Droog Amsterdam - Café

Droog is a design shop in Staalstraat, one of my favorite streets in Amsterdam. First they only had a small shop where designer furniture was sold, but since a few months they have extended the shop and opened up their own cafe. Now they also sell more affordable design goodies and they offer the possibility to drink a cup of coffee while dreaming about what you would love to buy. Just like you would expect from a cafe in a design store, the interior is absolutely amazing. If I get to live in a house like this when I am old, I would love to decorate the place like Droog Cafe. The cafe is well hidden within the store so it is really nice and quiet inside.

And then of course the food & drinks! Droog cafe sells coffee, tea, juices, sandwiches and salads. If you order tea you get to choose from a whole bunch of different flavours, jummy! but what I would really recommend is their chocolate pie. Without a doubt one of the best I have ever eaten!

Genau Genau @ Sugarfactory - 6th of October

As you might know, I host a montly club night at club Sugarfactory. Together with a friend of mine, I organize deephouse parties called Genau Genau. We used to do this at Thurdays, but starting from the 6th of October we have been asked to host Saturdays from now on! We have booked some great DJ's, who have played at Awakenings, Next Mondays Hangover, Cocoon and for Overdose.am. Really exciting! Come and join us at the 6th of October, read more about the event at our Facebook page To get in the party mood, you can check out one of our DJ's sets here:

http://soundcloud.com/koenlebens/koen-lebens-lazy-sundays12-08

Oh, and to reveal another little secret to you: we will also organize the new years eve party at Sugarfactory! So If you would like to go to a party with some really good music, where you do'nt have to pay the grand prize for entrance and where you still feel the new years eve vibe, keep yourself posted via www.sugarfactory.nl!

Station Roos @ Wibautstraat

Yesterday I was walking at Wibautstraat with a friend of mine, when we suddenly ran in to this cute ice cream store. It was raining very hard so it wasn't the best time to get an ice cream, but since the store looked so nice and the ice cream so delicious we couldn't resist it. The girl who owns the store told us that she had just opened up and that all the ice cream is handmade by herself. She lives in the neighbourhood of Wibautstraat and since she found that there wasn't a good ice cream shop in this area yet, she decided to open up a store herself. She has learned to make the ice cream from an Italian guy, who still teaches her to make new flavours.

When we were there yesterday, she had just made apple ice cream with pieces of apple in it. Lovely! I decided to have blueberry and apple, while Wessel chose dark chocolate and lemon. If you like chocolate, you should really try the chocolate ice cream because it has a great chocolate taste and it also has big pieces of chocolate in it. Yum! :) At the moment, Station Roos sells ice creams and coffee, but in the near future you will also be able to grab lunch here.

The store is open Tuesday till Sunday from 12.00-21.00. Check out the Facebook page of Station Roos for more info.

Organic candy @ Nieuwe Hoogstraat

When it comes to food, I like to live very conscious. I am a vegetarian so I don't eat both meat and fish, but I also try to eat as less food with food preservatives as possible. At work however, we have a huuuge candy jar and since I love sweets I do like to eat some candies while working.

I had a discussion this week with a colleague about the fact that it is actually kind of strange to be so conscious about eating i.e. bread without preservatives and eating organic vegetables but to eat candies which are made with gelatin (which is also made out of the bones of a cow) without even thinking about it. We agreed that it is not that easy to find good-tasting organic candies. But when I walked down Nieuwe Hoogstraat this morning, I discovered Candy Freaks: a lovely little store which actually sells loads of organic sweets!

I just had to take a look inside so I walked into the store and looked around a bit. The owner greeted me very friendly and immediately showed me around. He let me taste all kinds of different candies and told me what made these sweets so special. The one you see on the picture above for example, are made on a farm and are probably the only sweets that entirely exist of fruit. As you can see, there even are still raspberry seeds within them!

Candy Freaks sells sweets without gelatin, sugar and vegetarian-approved sweets. Furthermore, they have organic chocolates, sweet and salty organic popcorn and if you really don't want to try the organic ones you can buy classical sweets here as well. I can really recommend you to go here and have a look yourself, please don't hesitate to ask the owners for advice because they are really really nice people. Enjoy!

