The Frietmuseum, a venue devoted to honouring Belgian fries, opens in Brussels today. The museum dedicated to the humble Belgian chip and located not far from that other Brussels landmark, Manneken Pis, is the latest initiative of museum magnate Eddy Van Belle.
Mr Van Belle calls the museum a hobby that got out of hand. He has already amassed several impressive collections - from salt and pepper shakers to lamps - and now also owns 15 commercial museums around the world. These include the Frietmuseum in Bruges (West Flanders) as well as the chocolate museum Choco Story on Stoofstraat in Brussels, a stone's throw from Manneken Pis, the famous statuette of a little lad passing water.
Across the street from his own Brussels chocolate museum, Mr Van Belle is now opening a new frites museum. Mayor Philippe Close of the City of Brussels and Bernard Lefèvre, president of the National Federation of Friturists, are attending. ‘This fits in with the idea of the City of Brussels to give a new look to several chippies thanks to Studio Moto’s architectural project,’ Mr Van Belle says. The frites museum is counting on at least 150,000 visitors a year. By comparison at Choco Story, opposite, there are as many as 230,000 visitors a year.