Frédéric Niels, who today manages le Vieux Saint Martin alongside his father Albert-Jean, on the Place du Sablon in Brussels, makes no secret: the original and authentic recipe for the American filet of which they are the custodians consists of 175 g of premium Irish beef, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, Italian capers and homemade vinegar-free mayonnaise topped with very finely chopped piccalilli, which is also what the restaurant kitchens call it. “Joseph sauce”. “Unlike other preparations of the same type, ours is based on the large thigh, passed through the mincer twice and devoid of these filaments of fat which remain between the teeth”, explains Frédéric Niels. The ingredients are then delicately incorporated into the meat using a wooden spoon, and the plate is accompanied by French fries passed – of course – twice in beef fat.
Copied a hundred times but never equalled, this recipe from Father Joseph, Albert-Jean’s grandfather, has always remained in the family. “In the 1920s, my great-grandfather went to London to work at the Savoy Hotel as a houseboy. He progressed within the palace and worked in the kitchen, where he met Auguste Escoffier. In his culinary bible, the latter mentions the famous beef tartare adopted by the French. Joseph adapted it to his taste, upon his return to Brussels, renaming it “American filet”, a half-wink. provocative, half-humorous to American soldiers of the First World War, who would never have entertained the idea of eating raw meat.”
It was in 1924 that the filet américain that we know was on the menu of his restaurant, the Taverne royale, in the Galeries Saint-Hubert, then at the Canterbury, on Boulevard Émile Jacqmain, before spreading to the four corners of the country. The famous recipe accompanied the family, under the Belgian flag, to the universal exhibitions in Brussels in 1935 and 1958, then to Montreal in 1967 and Osaka in 1970. However, there is no need to go that far to savor the original since the Vieux Saint Martin, acquired by the Niels in 1968, makes a point of honor to perpetuate the tradition, with the success that we know since the kitchens of the Sablon restaurant send three hundred per day. “It is the true institution of the house”, recognizes Frédéric Niels, fourth generation of the name, who runs with his father this establishment open 365 days a year.
If one dish in three is the emblematic American filet, this does not prevent the menu from touring the Belgian repertoire with notably vol-au-vent, Flemish stew and shrimp croquettes. “At home, everything is homemade,” insists Frédéric, while adding, not without pride, that “per square meter, we must be in the top 3 restaurants in Belgium.” In terms of surface area, precisely, the Sablon restaurant is not stingy with seats (75 tables inside, around fifty on the terrace, in the shade of large parasols which give the Sablon a holiday feel), even if the The crowds are such that it is sometimes difficult to find a seat. Given the success, the restaurant is often full, but everything is set up to the minute and the thirty members of staff know the tricks of the trade like the back of their hand. “My father and I are bosses who are always in the dining room, ready to support both the customers and the staff. We can count on them and they can count on us. And then, the Place du Grand Sablon remains one of the most dynamics of Brussels.”
Lara Fabian: “When I’m in Belgium, I go and have an American at Place du Sablon”
What is less known is that Vieux Saint Martin has a banquet room upstairs and even three rooms, the Martin Rooms, with a unique view of the square. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the tradition of a preparation as popular as it is centuries old continues, proof, in the eyes of Frédéric Niels, that Belgium has nothing to envy of French or Italian gastronomy!
