SALT LAKE CITY — For the Vadamme Family in Salt Lake, Belgian waffles aren’t just breakfast, they’re a piece of home.
“I was bored at some point… and then I decided let’s do some food that I’m missing from Belgium, so I decided to do fries and waffles,” said Bruges Belgian Bistro Founder, Pierre Vandamme.
After Vandamme was laid off from his job as a pilot, he started Bruges as a small food cart on Main Street in Salt Lake City in 2003. He moved to the local farmer’s market before opening his first storefront in downtown Salt Lake.
“On the cart first it was like slow, then we went to the farmer’s market, and it was a success,” Pierre remembered. “We even at some point made fries at the farmer’s market and had customers peeling potatoes in the back helping me because I couldn’t keep up.”
Twenty-two years later, Pierre’s son, Noe, is proudly carrying the dreams of Bruges Belgian Bistro forward.
“I thought I was going to be a chiropractor, a pilot, this, that, the third, but all along it was right in front of me what I was really passionate about, and that’s my family and the food that we make,” Noe said.
Bruges has grown to three locations in downtown, the Sugar House neighborhood, and the Salt Lake International Airport. What’s kept the business going? Community support.
“I mean, people [said] it was their first date, and they have been married ten years, it was just incredible stories, and it reminds you why you stay open and keep going,” Noe said.
Pierre is humble about what he’s created, but for Noe, it’s so much more than just waffles and frites; and even after two decades, the dream is still going strong.
Bruges plans to sell pre-packaged waffles, and hopefully, one day have a waffle factory in Salt Lake, just like they do in Belgium.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Noe said of his dad. “I couldn’t be prouder of him and everything he built for me, this is like my culture, my everything, it’s like a part of our family, I don’t know what we would be without it.”
