Four regular employees ensure the future of the In den Hemel café in Ganshoren

At the end of November, Steve Vandenberg of In Den Hemel announced that he wanted to stop. He was looking for someone who wanted to take over the café, and who would also fit in with the current atmosphere. Since he couldn't find a buyer with the café's DNA right away, regular customer Simon Stiverlink decided to ask other café patrons if they wanted to get involved. “In the end, four core members were found who wanted to contribute, and I presented the proposal to Steve,” says Steverlink. “When he heard that, he decided he also wanted to stay at that level.”

This means that from now on In den Hemel will be managed by five co-owners: Stef Vandenbergh, Simon Steverlinck, Frederik van Gucht, Dieter Deryckere and another who prefers to remain anonymous. The top three will take turns behind the bar.

The new operators want to involve local associations in Ganshoren more. “We have a room upstairs that we can use to organize meetings, for example,” says Stiverlinck. “If anyone is interested in organizing a book club or a yoga session one evening, all of this can be discussed. We will proactively contact the associations ourselves and see how we can help them.”

Steverlink stresses that this is not necessarily a final solution. “It was a choice of the heart. If someone feels called to take over the café tomorrow, we definitely want to hear from them.”