Category: amsterdam

June is Food Festival Month in Amsterdam

amsterdam-roots-festival-2009-logoJune is food festival month in Amsterdam.

Last week the Holland Food Festival and the Weekend of the Rolling Kitchens were jointly held on the Westergasfabriek. And on June 25, 26, 27 and 28 the Taste Festival will visit Amsterdam for the first time.

Another event that will be a lot of fun for foodies is the Amsterdam Roots Festival Sunday 21 June from noon to 9:30 pm in Oosterpark. The Roots Festival promotes cultural diversity and portrays Amsterdam’s global community. Seven stages will fill the air with music from local and international artists. And a world market with over 100 booths will tickle your multi-ethnic taste buds with exotic food, drink and more.

Koevoet – Great Italian Food in Typical Amsterdam Cafe

restaurant-koevoet-amsterdam-outsidePassing by Koevoet you certainly would not expect Italian food. It’s located in the heart of the Jordaan, Amsterdam’s former workers neighborhood. On the ground floor of an 1899 building, in a small cafe that used to serve beer and Jenever to the locals. With small windows, lots of dark brown furniture and walls almost completely covered by paintings and knickknack.

The Italian owners have left the interior and exterior virtually unchanged and filled it with Italian food and spirit. Really good Italian food and spirit!

The menu is small and classic – antipasti, pasta and fish and meat secondi. We had an amazing burrata for starters, a big lump of mozzarella-like cheese served on a bed of tomatoes with an oil and garlic dressing. The starter was for two but could easily feed three or four. The pasta selection is standard dishes like linguine with vongole and a large selection of delicious home-made ravioli. For mains you again choose from tried and true dishes like scaloppine or branzino.

The staff is Italian and proud of it. The welcome is very friendly and guests immediately feel at home. I loved how the knowledgeable waiter overruled my choice of ravioli, suggesting artichoke over potato with mint, a recommendation that proved spot on. The crowd was mixed – some locals, some tourists and also some that seemed to call the nearby countryside home. And they all seemed extremely pleased with the quality of the food and the high level of attention. The restaurant is quite crammed with many small tables quite close to each other. It was buzzing but in a quiet and pleasant way.

Koevoet is a hidden gem and one of very few great Italian restaurants in Amsterdam. You will be delighted if you manage to get a reservation and actually find Koevoet!

restaurant-koevoet-amsterdam-burratarestaurant-koevoet-amsterdam-ravioli

New Restaurants in Amsterdam

Foodies love new restaurants. We like trying out new food and we can talk for hours about new restaurants we have discovered or would like to try out.

Dutch restaurant directory Dinnersite has a handy list of all recently opened restaurants in Amsterdam. It provides the name of the restaurant and its opening date.

According to the list, 16 new restaurants opened in Amsterdam during the first five months of 2009. Of the newcomers, food salon Razmataz on Hugo de Grootplein has gotten most attention.

There are also a number of new restaurants on Amstelveenseweg, the up and coming food boulevard just off the western exit of Vondelpark. Amstelveenseweg used to be dominated by greasy snackbars and shady pizza joints. Not anymore! Fair trade restaurant Umoja pioneered this new food location. Then Ron Blauuw established the area with Sophia and Blauw. Fish restaurant Urban Ocean and Chinese Oriental 128 are the latest additions, having opened in February and March 2009 respectively.

Restaurant Umoja AmsterdamRestaurant Blauw AmsterdamRestaurant Urban Ocean Amsterdam

Restobar Knus – Empty on a Friday Night

restobar knus amsterdam - loungeKnus is a combination of restaurant and lounge spread across three cozy floors of an old Dutch house in the Leidseplein area. The menu is small but versatile – a meat, a fish and a vegetarian fusion dish and a large selection of montaditos, Basque style tapas served on a sort of bruschetta style bread.

Against better judgement, we went to Knus last Friday after a company BBQ, thinking that it would be the perfect place to continue drinking and to enjoy some snacks later on. We quickly noticed that this was a mistake as we were the only guests that evening. The food was mediocre and while the staff tried to explain that the emptiness was unusual we could not help but think that Knus will soon make room for a new concept.

While I still think that Knus is one of the better restaurants of its kind, there are two important lessons that foodies should remember: Avoid the Leidseplein area, which is touristy, over-priced and laden with poor quality restaurants. And don’t bother with “restobars” or “gastropubs” that promise to be a one-stop-shop for a whole night out, aim high with fancy fusion or bistro menus and ultimately fail miserably.