Taste of Belgium owner has been knighted – for beer, not waffles

In the past 16 years, Jean-Francois Flechet's Taste of Belgium has expanded from a fledgling waffle stand at Findlay Market to a local chain of eight Belgian bistros specializing in mussels, steaks, frites and other Belgian specialties. And yet we tend to forget one of the greatest contributions Flechet has given Greater Cincinnati: a spectacular selection of Belgian beers.

Taste of Belgium has dozens of them on tap, the broadest selection being at the Banks location, which has 54. There you can find Rodenbach red ale from Roeselare, Kwak golden strong ale from Buggenhout, and Kwaremont blond ale from Rijksweg. It's also the only place in the country that serves all four beers offered by Chimay, a beer that's been brewed by Trappist monks in Chimay, Belgium, since 1850.

Flechet's commitment to carrying the beers of his native Belgium is so strong that, this past Labor Day, he received one of the beer world's biggest honors: the honorary Knighthood of the Brewer's Paddle.

"The name sounds much better in French," Flechet said.

According to the Belgian Brewers Guild, "Honorary knights are individuals who have rendered loyal services to the brewing profession."

Flechet, who was born and raised in Belgium, came to the United States to work on his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to Cincinnati in 2000 to work for a market research company. He sold his first waffles in Cincinnati in 2007, and the rest is history.

He said traveling back to his native country to receive the honor was an unforgettable experience. "It was always something I wanted to get, personally, because it means the Brewers Association of Belgium is recognizing what I'm doing in the U.S.," Flechet told The Enquirer. "It was just really cool."

Flechet said the association has kept tabs on Taste of Belgium through both social media and his annual visits to Belgium, where he often takes staff members to visit the breweries.

During the ceremony (the guild's 525th), Flechet and around 18 other honorees led a barrel of beer from the historic Brewers House, in Brussels, to a cathedral, where it was blessed.

Given his conscious commitment to honor the beers of his native land, Flechet said the knighthood wasn't too big of a surprise.

"I knew it would be coming," he said. "But it took a long time!"

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Taste of Belgium's Jean-Francois Flechet has been knighted