amsterdam Archives - Page 29 of 39

Tony's Chocolonely – My Favorite Chocolate

What started as a journalistic experiment against child labor, has turned into my favorite chocolate!

Back in 2002, Teun van de Keuken, a journalist for a popular Dutch TV program on food quality, read about the dire conditions of cocoa plantations where thousands of children are forced to work. Comparing buying chocolate made from those cocoa beans to buying a stolen bike from a junkie in the streets of Amsterdam, he turned himself in to police asking to be prosecuted.

Not unexpectedly, the police did not take Teun seriously and no legal action was taken. He did get a lot of media attention, including a feature article in Time Magazine. So Teun decided to produce the world’s first slave-free chocolate bar and in November 2005 Tony’s Chocolonely was successfully introduced to the market.

tony's chocolonely slave-free chocolate bars — Tony's Chocolonely slave-free chocolate bars

Tony’s Chocolonely is amazing. First and foremost because of its incredible taste! Tony’s has an intense chocolate aroma combined with an almost silky smoothness that makes it melt in your mouth and will keep making you long for more! Apart from the flavor and slave-free feelgood factor, I also like the bright red retro packaging and the large and sturdy 200g bars. Tony’s Chocolonely is different!

Tony’s is expanding rapidly and today is producing milk and bitter chocolate bars as well as chocolate letters, sprinkles and t-shirts. On their web site you can find a store locator as well as an option to order online (minimum 15 bars). If you’re in Amsterdam, local produce concept store Marqt currently has a special offer – two Tony’s bars for € 4,=.

The Incredible Shrinking Biertje

Each country has its own traditions for the size of a beer. While the age old argument of the merits of the imperial pint versus the US liquid pint might never be settled, Dutch beers are certainly on the small side.

A regular beer in Amsterdam, called a “vaasje” is 0,25 l. And a small beer, or “fluitje” is 0,2 l.

Yet much to my surprise I was served an even smaller one, a mere 0,19 l of Brand beer served in something that looked more like wine glass. Needless to mention that the waitress had to make frequent trips to quench our thirst…

Dine Around the Okura

dine-around-okura Hotel Okura is offering a sort of “anti restaurant week” to celebrate keeping its Michelin stars and Bib Gourmand. For € 120,= you can book a menu that starts off with three traditional Japanese courses at one-star Yamazato. You will then head up 23 floors and enjoy three courses at two-star French cuisine Ciel Bleu.

Both restaurants are located in Hotel Okura at Ferdinand Bolstraat 333. The offer is available every Sunday until February 22. For reservations, call +31 (0) 20 – 6787 450.

Restaurantweek: Stars for Sponsors

Today reservations for Amsterdam Restaurantweek opened for Diningcity members. Reservations will be open to everyone as of tomorrow.

While blog Liquor & Wine and news site Zestz were still praising the participation of Michelin star restaurants during Restaurantweek, I had already warned about difficulties getting a good table last week. 33 Michelin decorated restaurants are reported to be participating. Even out of a total of 650 restaurants that is pretty good.

My recommendation was joining Diningcity. But it’s impossible to get a Michelin starred table. Even for Diningcity members! Part of the reason is that Restaurantweek sponsors have advertisement deals that allow pre bookings. I know of at least one sponsor’s campaign that allowed booking last week already.

Given that the majority of non-Michelin restaurants have nothing special to offer during Restaurantweek, I will skip this year’s edition.

Marqt Open on Sundays

On my last trip there, I found out that concept supermarket Marqt is now open on Sundays!

I am torn about Marqt, which promises to sell only fresh, local produce. It’s definitely much better than Albert Heijn. But it’s also expensive and inconsistent in food quality.

Apart from the cool market hall inspired design, I like the bread and the herbs. The bread is fresh and has a more flavor and density than most other suppliers’. The herbs stand out in aroma, especially the giant leaved basil. There is a good selection of fresh herbs and they last for quite a while in the plastic packaging they are sold in. Marqt also has a good selection of fish.

The produce that does not meet foodie standards includes the meat and most of the canned vegetables and sauces. The cans seem to be mostly high end brands that charge a lot of money for marginally better quality. And the chicken I bought on several occasions was incredibly expensive and very watery.

Given the difficulties of procuring any food on a Sunday in Amsterdam, I will certainly make more trips to Marqt now that it’s open on Sundays.

Getting a Reservation at Restaurantweek Amsterdam

The next spring edition of Amsterdam Restaurantweek takes place March 2nd to 8th, 2009. I am torn about it. It’s a great idea but also has two serious flaws here in Amsterdam.

During Restaurantweek more than 650 restaurants across the Netherlands offer a fixed price set lunch for € 20,- or a fixed price set dinner for € 25,-. The idea is to provide for an easy way for present and future foodies to try out new restaurants – especially the better and usually more expensive ones.

The first problem is that the majority of participating restaurants either lacks the required quality or has the wrong attitude. € 25,- plus drinks for a set dinner simply isn’t such a great deal at average restaurants such as Heerlijk. And then there are good restaurants that lower the quality of food and service beyond belief for restaurantweek. Klein Jansen is an example. Rather than promote their restaurant, they try to make a quick Euro.

Secondly, booking a table at a good restaurant is very hard. Reservations must be made through a special restaurantweek site. Reservations will open February 4th at 10am and many people will log in and bring the system down.

You can improve your chances of getting a table at a good restaurant by signing up for the Diningcity newsletter. Subscribers will be emailed a user name and password that will allow them to make reservations on February 2nd at 12pm.

And you should know which restaurants you want to make a reservation at. So check out the list of participating restaurants and decide up front where you want to go. Some interesting options in Amsterdam are Michelin decorated La Rive and Ron Blaauw or new and notoriously busy hot spot Momo.