Party hard – sleep easy in Amsterdam! A place for tourists you might think, in de middle of the redlight district, but fact is that the Winston is pretty cool, it houses a hotel with pretty cool artistically styled and not expensive rooms, a bar and a club, called the Winston Kingdom.

The Winston Kingdom is a venue for live bands, poetry, dance nights and parties. The evening styles can be very diverse, ranging from punk to alternative, from live toasting MC’s to a simple Tiësto style dance night. As diverse as the style is, is the audience, but you can be sure that they are in the mood. Usually it is quite crowded, because next to the folks that are there for especially the event, there are lots of people just dropping by, that’s because the Winston is right in the center of Amsterdam nightlife.

Surprisingly the crowd can change totally during the night. You might be among alternative youngsters during the live gigs at the beginning of the night, and end up with people in their late twenties, early thirties at the dance night later on. Anyway it is a good place to party, check out their website for what’s going on when it’s your turn to visit the Winston.

As for the mentioned openingtimes: they do not announce closing times anymore – I mean, Amsterdam has its official closing time rules, but you might as well check it out when its late, and you are still looking for a party.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Winston Kingdom | Bars, Music | Entry (<00:00) € 7.50
Warmoesstraat 129
20:00 – 03:00 daily (check also the website for program)

Bettina Bakt. The display outside adds “taart” (cake). The whole names translation would be “Bettina bakes cake”. So we know what we are up to. In Germany, especially Berlin, it’s paired with hip lifestyle to take using descriptive names literal (why use a noun when you can express it with a sentence?).

So entering Bettina Bakt we are welcomed by a fine collection of – you guessed it already – German cakes, bread and other pastries. I could tell you about each single item why I would like it, but that would exceed the limitations of this post. So I will just repeat Bettina’s statement on being asked about the difference between German pastry and (for example) Dutch pastry.

According to Bettina, German pastry is all about the ingredients, and the ones Bettina uses are strictly biological. But that’s not the point: the point is that the ingredients make the cake, not the name. It makes sense to name a nut cake nut cake when the main ingredients are nuts, and not a lot of flower and sugar, and a little bit of nuts to add flavor.

For all this I have only one word: quality. And love for what she does, maybe. A rare ingredient.

If you are comming for the bread though – keep in mind that fresh German bread comes in on Thursday (meaning that in the beginning of the week you might not get what you came for)

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Bettina Bakt | Shopping | Piece of cake € 2.70
Van Woustraat 188 | +31206627079
Wed – Sat 10:30 – 18:00

Club 8 is just around the corner from where I live, and it has it’s own specific appeal: a bit alternative, with graffiti covering all the stairways to the third and forth floor where Club8 has its residency. Not that I am a fanatic pool player. But I like – even if I don’t play – the atmosphere of people concentrating deeply on the game, and busy with something, but relaxed. Not as in some hip or less hip places in the center, noisy and overcrowded.

Pool billiard: there are 19 pool tables and 3 snooker tables. Enough to keep the waiting time down to a minimum. Actually the Club is internationally renowned, and sometimes there are international competitions.

After a change of owner unfortunately the club on the second floor has been abandoned – and will be rebuilt as a “private area snooker club” – whatever that means: I will keep you posted…

Contrary to many other places in Amsterdam it’s a pretty large space, well hidden, and not touristic at all – as with many places: you have to know about it. Especially good for rainy days. Just to mention: the guy on the picture is my fellow co-spotter Jošt from Ljubljana on his visit to Amsterdam – well: I also take my guests to Club 8!

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Club 8 | Bars, Relaxing | 1 Hour pool € 9.50
Admiraal de Ruijterweg 56b | +31206851703
Sun -Thu 16:00 – 03:00, Fri – Sat 16:00 – 04:00

After being neglected for decades, German culture is becoming increasingly en vogue in Amsterdam. Culture is food and food is culture, and an outstanding example of German bakery tradition is the Brezel, in the US also known as the Pretzl, and this little salty pastry is the name giver of lunchroom Brezel in the Sarphatistraat. It is a small cafe, only a few tables, but it all looks pretty (south) German.

The owner is dressed up in Dirndl, a typical southern German outfit that you might be familiar with if you have ever been to the famous Oktoberfest in Munich or anywhere else in the world. Instead of selling beer, Brezel offers typical southern German pastry: Brezel, Lebkuchen (gingerbread), different sorts of sandwiches and cakes.

Brezel is on my way to work, so occasionally I stop by to have a brezel and a cappuccino. If you are eating in, the brezels are served with butter and cream-cheese. The latter is not an absolutely necessary addition, but brezel and butter is an absolute must.

