Wunderkammer, translated from German as ‘cabinet of curiosities’, is a gift shop founded by Sofie van der Ven and Wouter Cajot in Antwerp, Belgium. After the success of opening their bookshop, Boekhandel Stad Leest, which is situated on just the same street, they decided to branch out into homewares.
Our recent interview with Co-Founder Sofie offers a little glimpse into their ‘room of wonder’ with some lovely recommendations for using your Falcon along the way...
F: Can you tell us about Wunderkammer?
S. We started 9 years ago with a bookshop, after a while we started adding some nice non books-stuff like stationery and prints. At trade shows we saw a lot of other beautiful wares we had never seen in Antwerp before but we felt they wouldn’t be at home in a bookshop, that’s why we opened Wunderkammer, the bookshops' gift shop! And now we sell anything there from unique homewares to handmade toiletries to small furniture.
F. What made you decide to open your own shop?
S. It was a lifelong dream. At a certain point in time we just decided that it was about time to take the plunge.
F. You sell Falcon enamelware in your shop. What’s the most interesting way you’ve heard a customer use our product?
S. I don’t know about our customers but we actually use the smallest pie dishes in our shop as a soap dish, to display the soaps we sell. And my husband is into adult Lego and he uses the little pinch pots to sort out the pieces!
F. Is there a specific dish that you would make using any of our Falcon products? If possible, please do share the recipe?
S. When visiting friends in the UK we were given summer pudding as a dessert. It is a dish we don’t know in Belgium. It was lovely so I asked for the recipe. When trying it at home I realised I didn’t have a mould for it and I ended up using the big bowl from my falcon prep set. It worked so well that I never bothered to shop for a mould, I always use it now for making summer pudding!
F. Is there anyone in the industry (or outside) you'd like to shoutout about in your local area at the moment?
S. My favourite restaurant near our shop is Camino, they have a lovely big outdoor setting on a little, green square and the food is utterly delicious. I think of their kitchen as asian street food but it goes further than that…. their staff are so lovely as well! http://www.caminoantwerp.com/
For drinks and lunch I love this bar called “In de roscam” (https://instagram.com/inderoscam), they have a charming old authentic interior. They also have a room on airbnb.
F. Do you have any unusual food combinations you can recommend?
S. At Camino they do a side dish that basically is just noodles with mayonnaise (but spicy) - I thought it sounded odd but it is absolutely delicious.
F. How have you been keeping during this time? Do you have any tips for small business owners as we all become accustomed to this new normal post-lockdown?
S. It is not easy. It is about taking little steps and being flexible and adapting all the time. Normally we plan well ahead but we now train ourselves to settle for a week to week or even day to day approach. Right now we again have a soft lockdown in Antwerp. I think the best thing to do now is to simply accept that things will go up and down for at least, the rest of this year.
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