Happy Pride, Brussels!

I must say - I didn’t expect to have to bring out my winter jacket again this week 🥶. So I really hope the weather will get a little bit better for the parade on Saturday. How have you been? Enjoying May holidays or being super busy?

I’ve noticed that I haven’t shared new restaurant and café recommendations with you for a while. The reason is that I haven’t been to many new places lately 🙈. But to make it up to you, here are two of my recent finds. If you’re looking for a great vegetarian restaurant with a beautiful interior, really delicious food, and lovely staff, then pay a visit to Bodja. And if you’d like to try out some new coffee flavours, go to Utamu Collective. Their Iced Africano Latte is absolutely heavenly.

And last but not least, I’m teaming up once again with european campaign playbook for a Level 2 training on Organising EU policy events on 21 May from 9:30 to 12 CEST in Brussels. We will dive deep into handling various event challenges, managing different groups at the same time, and discussing what happens after your event is over. I won’t organise such training in the foreseeable future again, so don’t miss your shot 😉. You can register for the training here.

In this issue:

🗃️ KARDT: When Tiago went around events in Brussels, he ended up with three LinkedIn requests he didn’t remember sending, a phone number bumped from someone’s iPhone, and two people still waiting for his services list. So he built Kardt, because too much of the networking just…evaporated. Now, in one tap, you can exchange contacts who get a follow-up right away, no extra admin needed the next day. Kardt works as a physical card, a QR code, or an Apple/Google Wallet pass - branded or just as a simple card that stays in your wallet. I already got mine, and I love people’s reactions when I use it! Apart from building this business, Tiago is also a videographer for brands, policy organisations, and institutions, and runs his own YouTube channel on artisanal beers in Portugal and beyond.

🧖🏻‍♀️ CHOUKE: What if your skincare actually adapted to your cycle? That’s the question Manon asked herself after stopping the contraceptive pill, noticing how much her skin changed throughout the month and how little the beauty industry talked about it. Chouke, which means “sweetheart” in the Brussels dialect, is a Brussels-based skincare brand that develops hormone-aware serums for the four phases of the menstrual cycle. The goal? Helping women better understand their skin, feel more in sync with their bodies, and bring more science and honesty into skincare. After a very successful crowdfunding campaign, the first products are currently in testing and will launch later this year. You can follow Manon’s journey on Instagram, and I personally cannot wait to test her products!

Brussels, the International Potato Day is coming on 30 May, therefore coinciding with the next issue, and I want to settle this debate once and for all. I’m team Maison Antoine 🍟.

Is your favourite friterie not on the list? Reply to this email by telling me what your number 1 is!

Something that makes me feel very close to my home country, the Czech Republic, is how much Belgium loves music and expresses it through music festivals. I thought my country had a lot of them, but come summer, there’s at least one festival per weekend! So we’ll take it month by month; in this issue, let’s look at what festivals you can go to in June. If a festival is sold out, don’t forget that you can always check TicketSwap or official festival websites for resales.

🤝 = networking/meeting new people; 🎨 = crafts and workshops; 👚 = fashion; 🎸= music; 🎉 = party and festivals; 🎭 = theatre, musicals and performing arts; 🚶 = walking and hiking; 🏀 = sport; 🎥 = film festivals and screenings; 🏋️ = fitness; 🎤 = talks; 🍔 = food and drinks; 🖼️ = exhibitions; 😂 = comedy; 🛒 = shopping