A friend Sabine decided to treat me for granola at a new place Cottoncake in her and her homeboys Patrick hood. De Pijp in Amsterdam. Situated at the 1e van der Helststraat, which was a dull street crossing the famous Albert Cuyp market about a year ago. Now it’s a lively street with cafe’s, the Croquette joint of Amsterdam van Dobben and Bakkery Brood. And Cottoncake is a nice initiative which contributed to this cosy street too.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So, I treated my dear friend the Style Visitor for a birthday breakfast after a wild night out haha. My idea is to get out of my comfort zone, just like when I’m abroad and picked Bakken met Passie in another area of town as THE joint to start the day. Why?
Reunion at Le Pain Quotidien
Crime: mint tea, fruit and yoghurt (low carb day haha)
Scene: Le Pain Quotidien, Cornelis Troostplein 2, Amsterdam, de Pijp
Investigation: Food relates to a lot of memories and some places are ideal for retrieving some and to cathc up what we’ve missed out on each other.
Last weekend I hooked up with an high school friend and had some breakfast at organic bakery Le Pain Quotidien. We selected this place because it was between my house and his. A packed place in de Pijp with a wooden interior like a mix between an authentic old school village bakery and chain Bagels & Beans.
Although the styling was good it reminded me of a place like uber chain Starbucks, which I can give heads up to for the fantastic branding. Can’t hate on that haha A nice décor, but slightly overpriced for what you get and I’m not cheap haha. The place is not as cosy than for example another bakery chain de Bakkerswinkel.
I haven’t taste the specials or breads yet like the multi grain or spelt, but give that a try another time when I’m in the neighbourhood. The place is ‘aight’, great service and it’s an ideal place to have long chats with drinks.
De Stadskantine
Crime: Rice with tomato tajine and goatscheese, white wines and a chocolate mouse w/ rhubarb. Also tried the mash potatoes with chilli chicken and the trout lasagne ;)
Scene: De Stadskantine, Van Woustraat 120, Amsterdam
Investigation: Finally had the time to check this ‘new’ joint out. I had dinner here with amie Anne (*whut!) and my chaud lapin.
The concept is: a well furnished canteen where you can find daily changing menus for dutch-nice-prices a.k.a. dinner for €8.85 for the meat, fish and vegetarians among us.
Even when there is not a real service (you need to go to the counter high-school-canteen-way, wait for your dinner, bring them to your own table and bring your dishes to the ‘afruim’ counter <- what is it in english anyway? haha) the service you get is good. Friendly guys who keep things tidy and love to tell you about the concept.
I was in a vegetable mood and ordered the rice with tomato tajine and goats cheese. The smooth cheese in combination with the tomato was a hit. If you know me, I always ask others to taste my dish and I taste theirs haha Well, the chili chicken with pickled cucumber was ok and so was the mash. The trout lasagne was ok too, because it could use more vegetables and sauce. With other words, I was happy with my dish ;)
Afterwards we had a heavy chocolate mouse with rhubarb which made it a good dinner. Hope that de Stadskantine will have this mouse often and I most definitely come for more. I’ll also visit for the other dishes, since I’m not totally convinced yet.
Don’t expect to complicated or Michelin dishes. This is an ideal place to get your dose of home cooked meals when you don’t fancy to cook yourself. Far better than your university canteen, even the vibe is better. And I think healthier than your local ‘wok to walk’.
Crisis Snack
Bruschetta is one of the most popular snacks at dinner parties and picnics. Why? Because it’s easy to make. Just google and you’ll find tons of variations. You’ll impress people without spending a lot of time or money.So, buy some ciabatta (I prefer using ciabatta instead of a baguette), Roma (plum) tomatoes or grape tomatoes (beacuse its sweeter than the ‘regular’ tomatoes), good olive oil (you probably have some in your kitchen), mozzarella if you like, fresh basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
Toast slices of bread in a toaster, rub garlic on them, put a spoon finely sliced tomatoes (just tastes better than chunks of chopped tomatoes) on the toast, drizzle olive oil on them, put slices of mozzarella with chopped fresh (or dry ) basil, spice it up with oregano if you like tadaaa…. If your a skilled bargain shopper, you won’t spend over 5 Euro!
If you’d like to taste awesome bruschetta, order at L’Angoletto, Hemonystraat 18, Amsterdam or go to Italy!
