The Man Who Cuts The Meat – Amsterdam

The Man Who Cuts The Meat is the caterer in residence of recently opened hipster hangout Bar Brandstof.

Who is The Man? For a start you have to love the branding! The name, a web site in black reminiscent of Chicago in the 20s, an image of a man with a big chef’s knife carried like a gun ready to be pulled and lots of stories of a certain Mario the butcher are very intriguing. And there is substance, too, gained through 15 years experience as a chef at places like ‘t Jagershuis in Ouderkerk, Vermeer in Amsterdam or Zafferano’s in London. Having started his own business, The Man is now available as a caterer for breakfast, lunch, dinner, party or other occasions.

And every Sunday The Man cuts the meat at Bar Brandstof, a new bar on Marnixstraat that is trying hard to serve good food without being a restaurant. On Sundays, The Man serves a set three-course menu for € 22,50. The menu consists of a mixed starters platter, a main and dessert. And The Man promises to please vegetarians by preparing a customized menu with the same dedication.

the man who cuts the meat amsterdam

We went a few weeks ago and had a great time. Bar Brandstof manages to be cool in a friendly, laid back way. Dinner in the back of the bar was comfortable while the bar was brimming with life. And the mixed starters platter fit the set-up perfectly, several small tapas style snacks, served on a black rugged slate board, ideal with a cool brew. The snacks were a mix of different cuisines including Spanish serrano ham, Japanese tuna and wasabi, and Idonesian Pangsit.

For the main course we had tenderloin, which was nice and tender and presented with a fine red wine sauce seemed a lot more sophisticated than the carnivorous talk of knifes and butchers had made me expect. The Man then made a personal appearance to serve the dessert, a chocolate cake with rum and ginger. While serving sweets and chocolate again seemed to rather contradict the meat cutter image, the tattoos and skulls on the menu reassured us that we had come to the right place.

All in all a great dinner and the perfect way to have some good fun and food when the weekend winds down.

Update October 11th, 2010: We just received an email from “The Man Formerly Known As The Man Who Cuts the Meat”. Chris got an offer to move to Saigon, Vietnam and closed his Amsterdam catering business. His latest project is called Flow. Be sure to check it out when you’re in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Man Who Cuts The Meat – www.themanwhocutsthemeat.com
At Bar Brandstof
Marnixstraat 341
1016 TD Amsterdam
Tel: +31-6-54343555

3 thoughts on “The Man Who Cuts The Meat – Amsterdam”

  1. Very interesting…I tried to go there for a 14:00 meeting last Thursday and it was just packed, and really way too loud for a meeting anyway. Any idea how this very plain white space on a pretty ugly and traffic-congested corner became hip?

  2. ‘the man who cuts the mea’t is also a famous dutch commercial for promoting a fathers participation in a child’s upbringing; on sundays roast the child wonders: who on earth is the man who cuts the meat….?

  3. @mark – agree that they are amazingly busy considering the location. i know that it’s the same owner as also popular struyk and that brandstof seems to attract the jordaan and creative / media crowd. not sure if that explains it…

    @martijn – interesting! got a link to a youtube version of the commercial maybe?

    –dutchgrub

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