2010 - Page 3 of 9

Amsterdam Food Festivals Summer 2010

Even though it has been raining heavily the last few days, summer is just around the corner and with it several great food festivals. To help you plan your summer in Amsterdam or a trip to our Dutch capital, I put together this list of my favorite Amsterdam food festivals.

Taste of Amsterdam – 24 to 27 June 2010

taste of amsterdam 2010 Taste of Amsterdam is part of a world-wide series of food events that celebrate fine dining in major cities. The formula is to provide visitors with an opportunity to sample small portions of the signature dishes of prestigious local restaurants. Michelin star decorated Ron Blaauw and Aan de Poel will participate amongst a group of 18 restaurants. Guests will need to buy € 15 tickets to attend the events and can then taste samples from different chefs for somewhere around € 4 to 9.

www.tasteofamsterdam.com
When: 24-27 June, 12:00 to 17:00 or 18:00 to 23:00
Where: Amstelpark on Europaboulevard near RAI exhibition center.
Public transport: Take tram or metro to RAI.

Over het IJ Festival – 1 to 11 July 2010

over het ij festival amsterdam 2010 The Over Het IJ Festival is a theater festival on NDSM wharf in Amsterdam North, across the water behind Central Station. There is an extensive program with a focus on performances by younger talent. There also are nice food options for in between, including caterers “One for the Road” or the pancake boat. You may also enjoy a trip to neighboring Noorderlicht Cafe, spectacularly housed in a cool glass hangar and sporting a hip vibe.

www.overhetij.nl
When: 1-11 July, exact program to be decided
Where: NDSM wharf on Neveritaweg 15 across the water from Central Station
Public transport: Take the free NSDM ferry behind Central Station.

De Parade – 6 to 22 August 2010

de parade amsterdam 2010 De Parade is another theater festival with a strong food focus. The atmosphere is very much cabaret and circus, with all performances held in large tents around the main area of restaurants, bars and ticket sales. It’s a traveling festival that starts in Rotterdam mid June, moves on to The Hague and Utrecht and ends in Amsterdam from 6 to 22 August. Expect comedy, song and dance and other quirky shows such as the popular silent disco. And enjoy food and drinks from the Tacobar, wood oven pizzeria Fuoco e Desiderio or organic eatery La Rana. Tickets are € 7, excluding food, drinks and performances.

www.deparade.nl
When: 6-22 August, 15:00 to 24:00
Where: Martin Luther Kingpark on Amsteldijk between the Berlagebrug and Utrechtsbrug.
Public transport: Take tram 25 to President Kennedylaan.

Tomatillo Amsterdam – Tex-Mex To Go

I have mentioned before how hard it is to find good Mexican food in Amsterdam and recommended Los Pilones as one of the only authentic options. So I immediately made a mental note when I read about Tomatillo on vegetarian duck.

Tomatillo is located on Overtoom, has a small dining room but mostly does take away. The menu has all the staples like burritos, fajitas and tacos. Most are available with different kinds of meat including steak, chicken and pork. There are also some vegetarian options such as a vegetarian tostada. Service is friendly and you can call in ahead and have your food ready for pick up. They don’t do deliveries.

The first time I tried Tomatillo I went for a fajita with pork, always one of my favorites. It was very good with plenty of pork, lettuce, beans all rolled up in a tasty soft tortilla. The burrito, filled with rice and meat is also very good. I liked the tacos that I tried on another occasion less as the tortilla was hard and had no flavor.

What’s most remarkable, as unlikely as it may sound to many readers, is that Tomatillo is one of the few places in Amsterdam that serves proper corn chips. Simple chips with a sauce, rather than greasy Doritos with some sort of cheese or paprika coating.

