If you look at René Stevens’ 1910 map near the edge of the Forêt de Soignes, you’ll notice a label squeezed in beside the buildings of a small farm towards the end of Avenue Brassine: “Ferme Cabᵗ Restᵗ”
It’s easy to miss, but it tells a whole story. It was a farm that doubled as a cabaret and restaurant. In those days a cabaret wasn’t a stage show, it was a simple countryside café, a cosy stop where locals and workers could drink beer, take a meal and warm themselves in winter. A crossroads pub, really, only with chickens, hay barns and farm smells parked right outside the door.
These little places were everywhere around the forest. Woodcutters, charcoal burners, hunters, carters and later cyclists and day-trippers stopped there for soup, beer or a glass of oude gueuze. They were the social glue holding together communities that worked long hours with horses, axes, mud and cold weather. You didn’t go for elegance, you went because they had hot food, bread and warmth.
What makes this one special is that it never stopped doing the same job, it just changed its style. Today the Merry Horse ménage stands on that spot, and you can still sit down for a drink and a bite to eat. The horse paddocks have replaced the plough fields, riding helmets have replaced farmers’ caps, and leisure ponies have taken the place of workhorses. Yet the terrace is still a welcome pause for anyone passing by on foot, bike or hooves.
A century on, the building hasn’t really changed role at all. It’s still a meeting place at the forest’s edge, still a spot for a beer and a plate of something simple, still a spot to contemplate the passage of time