First of all, Restaurant Marius, one of our Best Amsterdam Restaurants, has reopened in its former location. Marius was closed from late May to late September. Plans for moving to a larger venue fell through due to issues with permits, so Marius will continue to do its magic from the charming Barentszstraat locale.

In other good news, Lovefood, one of our Best Amsterdam Brunches, has returned. They are now operating on a monthly schedule, every first Sunday of the month. You can get the details on their Facebook page. Make sure you do get a reservation. It’s very busy due to the monthly schedule and several good reviews.

You win some, you lose some, they say. And unfortunately this appears to be true as we just received an email letting us know that The Man Who Cuts the Meat has closed down. Executive chef Chris van der Kuil has moved to Saigon, Vietnam, and is now working on Flow.

There’s quite a buzz about the Giro in Amsterdam these days with ads, banners and posters in pink, the color of the leading cyclists jersey, everywhere. I thought people would probably enjoy some good Italian food on the day of the Giro and decided to compile a list of the best Italian restaurants in Amsterdam.

Italian Restaurants

For traditional Italian food in Italian atmosphere I would recommend Restaurant Koevoet, the best traditional Italian food in Amsterdam, or Café de Curtis, a simple but good Italian.

Restaurant Koevoet (no web site)
Lindenstraat 17
1015 KV Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 6240846

Café de Curtis (no web site)
Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat 6-HS
1015 NT Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 4200767

Italian Pizzeria

For pizza, I would suggest Renato’s Trattoria, the most Italian of dutchgrub’s best pizza in Amsterdam.

Renato’s Trattoria – www.renatotrattoria.nl
Karel du Jardinstraat 32
1072 SK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 673 23 00

Italian Take-Away

And to pick up some Italian food to go and enjoy at home behind the TV or alongside the race track, you should head to Da Portare Via, dutchgrub’s favorite pizza to go, or pay a visit to Pino who has great deals on pasta and pizza with a big Italian smile.

Da Portare Via – www.daportarevia.nl
Leliegracht 34 (take away only)
1015 DG Amsterdam
Frans Halsstraat 63
1072 BM Amsterdam
No phone.

Vino di Pino – www.vinodipino.nl
Haarlemmermeerstraat 164
1058 KK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 3377637

There’s quite a buzz about the Giro in Amsterdam these days with ads, banners and posters in pink, the color of the leading cyclists jersey, everywhere. I thought people would probably enjoy some good Italian food on the day of the Giro and decided to compile a list of the best Italian restaurants in Amsterdam.

Italian Restaurants

For traditional Italian food in Italian atmosphere I would recommend Restaurant Koevoet, the best traditional Italian food in Amsterdam, or Café de Curtis, a simple but good Italian.

Restaurant Koevoet (no web site)
Lindenstraat 17
1015 KV Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 6240846

Café de Curtis (no web site)
Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat 6-HS
1015 NT Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 4200767

Italian Pizzeria

For pizza, I would suggest Renato’s Trattoria, the most Italian of dutchgrub’s best pizza in Amsterdam.

Renato’s Trattoria – www.renatotrattoria.nl
Karel du Jardinstraat 32
1072 SK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 673 23 00

Italian Take-Away

And to pick up some Italian food to go and enjoy at home behind the TV or alongside the race track, you should head to Da Portare Via, dutchgrub’s favorite pizza to go, or pay a visit to Pino who has great deals on pasta and pizza with a big Italian smile.

Da Portare Via – www.daportarevia.nl
Leliegracht 34 (take away only)
1015 DG Amsterdam
Frans Halsstraat 63
1072 BM Amsterdam
No phone.

Vino di Pino – www.vinodipino.nl
Haarlemmermeerstraat 164
1058 KK Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 3377637

The latest initiative is a unique six course dinner by three German guest chefs combining for a total of eight Michelin stars! The extravaganza will set you back € 249,= plus € 160,= for wine pairings and promises to be a once in a lifetime experience including free limo service. Reservations can be made online.

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.

So it’s not all too surprising, but nonetheless sad, that Dutch kroket chain Danku had to close doors of its NYC location. Danku had been promoting Dutch krokets and other fried food for the last few years. They ran a cool campaign with a very Dutch cow in Central Park against a NYC skyline. And were offering Dutch staples such as the famous “Broodje Kroket” as part of their quick lunch menu.

Now both US review site Yelp as well Dutch restaurant news source Misset Horeca have reported that Danku is closed due to financial difficulties. There also are reports that Danku will re-open in another location, so some hope remains to relive those Amsterdam moments back in NYC.

The first source came up in the comments of the previous post: Restaurant Yamazato in the Okura hotel has an extensive sake list (pdf), including an organic junmai ginjo and several daiginjo. The Okura is also planning to offer sake tasting workshops as part of its Taste of Okura cooking classes, although no dates have been announced yet.

And I got even more excited when I discovered that my favorite wine shop, Ton Overmars, had started carrying a selection of sakes! I went there last weekend to pick up some bottles of Tempus Two and immediately spotted the new sake section above the port and cognac. Ton now has 15 kinds of sake available, complete with classification and some descriptions.

What was even better was that Ton spotted me checking out the sake and was nice enough to not only help me make a selection but let me taste five kinds right on the spot! Apparently I had just missed one of his memorable tasting evenings in the neighborhood church. And luckily there were some bottles of sake left open and ready to be tried.

I settled for a bottle of Sake Nabeshima Chõko,which is an unpasteurized junmai with a complex aroma and a very smooth structure from aging. Ton also has the Kizan I got some time ago at the Pure Markt, as well as some specialties like a reddish colored sake, a bottle with active yeasts and a 31 year vintage sake!

If you are into sake, you should definitely check out Ton Overmars on Hoofddorpplein in Amsterdam!

400 years ago Henry Hudson discovered the island of Manhattan and founded New York, then known as New Amsterdam. The local Indians received him well with oysters.

To celebrate the anniversary the Slowfood organizations of the Netherlands and New York are throwing a big oyster party. The event will take place on September 13 in restaurant Kompaszaal on Loods (dock) 6 at KNSM-Laan 311.

From 4pm to 6pm there will by oyster tasting and presentations by two oyster experts. The party will follow with oysters, movies and live jazz music.

Oyster Party

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.

The article goes into Marius’ history. Chef and owner Kees Elfring used to cook at Berkeley institution Chez Panisse, which provided both training and inspiration for the name of the restaurant. Marius is the title of a movie that’s part of a trilogy in which the main character is called Panisse. The article also goes into details of the daily market menu that the author thoroughly enjoyed! With pictures.

It’s nice to see that Marius is getting well-deserved praise. And since it’s such a small and genuine place, I am not worried that too much coverage would ruin the magic.