What started as a seasonal stand in the Downtown Farmers Market is now a franchise. In 2004, Pierre Vandamme, a retired pilot, started selling Liege-style (yeast-risen, studded with pearl sugar, topped with whipped cream and fruit) Belgian waffles from a cart. There were lines.
Before long, he had opened a tiny bricks-and-mortar space and expanded the menu to include Belgian frites, then machine-gun sandwiches, then more locations—in Sugarhouse, Provo and Draper, then a waffle bus and the Brugesmobile, with a fully operational kitchen. And now, franchises are available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon.
By this magazine’s rules of writing, it looks like I won’t be able to cover Bruges much longer. But right now, they’re still a local business and growing—adding new menu items all the time. Most recently, the Draper location added to its menu of sweets.
The creme couke, a new pastry, is layers of pate feuillete (puff pastry) filled with vanilla pastry cream with powdered sugar on top or a Belgian dark chocolate glaze. Le Swiss is similar, pate feuillete with pastry cream, raisins and a sugar glaze.
The Merveilleux, pastel puffballs of meringue and cream fraiche, rolled in chocolate shavings, seem like they’d make a perfect Smurf snack (Smurfs are also Belgian)—super sweet, frivolous looking and totally insubstantial. Chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry and lemon were the flavors available when we visited, but you know, ‘but wait! There’s more.’ Each flavor has a different cookie base. 541 E. 12300 South, Draper, 801-251-0152; 2314 S. Highland Dr., SLC, 801-486-9999; 42 W. Center Street, Provo, 801-377-3214; 336 W. 300 South, 801-363-4444
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