Label-conscious parents are in trendy heaven, with small, minimalist boutiques dedicated entirely to stylish small people. Mind you, none of it comes cheap. One of the most striking things about the profusion of shops selling flowers, interior design, chocolates, candy, shoes, clothes, cheeses and just about anything you could wish for, is the attention to detail. Cakes turn out to be exquisitely made from flowers, chocolate is fashioned into tea-pots, houses, carriages and more. Restaurants lay out small wrought-iron tables topped with simple, elegant terracotta pots bursting with bright flowers.
Window dressing is considered an art form, a feast for the eyes.
But it isn't just in the stores that this innate sense of accessorising, adorning and garnishing belongs. Coffee houses automatically provide a chocolate, a piece of waffle or a tempting square of cake with every order. It was dotted with mayonnaise spots and the finishing flourish was cress grass and a couple of radish flowers. Ice-creams are pre sented with Smartie faces or rabbit ears made of wafer. If there is a way to make presentation pristine, the people of Antwerp find it.