Nicolas, you’ve got a refined European taste for life. Is St. Petersburg classy enough for you?
Yes, yes, definitely. I have to say, women are better dressed, and more stylish, certainly than in Belgium. I have to say, in Belgium women don’t care so much about their looks. So it’s better here. Here it’s like a competition between women, but in Belgium women don’t care. They’re like, “Uff, why should we make an effort, we can find a husband.” So I like it more here. I like to see nice things. Also, the life is good here. You can see a lot of nice cars, and the restaurants are really classy. It’s more classy than in Belgium. There you can hear people say “Why do I have to go to a trendy restaurant, or a trendy club?” A trendy club is ok, but it’s harder to find trendy restaurants in Belgium. So ya, people are classy here.
St. Petersburg is famous for its cultural establishments, like the Mariinsky Theater, the Philharmonic…. Are you interested in ballet, or opera? Do you try to go to cultural events in the city?
I’m not a big fan of operas, or the philharmonic. I’ve been once, and I almost fell asleep. So I’m not interested in those things. But I like culture. I like the Hermitage, I’ve been to the Russian Museum, I was in Tsarskoe Selo last week, so those things interest me. Not places where I have to sit for three hours.
St. Petersburg gets new clubs and bars every month. Do you get the impression that the nightlife scene here changes faster than in other cities?
Ya, the scene changes quite a lot, I have to say. Good restaurants, good clubs. But actually there aren’t a lot of big clubs here. It’s kind of strange, for such a big city. It’s not like there are six big clubs that you can choose from. Also, in the week there is not so much to do. I have to say in Belgium you can see people in the clubs in the middle of the week, having lots of fun, while here I have the impression that it’s only on the weekend. But then when the weekend comes here, it’s really good. It’s better than in Belgium! But only two or three days a week.
Sushi has been incredibly popular for years now in St. Petersburg. Are you a sushi fan? Which restaurant makes the best sushi in town in your opinion?
Before, in Belgium, I never ate sushi. It’s not so popular, and you can’t find cheap sushi there. Sushi in Belgium is only available in Japanese restaurants. And there are very few of those. It’s rare to find there. But here you find sushi everywhere! I’ve learned to appreciate sushi here. I don’t order it so much in restaurants, but I you can find quite a lot of good sushi here, like in Ginza. I really like it a lot.
There are several Belgian brasseries in St. Petersburg now. Have you been to any of them? Are they authentic in your opinion?
I’ve only been to Brasserie Kriek. Ya, they have some Belgian beers. That’s always nice. But sometimes you taste the difference. I’ll give you an example. Duval is one of my favorite beers. But the Belgian Duval tastes different than the Russian Duval. So I think they produce it here. But it’s not bad. It’s still good.
You probably get lots of visitors from abroad here. Where do you take them in the city?
Ya, when my family comes, or friends, I take them to the most popular cultural places in town, like the Hermitage, or the Russian Museum, and all the churches. I always take them on a boat trip on the Neva, because that’s quite impressive for them. They see the old buildings on the riverside. I take them to Peterhof as well. People are always impressed by those palaces.
St. Petersburg is often referred to as the Venice of the North. Is St. Petersburg a romantic city?
It’s quite funny, because they always say that Bruges, my home town, is the Venice of the North because of the canals and things like that. So ya, the canals are bigger here than in Bruges and Venice, and St. Petersburg is quite a romantic city. It’s a really nice city with all the water. So ya, I like it a lot.
