Brussels-based creator Dean Raey has turned the city’s hyper-local snack bar culture into a high-stakes battlefield with his new mockumentary series, At Dean’s. Now streaming on the Play app via Play Shorts, the series documents a fictionalized, simmering rivalry between Raey’s own fry shop and a competing business that dares to encroach on his culinary territory.
The project, which blends local Brussels talent with a heavy-hitting roster of Flemish celebrities, aims to revitalize interest in the Brussels dialect. The series consists of 20 episodes in total, with the first eleven currently available to stream, while the remaining nine are scheduled for release on Wednesday, October 14.
A Culinary Turf War
The series centers on Dean and his partner Laura as they struggle to maintain their local fry shop. The status quo shatters when two neighbors, Erhan and Hakim, open “Snack Istanbul” directly across the street. For Raey, the show serves as a lens into the chaotic reality of the snack bar business, spanning everything from meddlesome vendors to the demands of a fickle customer base, with the shop’s own patrons often suffering as collateral damage in the owner’s increasingly obsessive campaign.
Short-Form Format Targets Contemporary Youth Viewing Habits
Raey, often referred to as “den Brusseleir” or simply “the guy with the mustache,” noted that the show’s short-form format is specifically tailored to the viewing habits of contemporary youth.
Raey Uses Scripted Narrative to Normalize Brussels Dialect
Known to his followers as “den Brusseleir,” Raey is using the series as a platform to normalize the Brussels dialect. He noted that while Instagram has been an effective tool for showcasing the language, he hopes this scripted narrative will reach a broader demographic surprised to hear the dialect utilized in contemporary media. He emphasized that he hopes the series acts as a catalyst for interest in the dialect, noting that a language is learned much faster when it is heard frequently.
From Ginger Juice to Prime Time
The launch of At Dean’s marks a shift in Raey’s multi-hyphenate career. Beyond his new series, Raey has also joined the cast of the television program The Smartest Person in the World.