Misera
To the Artist’s Life and the Chef
Too early for my appointment with Nicolas Misera, owner and chef of the eponymous restaurant, I decide to wander around to kill time. I find myself in Nieuw Zuid, Antwerp’s newest district, made up of modern buildings designed by renowned architects such as David Chipperfield, Shigeru Ban, and Vincent Van Duysen. It’s warm, and there’s a pleasant bustle in the cafes, lunch spots, and art galleries.
In collaboration with architect Bjorn Verlinde, those ideas translated into an intimate restaurant with an open kitchen and seating at the counter. The roughness of the concrete structure was complemented by steel and wood in dark tones. But it was only in a later phase, when they added objects from their flea market collection and art by Nicolas’ father, among others, that everything truly came together.
That work ethic characterizes Misera from the time he took his first steps in professional kitchens, but it’s also an essential part of his, at times, masochistic nature. “Pain and pleasure are very closely related for me. Feeling happy while suffering. I need that, and I get a kick out of it. I constantly question whether I’m doing well. If I didn’t, I would become too complacent. And that’s simply because I’ve always doubted myself. Much less now than before”.
“Modesty is important, but at some point, you can say that you’re good at cooking. Ultimately, you’re standing behind the stove for 16 to 17 hours a day, working hard. That’s the craft, the trade you practice. What more can I say than what you get on your plate and what you see in the restaurant? I’m not a storyteller. I’m a chef.”