And really, a brezel for € 1 is an okay price for take-away (even though it’s of course more expensive than it would be in Germany), but to get it served, with butter AND cream-cheese, still for € 1 – I feel really spoiled. And I hope they won’t adapt their prices after having read my comment! Thank you Brezel!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Lunchroom Brezel | Coffee & tea | Brezel & cappuccino € 3
Sarphatistraat 42a | +31615580583
Mon – Fri 07:30 – 16:30, Sat 08:30 – 16:00

In between the train tracks just outside Sloterdijk station stands a beautifully renovated trolly car. This car was about to be turned into scrap metal when a persistent entrepreneur came along and, with a lot of hard work, turned the wreck into a unique lunch spot. After searching for a permanent location the trolly found its pitch at the spot mentioned above, where it is expanded with a nice terrace. This already makes it worth a visit.

But, and probable more importantly, the friendly and talkative entrepreneur serves tasty sandwiches, small salads and good coffees. If you want something refreshing, you can choose one of the smoothies (100% fruit). And there are different (tapas style) hot snacks and toasted sandwiches on the menu. Everything is prepared fresh from the pretty compact kitchen inside the tram. A lot of employees from the companies in the area know this place, but also more and more commuters swing by for a bite to eat.

The place is open for group lunches, company drinks and other events as well. Inside there’s place for twenty people, outside on the terrace for another fifty. It also hosts a couple of events itself, one of them “Trammeland“, a monthly house party.

Enough reasons to check it out, I would say. Especially now the weather is getting better.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
De Amsterdamsche Tram | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Sandwich € 3.95
Carrascoplein 10 | +31642601402
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00

The New Art Space Amsterdam N.A.S.A. – formerly known as Smart Project Space -  is a contemporary art center: a center because it houses a restaurant, a cinema and an exhibition space for contemporary art. All of them would actually deserve an article on their own. And all of them cover something quite unique in Amsterdam. Well, there are art house cinemas in Amsterdam. There is even EYE with its own programming covering pretty much everything which is not shown in the other art house centers.

Still NASA has its own programming, different from the rest: screening films which are closely connected to the art scene, and/or have its own idiosyncratic qualities. Just recently I’ve watched the documentary about Ai Wei Wei, and the one about Sol LeWitt is on my list.

The restaurant is nice, stylish but not stiff, a meeting place for the people who are around NASA, artists, culturally interested, or neighbourhood folks. The menu sounds really good, but as I am not such a foodie, I haven’t been eating there yet.

The picture above is taken at the latest exhibition “the dark universe” which was a great exhibition about light art/installations. Now there is another exhibition, with a more theoretical approach, based on the correspondence archive of the late Dutch anarchist Karl Max Kreuger.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
N.A.S.A | Art & culture, Cinemas, Restaurants (Intern.) | Main course +/- € 17
Arie Biemondstraat 111 | +316169994
Sun – Thu 12:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 03:00

It’s a terrible shame that Baut is a temporary restaurant and will only exist till the 31st of December 2014 ’cause I absolutely love the place. But this might also add to the charm, and luckily they still have a year and a half to go which gives me and you plenty of time to enjoy their great food and atmosphere. 

Baut is situated in a building that used to be the head office of the Volkskrant, one of the biggest Dutch newspapers. They’ve created the name of the restaurant out of calender paper on one of the walls, every day one of the days is taken off untill at the end the name will entirely disappear. The restaurant is nicely decorated and has a warm vibe because of the lighting and different seating areas. 

And then of course there is the food. The menu consists of different smaller dishes which can be ordered together to share complemented by side dishes. The dishes on the menu are subdivided to origin: France, Italy, Asia, and of course the Netherlands. The two of us had three dishes and one side dish to share which was exacty the right amount of food altogether. We had planned to have a dessert but in fact there wasn’t any room left! I must recommend the steak tartare and soft shell crab. Both are absolutely delicious!

Make sure to make a (online) reservation well in advance as Baut is a very very popular spot. 

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Baut | Bars, Restaurants (Intern.) | Main course € 20
Wibautstraat 125 | +31204659260
Sun – Thu 11:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 03:00

De OCCII (pronounce “okki”): an independent music venue – one of my regular spots to see live bands. Nothing much more than a music venue. It is not a bar, you should check it out when there an event. But the Subbacultcha events circle around a couple of locations, and the OCCII is one of them. They have a programming of their own, and you should check the event calendar to be up to date. I finally got a good pic of the bar and the location (by Kasper Vogelzang) – usually in this location I am right in front of the stage.