Check out for more info: https://www.facebook.com/candy.freaks.nl

BBROOD & Koffie @ NDSM-werf

Another hotspot enters Amsterdam Noord! Although it is not open yet, I think it is already worth mentioning it here. At September 17, BBROOD (which you might know from it's delicious bread) opens a little cafe exactly across the street of where the free ferries to NDSM-werf moor. I always go to the IJ-hallenmarket every first Saturday of the month, and until now there wasn't really a spot where you could grab a coffee or a small snack while waiting for the ferry back to the city center. So, I'm very excited to see this little pearl rising here :) At this time, there is still a lot of building going on, but you should definitely keep track of this spot!

Perfect view @ Shell tower

I'm quite a fan of the northern part of Amsterdam. In the past years, a lot of nice places have opened up their doors here. Think for example about EYE, de Tolhuistuin, Pllek..

For this weekend only, another cool hotspot opens its doors in Amsterdam Noord: the Shell Tower, also known as Overhoeks Tower. If you live in Amsterdam, you probably know it. It's situated across Amsterdam Central Station (on the other side of the water) and in between EYE and de Tolhuistuin. The tower, where Shell used to be situated, has been for sale for a very long time now. Once a year it's possible to have a look inside the tower and - most importantly ofcourse - to see the indoubtedly amazing view over Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I am not in town this weekend so I can't go there, but I am pretty sure that it is one of the best viewpoints of Amsterdam since the tower has a height of almost 80(!) meters.

If you'd like to take a look, check out www.shelltoren.nl. The tower is opened at Friday the 17th of August from 14.00-20.00, and at Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of August from 10.00-20.00.
The entrance fee is 2,50.

Stadsbranderij Noord@ Tolhuisweg

 
Nice! Kees Kraakman -who describes himself as a coffee nerd- opened his temporary coffee-roasting factory in the Tolhuistuin (Amsterdam Noord) at the 20th of June. You can take the quick ferry departing at the backside of Amsterdam Central Station to get here. Kraakman roasts coffee beans and serves coffee from freshly roasted beans as well. It is great to see someone being so passionate about coffee, if you are around you should definitely go here and try! :-)
Stadsbranderij Noord is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 09:00 - 18:00.

Really really nice place @ Goudsbloemstraat

I haven't had the time to visit this lovely cafe yet since it is only open during weekends and I have been fairly busy the past few weekends. However, from what I have heard about it I can only conclude that I have to go here soon! At this 'really really nice place' (love that name!) you can have the most delicious brunches in the weekends, there are art expositions and other events and they sell great cocktails. When I was living in Berlin, me and my friends used to go out every Friday and Saturday and then start our Sundays with a lazy brunch. These were the best Sundays you could think of :-) There are not a lot of places where you can have a quality brunch in Amsterdam, but if I take a look at this menu I think that it gets close to what we were used to. Luckily, a lot of the friends I made while living in Berlin moved back with me to Amsterdam, so we will definitely check this place out together soon.

Brunch is at Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00-16:00. Check out the brunch menu here & their cocktail menu here, reservations via www.reallyniceplace.com.

Vijzel Good Food @ Vijzelgracht

This traiteur/ sandwich shop is still an undiscovered little treasure because -at the moment- it is hidden behind the gates at Vijzelgracht where the Noord-Zuidlijn is being built. It really has potential to become a hotspot though, and I think that it will be as soon as these gates disappear. Vijzel sells delicious sandwiches but you can also get your (take-away) dinner and choose between fresh salads, soups, typically Dutch stamppot, quiche and mashed potatoes. If you take a look at the picture above, you'll probably understand why you should go here! When you are at Vijzel, you should definitely try their cocos cookies, they are the best I've had so far :-)

La Fruteria @ Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal

This tiny shop is situated near the Nieuwe Kerk. It's very small so you could easily overlook it but they sell fresh waffles and you can't really miss that delicious smell. La Fruteria is one of the healthiest pitstops you can make while shopping: you can buy fresh fruit salads, fruit- or vegetable shakes and smoothies here. For those who don't want to be so healthy La Fruteria sells waffles with whipped cream and - if you like it- fresh fruit on top. Also, they sell carrot cakes and occasionally some muffins.

