The Toad and the Teaspoon: A social canteen serving nourishing meals at Brussels-North station

It might sound like a British pub but The Toad and the Teaspoon is in fact a canteen with a conscience operating out of Brussels-North train station.

The project aiming to connect artistic practices with socially inclusive actions offers a weekly nourishing meal to commuters, locals, artists and workers every Friday lunchtime.

Chef Michelle Woods (pictured above, centre) coordinates the initiative. Born to a British father and Filipino mother, she moved from London to Antwerp in 2007 to study fashion. But she was always cooking; opening a restaurant in the city that later closed during Covid.

Meanwhile, Eilian Coninx (pictured above, left), who is originally from Antwerp, moved to Brussels when he was 18. Recently graduated as an artist, he focuses on the digital communications aspect of the project while running its front desk. 

Operating every Friday between 12.00 and 14.00, the canteen offers a three-course menu that changes weekly. It consists of soup or a starter priced at €4, a main dish for which you pay what you can, between €8 and €14, and dessert at €4. Drinks cost €3 and tap water is free.

The main dish is usually a fusion of British and Filipino food made from seasonal produce. “Everything is locally and socially produced,” points out Coninx.

The canteen is part of TRACK, a wider project and urban lab aiming to revitalise the former railway museum at Brussels-North through the use of shared and mixed space. Its programme is focused on creating new collaborations while serving as an experimental hub linking creation, education and performance.

Woods and Coninx collaborate principally with Groot Eiland, a Brussels social urban farming organisation that helps people struggling to find work by training them to grow vegetables, cook and even learn woodwork. 

In addition to supplying vegetables to The Toad and the Teaspoon, Groot Eiland sends one of its experienced trainees to the canteen every week to work in the kitchen.

As well as dishing up seasonal tasty food, there’s an artistic angle to the canteen. “Every two months we do a cultural event that varies from dinners, performances, dance and music. A cross-over between a social and artistic aspect,” explains Coninx. 

The Toad and the Teaspoon also attracts attention thanks to its original name that started out as a joke during early discussions following the open-call by TRACK for a canteen.  

“I wrote this project and it was just a working name. I was not sure it would stick. I was thinking of English pub names like ‘The Crown’, ‘the Anchor’.  ‘The Toad and the Teaspoon’ is really visual so you see it before you remember it,” says Woods.

Diners are recommended to arrive early if they want to sample the main dish, which frequently sells out before the end of service.

The Toad and the Teaspoon
Fridays, 12.00-14.00
TRACK Brussels
Brussels North-Station
Rue du Progrès 76
Schaerbeek

Photos: ©The Bulletin/TRACK