A family of estaminets

In 2021, Anne and François Caulier changed their lives by taking over the Estaminet de l'Ancienne Maison Commune in Hondeghem. Bons vivants, passionate about cooking and convivial moments, they left their jobs as an architect and a site manager to run the estaminet in François's native village.

Strengthened by that experience, sure they had found their path and what they wanted to pass on, they decided to take over an estaminet in the Lille metropolitan area. As chance encounters would have it, it was not one but five estaminets they took over in 2023: the former owners of the most emblematic estaminets of Vieux-Lille were retiring and selling all the houses they had created twenty years earlier, Au Vieux de la Vieille, Chez la Vieille, Au Petit Vieux, La Vieille France and L'Estaminet du Welsh.

Attached to the whole of the Flemish terroir, and convinced that a group gives the strength to keep alive the estaminet culture they hold dear, they created a new estaminet. It was in maritime Flanders, on the beach at Malo-les-Bains, that they opened a seaside estaminet in 2024, Aux Aïeux, where the traditional moules-frites and shrimp croquettes take their place at the table.

Then back to inland Flanders in 2026, with the takeover of L'Hazewinde in Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel, where the smoked ham hock, among other things, delights the taste buds.

Anne, François and all the teams are gradually strengthening the identity of each establishment. “A restaurant chain is out of the question. Even if tradition gives them things in common, the decor, the carbonade and the potjevleesch, the hops, the wooden games, estaminets are singular places of soul and welcome.”

They are also attached to the estaminets' local roots: “We are keen to work as much as possible with local produce and local people. The Flemish terroir is rich and deserves to be showcased. What better place than an estaminet, with its warm, family welcome, to share the know-how of our region?”

“Our group lets us pool the strengths of each of the estaminets that make it up, share the teams' know-how, keep prices accessible for customers and so, in the end, put our terroir forward, thanks to the Flemish values of generosity, simple hospitality and sharing, which are the very foundation of the Flemish estaminet.”

To let you discover all our estaminets. Do you know one of our establishments? Go and meet the others. Each time you will find the same convivial Flemish atmosphere and generous dishes, but you will spend a moment in a different setting, and taste a little more of the diversity of regional dishes.