What started out of love for sausage and traditional brunch dishes, mixed with a complete lack thereof in Amsterdam, has turned into one of the hottest food tickets in town. Reservations for the monthly Lovefood brunches now sell out in minutes. And there is a buzz of excitement amongst the lucky few while they wait outside for their table on the day of the event.
Creative brain and part-time chef Jason Hartley started Lovefood in 2009. Then held at Café Finch and later at Café Bax, the first brunches drew a crowd of expats and their friends, looking to trade Dutch pancakes and hagelslag for sausage and beans for one lazy Sunday morning. Over here at dutchgrub we loved the idea immediately and quickly included Lovefood on our list of best Amsterdam brunches.
A lot has happened since and we were delighted when Jason reached out to invite us over for brunch so that we could try out the new and improved Lovefood and share our thoughts on the dutchgrub blog.
And Lovefood has come a long way. The monthly brunches now take place at Brasserie Vlaming, a larger space with open kitchen on Prinsengracht. There is a professional website and very active Facebook page. The menu has a lot more options. And most importantly the cooking and waiting staff have improved a lot, running a smooth operation while cranking out some 130 brunches in 3 staggered shifts.
The menu has all the brunch classics: pancakes, eggs of all shapes and sizes, French toast, burritos and two full breakfasts called “The Beast” and “The Full Mikey”. Just like two years ago, we loved our Beast, which hit the spot with sausage, beans, pudding and tomato. The self-proclaimed “most American of the table” was happy to report the same about the Full Mikey with bacon, pancakes, scrambled eggs and hash browns. It’s obvious that Jason loves food and puts incredible effort into finding the best ingredients needed to turn these simple, timeless dishes into everybody’s favorite meal!
Jason has big plans and wants to expand Lovefood in multiple directions, possibly including selling artisanal food products and extending the brunches to a daily format. It will be great to see where Lovefood is headed and we would love to see it open every day of the month. We hope that when expanding, Lovefood will stay true to its roots. My beast started showing a few signs of turning into a beauty, of which there already are too many in Amsterdam…
For now, keep an eye on the website or Facebook page for the next Lovefood date. And make sure you get your reservation early as tables will go within minutes.
www.jasonslovefood.com
Currently taking place at Brasserie Vlaming, Prinsengracht 193 1015 DS Amsterdam
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Jason.Hartleys.lovefood
Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/lovefood_jason
Public Transport: Trams 1, 2, 5, 13, or 17 to Nieuwezijds Kolk, or trams 3 or 10 to Marnixplein
Cuisine: Brunch
Neighbourhood: Canals
Vibe: Trendy
Price: €25 per person