Taste of Amsterdam – 24 to 27 June 2010

Taste of Amsterdam is part of a world-wide series of food events that celebrate fine dining in major cities. The formula is to provide visitors with an opportunity to sample small portions of the signature dishes of prestigious local restaurants. Michelin star decorated Ron Blaauw and Aan de Poel will participate amongst a group of 18 restaurants. Guests will need to buy € 15 tickets to attend the events and can then taste samples from different chefs for somewhere around € 4 to 9.

www.tasteofamsterdam.com
When: 24-27 June, 12:00 to 17:00 or 18:00 to 23:00
Where: Amstelpark on Europaboulevard near RAI exhibition center.
Public transport: Take tram or metro to RAI.

Over het IJ Festival – 1 to 11 July 2010

The Over Het IJ Festival is a theater festival on NDSM wharf in Amsterdam North, across the water behind Central Station. There is an extensive program with a focus on performances by younger talent. There also are nice food options for in between, including caterers “One for the Road” or the pancake boat. You may also enjoy a trip to neighboring Noorderlicht Cafe, spectacularly housed in a cool glass hangar and sporting a hip vibe.

www.overhetij.nl
When: 1-11 July, exact program to be decided
Where: NDSM wharf on Neveritaweg 15 across the water from Central Station
Public transport: Take the free NSDM ferry behind Central Station.

De Parade – 6 to 22 August 2010

De Parade is another theater festival with a strong food focus. The atmosphere is very much cabaret and circus, with all performances held in large tents around the main area of restaurants, bars and ticket sales. It’s a traveling festival that starts in Rotterdam mid June, moves on to The Hague and Utrecht and ends in Amsterdam from 6 to 22 August. Expect comedy, song and dance and other quirky shows such as the popular silent disco. And enjoy food and drinks from the Tacobar, wood oven pizzeria Fuoco e Desiderio or organic eatery La Rana. Tickets are € 7, excluding food, drinks and performances.

www.deparade.nl
When: 6-22 August, 15:00 to 24:00
Where: Martin Luther Kingpark on Amsteldijk between the Berlagebrug and Utrechtsbrug.
Public transport: Take tram 25 to President Kennedylaan.

So today I will leave with just a little reminder that the next Pure Markt is coming up on 25 April, as usual the last Sunday of the month.

puremarkt.nl
Park Frankendael, Amsterdam
Public transport: Tram 9 to Hogeweg, bus 65 to Pieter Zeemanlaan
Every last Sunday of the month
Dates: 28 March, 25 April, 30 May, 27 June, 29 August, 26 September, 31 October, 19 December

Then just a few days later I saw a feature on zestz about burrata, a fresh Italian cheese that is a mix of mozzarella and cream. I love the buttery flavor and smooth creamy texture of burrata. Unfortunately it’s hard to find as it’s only produced in Italy and cannot be kept for long. When I found out on zestz that L’Amuse sells burrata, I had to go there immediately.

I did go and was not disappointed! The store is located on Stadionweg and has a modern, spacious design with a large wooden table in the back. The cheeses are on display in a large refrigerated display case. And the two friendly guys running the store know everything about them.

I asked about their favorites and recommendations and was very pleased to be allowed a small taste of the cheeses that interested me. They were all very good, but I had to decide and in the end went home with a brie de meaux, a sharp Montgommery’s cheddar and a fruity comté. And of course the main prize, a wonderful burrata.

