©Collectie Archief Gent
Salon Fritz is the reason why the word ‘thé dansant’ was invented. But in addition to tea and coffee, pancakes and waffles were served as well. And jazz. Lots of jazz.
Veldstraat 47, Ghent
In the mid-20th century, the pancake restaurant Salon Fritz seated about a thousand people, for whom Jean Daskalidès – the one from the famous Belgian pralines – programmed jazz orchestras on a daily basis. Jean, who had played in the jazz band The Blue Swingers, was thus about half a century ahead of both Gent Jazz and Kompass. Because there's no mistake about it: things could get pretty boisterous at Fritz’s jazz parties.
Unfortunately, nothing is left of Salon Fritz. In 1965, it was replaced by a modernist building designed by Leon Stynen, which for a long time housed the Fnac book shop.
Poster for the carnival ball of 7 February 1959 in Salon Fritz-Daskalides