I’ve been back several times as Tomatillo has become my go to place for Mexican take out!

tomatillo amsterdam

Tomatillo – www.tomatillo.nl
Overtoom 261
1054 HW Amsterdam
Tel.: +31 (0)20 6833086

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

Italian Restaurants For The Giro D'Italia Amsterdam

The Giro d’Italia, one of the biggest professional cycling events of the world, will start on Saturday 8 May 2010 in Amsterdam. Seems that the first stage of the event is always held in different foreign cities and this year Amsterdam has been chosen.

giro d'italia amsterdam

There’s quite a buzz about the Giro in Amsterdam these days with ads, banners and posters in pink, the color of the leading cyclists jersey, everywhere. I thought people would probably enjoy some good Italian food on the day of the Giro and decided to compile a list of the best Italian restaurants in Amsterdam.

Italian Restaurants

For traditional Italian food in Italian atmosphere I would recommend Restaurant Koevoet, the best traditional Italian food in Amsterdam, or Café de Curtis, a simple but good Italian.

Restaurant Koevoet (no web site)
Lindenstraat 17
1015 KV Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 6240846

Café de Curtis (no web site)
Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat 6-HS
1015 NT Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 4200767

Italian Pizzeria

For pizza, I would suggest Renato’s Trattoria, the most Italian of dutchgrub’s best pizza in Amsterdam.

Renato’s Trattoria – www.renatotrattoria.nl
Karel du Jardinstraat 32
1072 SK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 673 23 00

Italian Take-Away

And to pick up some Italian food to go and enjoy at home behind the TV or alongside the race track, you should head to Da Portare Via, dutchgrub’s favorite pizza to go, or pay a visit to Pino who has great deals on pasta and pizza with a big Italian smile.

Da Portare Via – www.daportarevia.nl
Leliegracht 34 (take away only)
1015 DG Amsterdam
Frans Halsstraat 63
1072 BM Amsterdam
No phone.

Vino di Pino – www.vinodipino.nl
Haarlemmermeerstraat 164
1058 KK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 3377637

Italian Restaurants For The Giro D’Italia Amsterdam

giro d'italia amsterdam

Italian Restaurants

For traditional Italian food in Italian atmosphere I would recommend Restaurant Koevoet, the best traditional Italian food in Amsterdam, or Café de Curtis, a simple but good Italian.

Restaurant Koevoet (no web site)
Lindenstraat 17
1015 KV Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 6240846

Café de Curtis (no web site)
Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat 6-HS
1015 NT Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 4200767

Italian Pizzeria

For pizza, I would suggest Renato’s Trattoria, the most Italian of dutchgrub’s best pizza in Amsterdam.

Renato’s Trattoria – www.renatotrattoria.nl
Karel du Jardinstraat 32
1072 SK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 673 23 00

Italian Take-Away

Da Portare Via – www.daportarevia.nl
Leliegracht 34 (take away only)
1015 DG Amsterdam
Frans Halsstraat 63
1072 BM Amsterdam
No phone.

Vino di Pino – www.vinodipino.nl
Haarlemmermeerstraat 164
1058 KK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 3377637

The Amsterdam Tap Water Ripoff

Most dutchgrub readers, like many Amsterdam visitors, are used to being welcomed by fresh and cool water on the table of a restaurant. Complimentary, of course, and a great gesture to make the guest feel welcome and given a chance to settle in and refresh. This was never the case in Amsterdam where you would have to ask the waiter for tap water.

While this seemed merely a nuisance and easily explained by cultural differences, things seem to have gotten out of hand recently. On numerous occasions restaurants have employed dubious tactics to make extra money by selling beautifully designed and ridiculously overpriced bottles of water.

The methods vary. Some restaurants outright refuse serving tap water, which often results in rather comical situations where the waiter tries to explain that the restaurant does not have tap water. Eh, excuse me?!? More often waiters directly ask the guests whether they would like some water. They obviously fail to mention that this will be charged and take advantage of the situation by overwhelming visitors the minute they sit down. While these kind of scare tactics are still rare, there are many cases of tap water being charged for, grossly overpriced bottled water, or tap water filled into what looks like a bottle of commercial water.

It’s time to do something about this! The Dutch consumer protection organization got the ball rolling by publishing research (Dutch) that shows that some restaurants charge up to € 3,75 for a glass of water. And the first Facebook group of 10.000 fans of tap water in Dutch restaurants has formed.