In case you cannot decide, you might want to check out their web site, which has a complete list of cheeses with full classification and long descriptions.

www.lamuse.nl
Stadionweg 147
1076 NM Amsterdam
Tel: +31-20-6707559
Open Tuesday – Friday 10:00 to 19:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 17:00
Public transport: Tram 24 or bus 15 to Olympiaplein

In 2009 I had fun at Pure Markt several times, picking up English style sausages, Dutch home-grown grapes and Canadian chocolate coated cranberries amongst other things. It’s a fun thing to do, so go check it out on Sunday if you have the time!

puremarkt.nl
Park Frankendael, Amsterdam
Public transport: Tram 9 to Hogeweg, bus 65 to Pieter Zeemanlaan
Every last Sunday of the month
Dates: 28 March, 25 April, 30 May, 27 June, 29 August, 26 September, 31 October, 19 December

Marqt is catering to foodies by turning around the traditional supermarket model of low prices, long expiration dates and overall convenience on its head, and instead focusing on local products and partnership with producers. Since its inception, I have been on the fence about Marqt. It’s certainly much better than the Albert Heijn stores everybody loves to hate. But it also falls short on its promise by being more expensive that expected, having a limited selection of products and inconsistent quality.

One thing that Marqt does very well is the interior design of its shops! They pick great locations and turn them into a modern Mediterranean market halls with beautifully tiled walls and irregularly arranged food stalls. The location on Utrechtsestraat sounds great too – an old, monumental building, close to the center but just off the beaten path.

They just released this promo video showing re-design of the building!

www.marqt.com
Utrechtsestraat 17
1017VH Amsterdam
Open daily 9:00 to 21:00
Public transport: Tram 9, 14 to Rembrandtplein; metro 51, 53, 54 to Waterlooplein

Pino opened his store on Haarlemmermeerstraat about a year ago. He started by offering a great selection of Italian wines, built through many years as a wine supplier to many great Italian restaurants in the Netherlands, and then also made available directly to consumers.

I was very happy when Pino added freshly prepared take-away pasta to his selection, providing quality meals at a very affordable € 5,= per person. Next to good food, there was always a great story to be shared and some excellent wine to be tasted and I quickly became a regular. Little did I know that things would get even better.

Two weeks ago I went for pasta and ended up with an amazing burrata, imported directly from Italy by Pino along with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and all the other ingredients he needs for his pasta. Since burrata must be fresh, it’s not available every day. But make sure you ask for it when you stop by!

Last Friday, Pino added two pizza ovens to the kitchen and hired a pizzaiolo to work alongside the pasta chef. Which means you can now also enjoy freshly made take away pizza. Starting at € 6,50 there is a number of standard pizzas like margarita and funghi, as well as more interesting varieties like San Daniele with cured ham or Buffalina.

I’m very happy about this and as you can see from the photo, Pino is very proud of his pizza ovens and peel!

There will be an exhibition as well as many workshops. The exhibition features a mix of Italian wine stores, delis, equipment vendors, book and magazine publishers, cooking schools and even food tourism operators. There will also be wine and food tastings as well as small cooking lessons, although several of the workshop already seem fully booked.

Loods 6 is a former dock that has been transformed into shopping and office building with a professional event center. It has an industrial feel to it and should be a great venue for the event.

Best of all, both private dining experiences came at a very reasonable price of between € 45,= and € 60,= per person plus tip, including food, wine and all other drinks! Less than you would pay at many of the better restaurants in Amsterdam.

Carlo di Luca

The first private dining option in De Pijp is Carlo di Luca on Gerard Doustraat 224. Carlo has lived in the Netherlands for many years, but you can feel an Italian heart beating inside him as soon as you enter his little shop. There is Italian food everywhere, an iPod playing Italian classics and a large dose of Italian hospitality.

Carlo served us a *lot* of food. We started with a nice glass of Prosecco and some snacks while everyone was arriving. And with the antipasti already out on the table making everybody hungry, we quickly sat down and started on bruschetta, polpo salad with chickpeas and a really good fried polenta with lardo. And that was just the start…

We had dinner downstairs in the kitchen, which was cozy and fun with lots of pots and pans and cans of food on the shelves and Carlo behind the stove. The downstairs area seats 6 to 8 people on one large table with high bistro chairs. Carlo also has a larger room upstairs for private dining of groups of up to 20 people. We had prearranged the menu with Carlo, opting for a mix of our own favorites and Carlo’s suggestions of specialties from Abbruzzo, his home region.

