festivals Archives - Page 3 of 4

Food Specials at Grachtenfestival Amsterdam

A summer full of food festivals is slowly winding down. We had pure food festivals like the Holland Food festival and Taste. And many of the cultural festivals like the Amsterdam Roots Festival and De Parade put much focus on food.

The annual Amsterdam Grachtenfestival that presents classical music from floating stages on the canals is next in line. From August 15 until 21 there will be several food specials spicing up the classcial music.

The Amstel Bar & Brasserie of classy Amstel Hotel serves a €49,50 festival special where you can enjoy dinner on their terrace by the Amstel while listening to the Waakvlamconcert. The special will be served August 17 to 21. And on Thursday August 20 both Restaurant Fifteen and FOAM will serve Grachtenfestival specials.

For more information see page 22 of the Grachtenfestival brochure.

Impressions from De Parade 2009

Last weekend we went to De Parade to see Spinvis and have a good time with a group of friends. De Parade in Amsterdam will run for about another week until 16 August.

De Parade is great fun on a nice weekend day or sunny school night. It’s best to go with a group of friends and play it by ear. Find a large table somewhere on the food court, grab some drinks and make plans. Some people will want to see shows, others will want to eat, some come and others go.

food at parade - rides food at parade - apples for kids food at parade - food court

Since this is a food blog, I must warn you. The food court is big and there is a good selection of food from all over the world – pizza, sushi, tapas, you name it. But don’t expect any good food – it’s really all about the fun and gezelligheid as the Dutch like to say. But not about good food.

The teriyaki was bland, the tapas pre made and the wood oven pizza dry and with very little sauce. We had a good time anyway and never even made it to supposed Parade foodie destination restaurant De Aalmoes.

food at parade - wood oven pizza food at parade - de aalmoes

As for shows, we were keen on seeing Spinvis’ show Kamermuziek and managed to get tickets without any problems. Spinvis is a well-known Dutch indie musician. His music is low-fi and played, sung and produced entirely by himself in his attic. His lyrics conceal deeper meaning behind simple, superficial situations and will make you think about life.

spinvis at parade - pre-show promo spinvis at parade - kamermuziek show

His show Kamermuziek was great. He took us on a journey, decomposing his songs into tracks and letting us peak into the attic where he makes music. He played some sounds into a loop machine and added the major instruments on large video screens showing himself. Singing and playing the guitar he managed to make it all come together into his trademark melancholic pop songs.

koselleck ratzke Although I found it slightly expensive, I would recommend a trip to De Parade. The entrance fee is € 7 and we paid € 7,50 for the 45 minute Spinvis show. Add to that plenty of food and drinks at festival prices (e.g. € 2,20 for a very small beer).

The program changes throughout the week and Spinvis unfortunately won’t return. Another interesting act on the program is Sven Ratzke with the Konrad Koselleck Big Band. In “Wir haben Sexappeal”, German-Dutch entertainer Sven Ratzke will bring his Berlin style chansons to De Parade, supported by a 16 strong big band.

Amsterdam Restaurant Week 2009 – Still No Reservations

The summer edition of Restaurant Week will hit Amsterdam August 24 to 30, 2009. Reservations open tomorrow at 10am. But be warned, getting a good reservation in 2009 is just as impossible as in previous years.

Restaurant week is a great idea that in Amsterdam suffers from two major flaws: First of all too many average restaurants participate with menus that are not worth the fixed rate of €25,- for a three course dinner. And secondly restaurant week is so popular that it’s hard to get a reservation.

Like all diningcity subscribers I received an email with a link that allows me to make reservations 24 hours before the official start. I tried as soon as I had received the email and was greeted by a site that was largely unresponsive and generated time out errors. When I finally got through, all the good restaurants were already fully booked! And that’s a day before the official opening of reservations.

Michelin star restaurants La Rive and Ron Blaauw were just unavailable as the Brasserie in the Amstel Hotel, Christophe, and Lute in Ouderkerk. I just checked again and 44 out of 155 restaurants are already fully booked.

And while €25,- for a three course dinner is a great deal at the top Amsterdam restaurants, it’s really not worth it for places like cocktail lounge Barça, simple eetcafe De Duvel or average at best Italian l’Incontro. Sounds more like a cheap way to fill these restaurants than a way to make an exquisite cuisine available to everyone for a few days.

I did get a reservation for Oriental 128 which I was curious to try out. Oriental 128 is a high end Chinese on Amstelveenseweg that gets good reviews for its specialty dishes and wine list.

First Day of De Parade Amsterdam

Today is the first day of De Parade Amsterdam, a theater festival with focus on food and drinks in Amsterdam’s Martin Luther Kingpark.

De Parade is different from other festivals. The shows are short and creative and held in small tents. The vibe has some circus, a little fairy tale, street music and story telling. Everything is set up around a central food court where people meet, eat and drink, and decide which shows they want to see. The artists will tour the food court and entertain the visitors with small stunts trying to lure them to their show.

The good shows do sell out quickly, so some advance planning and reservation of tickets is advisable. I love Dutch poppy bard Spinvis who is a regular at the yearly event and this year has dreamt up a concept called kamermuziek (Dutch) – or chamber music. The show is some sort of behind the scenes look at how he makes music, all by himself, using a variety of sounds and instruments. Another classic and yearly crowd favorite at De Parade is the Silent Disco – a large crowd grooving to the beats with headphones. The effect is pretty cool when you see loads of people getting down in sync without a single noticeable sound.

While not a food festival, De Parade does a good job at wining and dining the guests, some of which actually enjoy the food and drinks so much that they never make it to any of the shows. The main food attraction is Restaurant de Aalmoes – Dutch for the alms. It’s a portable greenhouse in which two reputed chefs serve a biological French menu. The other restaurants and bars are a cosmopolitan mix of Dutch pancakes, Mexican burritos, Italian wood oven pizza, Sushi and much more.

de parade - restaurant de aalmoes — Restaurant De Aalmoes

26 Michelin Stars in Amsterdam on 6 and 7 November 2009

Amsterdam has seen a number of food festivals the last few weeks. In November, Stars, Food & Art will crank it up a few notches. 11 world-renowned chefs, worth a total of 26 Michelin stars, will cook their signature dishes for a gala diner at Sofitel Amsterdam The Grand.

The lineup includes top Dutch chefs Jonnie Boer of De Librije and Sergio Herman of Oud-Sluis, both three Michelin star restaurants.They will be joined by an impressive list of Michelin star chefs from France, Italy and Finland.

For € 650,= you can reserve a seat and enjoy six course of signature dishes including wine!

Amsterdam Culinair Festival Cancelled

There have been many food related events in Amsterdam in the past weeks. And more are coming up.

One that didn’t make it, is Amsterdam Culinair. It was supposed to be held on Museumplein from June 18 to 21. It was pitched as a creative, high-end food event. Intending to be like De Parade for food. The event had already been canceled in 2007 and was small-scale in 2008. Hopes to revive it in 2009 were dashed as it had to be canceled again.

It’s great to see more and more food festivals in Amsterdam. However, it’s not surpirsing to see some less succesful that fail to distinguish themselves in the crowded festival calendar.