Sint-Jorispoort, Antwerp: the neighbourhood guide

Edgy Antwerp, Belgium’s poster boy for all that is forward-thinking in the design landscape, is a tiny city with even tinier districts. Het Zuid, with its busy museums and restaurants, has been the hipster magnet for the past decade. But savvy creatives have been quietly sloping across to unassuming Sint-Jorispoort, a short stroll from the central square.

Leading the pack were modern-art authorities Yasmine Geukens and Marie-Paule De Vil of Geukens & De Vil gallery, which champions the work of established and emerging artists in seasonal exhibitions and events; Philip Aguirre y Otegui’s sculptures and prints and Shirley Villavicencio Pizango’s Frida Kahlo-inspired portraits have headlined this year. Modernist Galerie Beyond specialises in dramatic contemporary jewellery and hosts workshops.

Fred & Zorro is a great place to hunt for antique interior pieces – the owner selects his furniture with due care – while 92-year-old non-smoker Lisette Meinertzhagen has been selling cigars in her shop of the same name her whole life. Fifth-generation-run Juwelenhuis Ruys is the place to go for the best diamonds, displayed in a gorgeous Art Nouveau window. There’s timeless women’s fashion and colourful vintage homeware at Paulette in’t Stad – Berber rugs, Sixties wicker lounge chairs – and jewellery by Eveline Slijper and dresses from Marrakech-based Topolina at Zuid Store.

Mornings kick off with pomegranate and aloe-vera juice and Bircher muesli at Carotterie 2000, the new vegan hotspot in the shadow of Neo-Gothic Sint-Joris church. At lunch, queues form outside Vietnamese Bún for bowls of pho and, in the evening, at Life is Art bistro, which everyone knows as ‘Bij den Alec’ (chez Alec, after the chef), for the steak with roast potatoes or brown-butter skate wing. The committed village vibe of this area shows no sign of losing sight of its roots.