After the antipasti, we had oven cooked gnocchi with a spicy tomato sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese. After that we were starting to feel slightly full, although the main course hadn’t even arrived yet. There were different options, an eggplant Parmesan for the vegetarians, a salted baked dorado for fish eaters and leg of lamb Abruzzo style for the others. All were very good and washed down with plenty of white and red table wine.

It was getting late, but there was more merriment to be had. A great double dessert of tiramisu and espresso with ice cream, followed by several shots of limoncello and grappa. We left our private dining room very happy at almost 2am the next morning.

Carlo also has a little coffee house where you can try his own home-made espresso and does catering.

Het Magazijn

Another option for private dining is Het Magazijn on Frans Hals Straat, not far from De Witte Uyl, one of dutchgrub’s best Amsterdam restaurants and Da Portare Via, one of dutchgrub’s preferred pizza places.

Much like Carlo’s, Het Magazijn is all about one man’s passion for good food in a relaxed ambiance. Owner Tony is Dutch and has traveled around the world, doing many different jobs, finally settling on his real passion, food, and returning to Amsterdam to set up a small take away shop with a large table.

The main business of Het Magazijn is take away and many of the locals living in de Pijp on or near Frans Hals Straat drop by after work to pick up a freshly prepared dish. The menu is Mediterranean, a mix of Spanish tapas, Italian pasta and other dishes.

Tony also has a large table where you can sit with other guests enjoying the dishes, a few good glasses of house wine and have some fun discussions or catch up on the latest scoop of De Pijp. We decided to rent out the entire shop for a week night and had a great time sitting around the large table.

The menu of the evening was tapas and pasta. For starters there were several nice cold cuts like serrano ham and chorizo, an incredibly flavorful truffle mayonnaise, Spanish tortilla and olives. The main course was a choice of pasta, either vegetarian or chicken alfredo. We washed it all down with nice wine and a limoncello at the end and had a great evening for € 45 each.

Private Dining Amsterdam

Here are the details of the suggested private dining locations:

Carlo di Luca
Gerard Doustraat 224, 1073 XC Amsterdam
Phone: +31-(0)20-421-0052
Web: www.carlodiluca.com

Het Magazijn
Frans Halsstraat 68, 1072 BV Amsterdam
Phone: +31-(0)20-675-3506
Web: www.hetmagazijn.nl

And also restaurant Momo, the hot spot for the cool kids now has a private dining room.

I just got word from De Witte Uyl, one of dutchgrub’s best Amsterdam restaurants, that they have three specials with fresh white truffles on their menu. So I thought I’d pass it on to you to encourage you to head over to De Pijp for some grilled scallops with white truffle, carpaccio of venison with freshly grated white truffle, or an oven dish of spinach and egg served with freshly grated truffle.

All sounds great to me, especially if finished off with De Witte Uyl’s trademark chocolate bord!

I went to Broodje Bert to get sandwiches for me and the others at the office. The logistics were a little difficult as Bert has no web site or menu online otherwise. He also only does take away and no delivery. So I cycled over, took a picture of the menu and sent it back to the office. Thank god for the mobile interwebs! I placed the order and had a good time with the others in the store, pretty much all of which seemed to be regulars knowing exactly what they wanted. You can also sit inside, at a small counter behind the large window and look out at the many bikes crisscrossing by.

The sandwiches were large, messy and good. Broodje Bert is known for its grilled chicken sandwich which I tried. It’s a large, thin slice of chicken breast, grilled briefly, with lots of marinade. It’s blackened from the marinade going up in flames when turned over on the grill. The sandwich is garnished with lots of crunchy lettuce, corn and other greens, and  drenched in lots of yummy garlic sauce. The healthy ham sandwich and the BLT with freshly sliced, crispy bacon also looked very good! And the burger with lamb meat on Turkish bread seemed very popular with the regulars.

Broodje Bert is located on Singel 321, Amsterdam and open daily from 9am to 5pm.