Well, everything about Amsterdam is small, and a venue with about 200-250 m2 is considered a large space, even if it is not, if you are accustomed to spaces in other cities. If you think of a larger garage you come pretty close to what the OCCII originally was: It used to be one of the first (horse-) tram sheds in Amsterdam. Squatters occupied it in 1984, and it now operates as a volunteer-run, independent concert/event hall.

The programming ranges from indie/ free jazz/ hardcore/ electronic to dance parties of all kinds of style. It is not an expensive place, € 7 entry for an evening full of live music is reasonable, and you might bump into a surprisingly high quality performance.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
OCCII | Music | Entrance € 7
Amstelveenseweg 134 | +31206717778
Depends on the event – check the website

I would be an abominable Jamaican. Despite growing up next to a coffee shop, weed makes me scream at non-existing men in trees and despite always giving it my all, I can’t dance the way the Jamaican girls can. I always blow my cover. But I do so love reggae. I don’t care that all the backpackers in Thailand do too, I love it. And I love spicy Jamaican food.

Amsterdam, whilst full of the herb and full of great Surinamese restaurants (as fellow Spotter Gisela can confirm) doesn’t have enough Jamaican restaurants as far as I’m concerned. Thank Jah then for Rose and her saltfish fritters, goat curry and ackee & cheese vol-au-vents. Rose hails from Jamaica and London and her cozy Planet in Amsterdam-West has been my number one destination on lazy summer nights, when everyone sits outside on bright plastic seats, dub beats pumping through the open windows, and on winter evenings when I need a little sunshine. 

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Planet Rose | Restaurants (Jamaican) | Jerk chicken € 16.50
Nicolaas Beetsstraat 47 | +31206129838
Tue – Sun 17:00 – 23:00

Born and raised in the centre of town, I find myself often taking the ferry to the other side of the IJ to clear my head. Pllek is a great cultural hangout in the North, close to Noorderlicht (another favorite spot of mine). It’s like a beach joint minus the beach crowd – a safe haven in between all the huge industrial constructions and rusty boats at the NDSM shipyard.

Pllek is continuously in development (they’ve secured the spot for the next ten years!). New colorful sea containers are added to the U-shaped cluster all the time. It’s like a playground. The restaurant is airy and rugged as well as classy, and they already have the best terrace this side of town. It’s right by the water and the sun hits from dawn till dusk – make sure to lather up on sunscreen and bring your swim gear just in case. The first time I went I unexpectedly stayed for hours and left looking quite lobster-esque.

Pllek offers (mostly organic) food, music, art and outdoor cinema as well as tai chi and yoga, and they’re open all year. They’re as open-minded as its vista. Imagine campfires and troubadours with guitars in summer, and wind and waves beating outside in winter. It’s also close to the IJhallen flea market and where the Over het IJ theatre festival is held in July each year. It’s worth the trek over anytime just so you can experience the city from the other side for once.  

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Pllek | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Mediterranean/organic) | Sandwich € 6
Tt. Neveritaweg 61 | +31202900020
From 10:30 daily

I never know at what time of day I should visit Panini, which is located on the insanely busy Vijzelstraat and has cars rushing by its cute little terrace like you’re in the middle of Napels. They serve fresh strong espresso in the morning; really nice panini in the afternoons; and fresh pastas, antipasti and desserts in the evenings.

You might as well stick around, and you won’t leave on an empty stomach either way. Panini is low key and not very expensive, but the food is exactly what it promises to be. But whether it’s lunch you’re ordering or a simple penne amatriciana for dinner, their home made focaccia is what I keep coming back for. It’s salty yet sweet, soft yet crunchy and, if you’re lucky, still warm.

Even after so many visits, I try something different each time. You don’t get a chance to eat sandwiches with cream of fennel, speck from Fruili or vongole that often.

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Panini | Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Italian) | Panini € 6.50
Vijzelgracht 3 – 5 | +31206264939
Mon – Sat 09:30 – 23:00, Sun 11:30 – 23:00

I once got an eeniemeenie pasta maker for my birthday, but the only times I’ve used it is when I have large groups over and it’s the greatest hassle trying to get a good serve out of it. Somehow, there’s something very ‘gezellig‘ about eating pasta together. It should be served in huge steaming family bowls in the middle of long wooden tables like they do in the nunneries in Rome, and it should be as fresh and simple as possible.

The guys that own the Spaghetteria in de Pijp know what I’m talking about. They make their fresh pasta from flour imported from Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. Every day, there are several great pastas to choose from and devour on the long wooden family table or outside – their terrace is sunny and in the middle of traffic, which also reminds me of Italy.