My personal favorite is actually the fruit salad, you can choose which fruits you want (most of the time I go for raspberries, mango, strawberry and blueberry). I could eat this every day :-)

Bettina bakt @ Van Wou

 One of the things I admire most is when people follow their dreams and make the decision to do what they have always dreamt of. Bettina bakt at van Wou straat is a good example. Bettina always wanted to have her own little shop where she could bake pies and cookies. When she was 49, she made the decision to start here own bakery and now she sells home-made organic pies and cookies at van Woustraat. And they are goooood! Besides buying cake, cookies or pie you can also buy typical German bread here (for which you pay by weight) or just go by to have a nice cup of coffee.

Check out for more info: http://www.bettinabakt.nl
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Pompoen met Speck @ Veemarkt

One of my favourite (healthy) take away/home delivery services in Amsterdam. Pompoen met Speck cooks delicious organic meals - a lot of vegetarian meals as well! - for a very reasonable price. You can order several kinds of typical Dutch 'stamppot', but also soups salads, dishes with meat or fish and desserts. My personal favourites are their beetroot salad (3,95; three different kinds of beetroot, feta and mint) and their spinach/turnip tops soup (2,95).

Also pretty nice: they have a EK menu which is totally orange: carrot soup, a salad with carrots, pistache nuts and raisins and carrot 'stamppot'. Carrots seem to be very good for you eyes so you won't miss a single pass when you eat this ;)

Check out their website for more info on  the menu, delivering hours & prices: http://www.pompoenmetspeck.com/

Cup à la Cake @ Westermarkt

Two words: Cupcake heaven! This little shop at Westermarkt sells all kinds of cupcakes you can think of. Besides, Cup à la Cake sells cake pops (see pictures above) which do not only taste great ut are also beautiful. Even if you do not like cupcakes you should just go and have a look in this store because all the colours will make you instantly happy :-) My personal favourites are by the way not the cupcakes but the macarons, they sell them in 9 different flavours.

Cup a la cake shares its shop with De Osdorper, which sells delicious sandwiches. So if you brought your boyfriend (who probably doesn't want to be found dead with a cupcake) you can safely let him order a sandwhich while you go crazy on the cupcakes. Enjoy!

For more info on opening hours, click here

For an overview of De Osdorpers'sandwhiches click here

                                  

La Vallade @ Ringdijk

   

This place is one of the cutest restaurants I've ever been to. Well hidden at Ringdijk, at the border of Oost and Watergraafsmeer, you will find this little French restaurant. There's no à la carte menu, you can just choose between the five course menu (34,50) or for their 'plat du jour (17,50). The food is delicious and they have a small sunny terrace in the summer. On mondays, La Vallade serves a vegetarian menu. When you sit here you just forget for a moment that you are in Amsterdam, since it really has the atmosphere of a petit restaurant of a French village.

For more info on opening hours, check out their website

Pllek @ NDSM-werf

Another new hotspot in Amsterdam Noord! Today, Pllek only has a outside bar and a big terrace alongside the IJ, but there are big plans for this lovely place at NDSM-werf.

Pllek is going the be a very versatile spot where litterally everyone can do what he likes to do. In August, Pllek opens a biological restaurant and a theater (very promising: IDFA and Melkweg take care of the programming!). Besides that, Pllek will also provide working spaces for freelancers, chill out areas, art exhibitions, movies, music and parties. Sounds just amazing :-)

The building is made out of old sea containers and also the interior will be filled with second hand furniture. The food in the restaurant is going to be biological and for a great deal also vegetarian/raw food. So you don't ever have to feel guilty for enjoying yourself here, everything is green, healthy, fair & sustainable here!

Planning is to open its doors seven days a week so you can come by as early as breakfast starts and stay until 00.00 (or till 03.00 during the weekend!) if you like. For now we will have to be a bit more patient, but I am really looking forward to hang out here. I already love Amsterdam Noord and especially NDSM-Werf, but I am sure Pllek will make it even better. Looking forward to August!

EYE Amsterdam @ IJpromenade

                         Photo: Henk Meijer via his blog Places of the World
Eye has only opened its door for a few weeks now but this spot is already really really popular. Eye is the new film museum, replacing the old one at Vondelpark. Besides being a museum, Eye also has a 4 hall cinema, one of the best terraces of Amsterdam and a lovely restaurant with the same beautiful IJview as the terrace.

