of the sweetest traditions of the Maison Dandoy.

The Saint Nicholas have grown in height, and are now up to 85cm high.

Family, craftsmanship, quality and tradition are the foundations of the House "purveyor of pleasure".

It has over 40 recipes!

Cookie making à la carte.

First company to indicate the nutritional values of its cookies on the packages.

Everything is done manually. Starting with the choice and preparation of spices.

The Maison Dandoy opened in 1829 (by Jean-Baptiste Dandoy -,baker, one year before the Belgian revolution? its first boutique on rue du Marché aux Herbes. Same street as the Aris Grand Place Hotel!

In the heart of brussels !

Once again, right next to the Galeries Saint-Hubert.

Later, they took root in rue au Beurre (also a mythical store)

In the picture : Jean Rombouts-Dandoy.

Maison Dandoy Grand- Place

Address: Rue au Beurre 31, 1000 Brussels

Phone: +32 2 540 27 02

Email: boutique.grand.place@maisondandoy.com

Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm without interruption

House dating from the 17th century.

Small "museum" store with an old-fashioned charm where time seems to have stopped.

The sixth and seventh generations are now in charge of this "great-great-grandmother"

This cookie factory has never given in to the temptations of the large-scale industrial process.

Dandoy brand is present in many stores in Belgium and in the shelves of various delicatessens around the world (London, Paris (Galeries Lafayette...)

At number 2 in the Galerie du Roi, since 2018.

This wonderful store was originally a pharmacy that was later transformed into a bookstore dedicated to art books.

Observe the superb woodwork, contemporary decoration (colored tapestries, ...)

The art of the cookie!

The cookies of the Maison Dandoy are 100% natural.

The Galerie du Roi's cookie factory also has a tea-room.

You will also have the opportunity to taste their Greek bread (another Brussels speciality that never goes out of fashion) made from a bun flavoured with cinnamon and coated with pearl sugar.

This cookie was born in the Fossé-aux-Loups district where it was named ‘broot van de grecht’ (bread from the ditch), which the French troops translated as ‘pain à la grecque’ when they occupied Brussels in the 17th century.

Or a Brussels waffle that's soft and chewy on the inside, but also golden and crispy on the outside? Light and airy, rectangular shape with cells.

Their reputation ranks them among the best waffles in Brussels!

Or a Liege waffle (sprinkled with sugar cubes that crunch under the tooth)? Oval shape, no corners, rounded edges?

So no jealousy (« oufti! » as any valiant citizen of Liege would exclaim).

The waffle, the sin of the Belgians? It has been eaten in Belgium for over 800 years.

An old-fashioned gingerbread with honey?

Or a scoop of ice cream? ...

Moment of pure greediness guaranteed. We are already salivating!

Dandoy is often synonymous with tradition, but also with innovation.

Examples: creating vegan, "all-vegan" cookies (2022), Cookies without breaking eggs!

Thanks to the Dandoy Lab, the "development cell" of the brand.

*** Tough Cookie

Maison Dandoy and Brussels Beer Project have combined their family know-how to concoct Speculoos with beer, and conversely, a Speculoos beer (a dark beer stout, with notes of toasted hazelnut).

The vegan diet is gaining more and more followers. Every year, the Dandoy Lab (plateform)

focuses on one theme:

• 2020 against sugar with two cookies with a reduced glycemic index,

• 2021 with three gluten-free cookie recipes.

The brand is committed to reducing its environmental footprint.

Dandoy is also heading towards an agriculture that takes care of the soil for all its raw materials (sugar, flour, eggs, milk)!

At Dandoy, love is to chew!

This year, for Valentine's Day (the lover's day) Maison Dandoy takes on the role of Cupid and acts as a messenger.

The love notes were shared online and posted in the windows of three boutiques (Galeries, Buls and Stéphanie) until February 28, in addition to being sent, by e-mail, to its lucky recipient.

New cookies for the occasion:

The “Cœur de Beurre” : a crunchy heart-shaped cookie with another small red sugar heart, which is cut in 2.

And the “P’tit cœur”: heart-shaped and with a delicate cherry taste.

Arbany Hotels gives you the opportunity to reserve a surprise for your lover. All year long. Opt for the romance pakage.

For this year 2023, this famous cookie factory has imagined, on the occasion of the feast of the Epiphany celebrated this January 6th (and the following Sunday), two "galettes des Rois" accompanied by a crown.

And this time, four different crowns have been designed in collaboration with the designer Jean-Paul Lespagnard.

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867, famous French symbolist poet) who, fond of gingerbread in particular, assiduously frequented the MAISON DANDOY during his stay in Brussels from 1864 to 1866.

He lived in rue de la Montage, in a hotel (Grand Miroir) that no longer exists.

The author of « Fleurs du Mal » left behind a manuscript entitled « Pauvre Belgique » (also known under the title « La Belgique déshabillée ») evoking with a lot of murderous sentences the disgust he had for the loose morals of this young country, the women's physique or the craft beer.

Virulent and insolent pamphlet (unfinished), not published during his lifetime.

His stay was only a succession of failures and it results in him a "Belgophobia ».

Let's not forget that before arriving in Brussels, he was in dire straits, covered in debt, with an urgent need for money.

These years are those of the great works in the city, with the vaulting of the Senne or the digging of the famous Avenue Louise...

Syphilis took him on August 31, 1867 in Paris.

More than two hundred years after its birth Charles Baudelaire went from being a cursed poet to an icon of French literature (a tortured and unloved artist in his lifetime).

We welcome you to the "Kingdom of delicacies" and to the ARIS GRAND PLACE and ALMA GRAND PLACE HOTELS.

"Spectaculoos Speculoos", the base line of the DANDOY logo, sums up the spirit of this cookie factory (older than Belgium) with humour.

ARBANY Hotels continues through the blog, its posts on social media to share and also tell stories to the "Kings customers".

In their "sauce" .... Sweet? Salty? .... Your choice.

Spectacular, right?

Your prefeence?

During your walks in Brussels, you will notice that several stores have also opened their doors in the Brussels area.

Maison Dandoy - Sablon

Address : Rue de Rollebeek 50, 1000 Bruxelles

Phone: +32 2 503 19 49

Email: boutique.sablon@maisondandoy.com

Monday to Sunday from 10:30 to 13:30 - 14:00 to 18:30

Maison Dandoy - Louise

Address: Place Stéphanie, 4 1050 Ixelles

Phone: +32 2 503 05 83

Fax: +32 2 503 19 75

Email: boutique.louise@maisondandoy.com

Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 1:30pm_2:00pm to 6:30pm

Sunday from 10:15 am to 2:00 pm

Uncluttered space For the design of the countertop, the Base office called on the expertise of Verona craftsmen and for the lighting on the famous designer Nathalie Dewez.

Maison Dandoy – Brugmann

Address: Place Brugmann, 9a -1050 Ixelles

Phone: +32 2 344 61 16

Email: boutique.brugmann@maisondandoy.com

Monday to Sunday from 10:30 to 13:30 - 14:00 to 18:30