food Archives - Page 7 of 13

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.

Food at De Parade and the Over Het IJ Festival

June was food festival month in Amsterdam! First the Holland Food Festival and the Weekend of the Rolling Kitchens were jointly held at the Westergasfabriek. Then we had the Amsterdam Roots Festival in Oosterpark. And finally the Taste Festival is visiting Amsterdam this weekend.

While this is the end of food themed festivals, I noticed that other cultural festivals are putting more and more emphasis on food. Finally! It used to be that food was sparse, over-priced and poor quality. Nothing more than a money maker and fuel to keep festival visitors going. Now food is becoming a key element, vital to attracting visitors!

De Parade, a mobile theater and circus event touring Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht and Amsterdam, was the first to combine food and shows. Comedy, drama, dance, song and other shows are taking place in circus tents around the festival area. The tent village is centered around a food plaza where visitors eat, drink and have fun and which the artists visit with little publicity stunts to promote their show. De Parade will be held in Martin Luther King park in Amsterdam 31 July to 16 August. And there will be no less than 15 food stalls including a tempura bar, a wood oven pizzeria and a soul food cantina.

Next up is the Over Het IJ Festival from 2 July to 12 July on NDSM wharf in Amsterdam North. It’s a theater festival with an extensive programme including performances by theater students. The location is great, across the IJ river as its name suggests and reached by ferry directly from Amsterdam Central Station. Food is actively being promoted as one of the key ingredients of the festival. Caterers One for the Road and bakery BCups will supply food on the festival terrain. And the neighboring Noorderlicht Cafe, housed in a cool glass hangar, is participating in the festival all week long.

Impressions from the Rolling Kitchens Festival Amsterdam

June is food festival month in Amsterdam. So here are some impressions from the Rolling Kitchens Festival on 6 June at the Westergasfabriek.

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There was a good variety of food and the vehicles and stalls were put together creatively. There were juices and shakes, sausages and french fries, freshly made pizza and red wine, a few barbecues including a lobster one, cocktails and sangria, crêpes and galettes with cider, and even two bands playing!

We first had some pizza and then sat down for a while with a directly imported bottle of cider and two nutella crêpes. It was fun to watch the mixed crowd, young and old, local and tourists, stroll the festival and pick their favorite rolling kitchen.

The only issue was missing recycling containers – quite inexcusable for a food festival that is part of the sustainable Amsterdam event!

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Kek Sandwiches with Brood van Menno Bread

brood-vanmenno Simple organic lunch place Kek on Hoofddorpplein has upgraded their healthy sandwiches. The sandwiches are now served on bread from Rotterdam-based biological bakery Brood van Menno.

Kek opened doors in January and draws a good local crowd for lunch and dinner. They have open wireless and serve sandwiches, juices, shakes, and antipasti. The sandwiches with, for example, ham with honey-mustard or mackerel with dill-cucumber dressing just got a great upgrade: a very flavorful, organic sourdough bread!

The bread is made by Rotterdam-based bakery Brood van Menno. Menno bakes bread in the traditional French way, importing flour from France, using sourdough, and letting the bread rise for up to 24 hours before baking. Menno was trained in Rouen and started his Dutch bread business by delivering bread for restaurant Parkheuvel. Availability of the delicious bread in Amsterdam is spreading and now includes food shop Boerenjongens and farmers market Noordermarkt on Saturday morning.

Free tickets for Taste at Marqt

Concept supermarket Marqt is giving away free tickets for Taste for each shopping spree of € 25 and above.

Marqt has attracted a large number of foodies with its focus on local produce, food-loving staff and beautiful market-style interior design. But somehow the success of Marqt has been below expectation, at least partially due to high prices on certain food categories like meat and a limited selection in others like dairy.

As part of an aggressive marketing campaign, including varying daily discounts and opening on Sunday, Marqt is giving away free tickets to the Taste food festival June 25 to 28. OP=OP, as the Dutch like to say, or while supplies last… Marqt will also have a stall at the Fine Food Market at Taste.

June is Food Festival Month in Amsterdam

June 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.