I visited Eye last Friday to see the movie 'Moonrise Kingdom'. I was already planning to go here for a few weeks and I really have to say that I am impressed. At first when Eye was being built, I didn't like it's modern white building with it's diamond shape at all. But I have to admit that it has turned out to be wonderful! The moment you walk into the restaurant you are actually stunned by the beautiful 180 degree view over the water and by the modern design. The restaurant has been built up in layers and for each layer tables stand a bit higher than the one below. Also, there are wooden stairs in the middle where you can sit down on and have a drink. It's really nice, in this way everybody has a great view on the water. I went to the movies with my sister somewhere around 8 p.m and when we came out of the cinema we could just see the sun set. And even though Amsterdam North in general is still not very popular, when we left at 00.30 there were still a lot of people drinking, chatting & laughing as if it were a normal cafe.

Eye has a huge sunny outside terrace along the water as well, which I want to go check out soon.
I think Amsterdam North has a new hot spot! :-) Check out the menu or movie program here 

Fratelli Ice @ Spuistraat

Finally: summer! I have been very busy lately so unfortunately I haven’t written that much on my weblog. Good news however, from now on I have exams which means that I’ll need a loooottt of breaks – during which I can try out some new spots I have discovered! I already want to share one of them with you, Fratelli Ice. This ice cream store is situated in Spuistraat and although it is not really cheap (1,50 p/scoop), it's absolutely worth it because the ice cream is delicious! You should really try their coconut ice cream, it really tastes like fresh cocos. The staff in the shop is very friendly and all the ice cream is hand made in the back of the store. What I really like is that you can ask the staff for you favorite flavour -  if they don’t have it but like the idea, they'll make it for you! Lovely :-)

Another nice thing I want to share with you is that from now on, I’ll be hosting a monthly club evening at Sugarfactory! The party is called GenauGenau and our first edition at May 10^th was a huge success. I’m looking forward to our second edition at the 19^th of July. Hope to catch you guys there!

World Press Photo @ Oude Kerk

I have been very busy with my studies lately, so I didn't really have the time to write new blog updates. I'm sorry for that! The good news is that I have springbreak now, so I'll have plenty of time this week to go discover some new hotspots and events :-)

I have been asked to become a blogger for Museumn8 and today I have visited my first expo for them: World Press Photo at Oude Kerk.This is a yearly exposition where you can see all winning photos of the World Press Photo contest for photography journalists. I think it is really impressive. You get an overview of what happened the past year, and actually that has been quite a lot. The Arabic Spring, the tsunami in Japan, the financial crisis which left a lot of families in the U.S. broke. The pictures that are exposed are pretty shocking sometimes, but also very beautiful and touching.

Besides the pictures that are related to the news there are also photographs of daily situations. All photographs have in common that they make you very conscious about what is happening in the world, and unfortunately it doesn't leave you with a positive feeling. Seeing all these wars, natural disasters, dead people, poor people does made me aware of the fact that I'm are very lucky to live in a safe country like this. I left the expo with a weird feeling in my stomach but still I am glad that I've seen it, it touched me. You can see the expo until the 20th of June, tickets are 8,00. Check out for more info:

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/Exhibition/2012_Amsterdam

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Cinéma Culinaire @ 16cc

 A friend of mine -who is a great cook and a very creative guy!- is organizing a nice event this Sunday. At 16cc, a small movie theatre slash gallery near NEMO, Cinéma Culinaire will take place from 13.00-18.00. This Sunday is the first edition, but from now on it will take place every last Sunday of the month. Whether you are having a hangover and only want to sit and eat or whether you've already had a very active day, it doesn't matter: everybody can have lunch at Cinéma Culinaire. Theme of the lunch is always inspired on one of the movies that is playing at 16cc: this time it is Wickie de Viking. Brings back some childhood memories!

 For only 12,50 you will get a great viking-style lunch,  a platter with all kinds of Scandinavian bites. If you want to you can see the movie as well but if you don't, you can just sit down and enjoy your Sunday here. Sounds good, huh? :-) I think it'll be a very relaxed afternoon - I'm looking forward to it! You can make a reservation for lunch via 16cc: 020-6270236 or send an e-mail to info@16cc.nl. Hope to catch you there! Check out the Facebookevent for more info or go to their website.