On a side note, there are loads of nice fresh pasta places popping up all over the city. If you want to buy your own, Il Mattarello in de Jordaan is really, really good, and they also have a tiny space in the back to sit down and munch away, so run by them if you’re in the area, especially when they’re organizing one of their themed meal nights!

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Spaghetteria | Restaurants (Pasta) | Simple pasta € 13
Van Woustraat 123
17:00 – 22:00 daily

It took a while, but Amsterdam finally has a cinema museum again. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of the move because the old film museum was so iconic and pretty and its velvety seats were tattered, and that’s how I like watching my movies. But the first time I set foot in EYE (let’s not get started on the name, and let’s definitely not get started on the whole ownership-thing) I was blown out of my ruby slippers.

Could it be we’re finally playing with the big boys? The museum exudes international flair. It’s big, it’s white and it’s nondescript (is it a crocodile? is it a whale? is it a wink? who cares) and I like it. The banks along the IJ are finally throwing off their casts and revealing the bigger plan. Located right opposite Central Station, easily accessible by ferry, EYE is in efflorescent Amsterdam-Noord – check out some of the other articles in the area for some off-the-beaten track strolling.

Inside, the museum offers something for everybody – you can have food and drinks on the huge terrace overlooking the water and wave at the cruise ships or visit the exhibitions or their extensive library. They also have four screening rooms (with brand new chairs!) that show classics, specials and new releases besides hosting cinema concerts and cult evenings. Or you could just run up and down their grand staircases endlessly. The main hall is so exuberantly big you’ll want to play.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
EYE | Art & culture, Bars, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Theaters
IJpromenade 1 | +31205891400
Sun – Thu 10:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 10:00 – 02:00 (exhibitions open till 17:00)

I’m addicted to cheese. If I had to choose between cheese and pretty much every other thing that’s earthly edible, it would have to be cheese. Ah, the joy of cheese. Thankfully, Holland’s a cheese country so I get my fix, but for the best in French cheese – God knows I need the smelly samples too – I always go to Abraham Kef, a small but quite famous local cheese shop on the Marnixtraat.

From their wonderful little basement, Kef sells an enormous choice of Dutch and French cheeses, all seasonal and imported from small producers. They also sell artisanal charcuterie, French bread and wine, if you want to make a real picnic out of it. They even have a cheese that goes by the name of the ‘Stinking Bishop’. Say no more.

The best thing is the fact that you can do tastings in their basement on Sunday afternoons; you’re seated at one of the tiny beer barrels they keep, and Marike, the owner, will serve you wonderful cheese platters. She will sit next to your table and she’ll take her time to tell you everything you need to know and what to drink it with, no matter how long the line of people waiting outside may be. The attention given to their trade makes you feel really special.

Be sure to call ahead for a spot on Sunday!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Fromagerie Abraham Kef | Shopping, Snacks | Simple tasting & wine € 15
Marnixstraat 192 | +31204200097
Wed – Thu 11:00 – 19:00, Fri 10:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 18:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Pied à Terre is a geographical bookstore (yes, that’s an apt description) on de Overtoom in Amsterdam-West. They’re not only one of the biggest travel book stores in the world but absolutely unique in that they sell almost anything of interest to the avid traveler. It’s a real treasure trove. There’s 400 sq meters (!!) full of travel-related print – bizarre novels, the latest city guides, dictionaries, endless cycling- and trekking routes, aeronautical charts, maps of the Andes, you name it. They also sell notebooks, postcards (not just of Amsterdam), a selection of world music, photography books, books on flora and fauna, DVDs with wildlife series and about sixty globes in varying shapes and sizes.

Whether you’re planning a coming-of-age trip to the far end of Patagonia or just wanting to know which enormous hill in the Dutch countryside is best to climb, the amazingly knowledgeable staff will help you plan all your future itineraries.

The store serves coffee, sandwiches and cake in their on-site cafe, and you might not even have to leave Pied à Terre at all to feel like you’ve traveled the earth. Good parts of my day have been spent here getting lost in the Sumatran jungle or memorizing which berries in the Swedish forests should definitely be avoided. I always walk out completely inspired and terrified at the same time, because there’s far too much ‘out there’ still to explore.

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Pied à Terre | Coffee & tea, Shopping
Overtoom 135 – 137 | +31206274455
Mon 13:00 – 18:00, Tue – Wed & Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Thu 10:00 – 21:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:00

Ari’s vintage store didn’t even have an official name until a while back. People probably knew it as ‘that crazy junk store on the Overtoom’ or ‘the store with the living room outside’. On nice days, Ari and his crew tend to put a couple of their couches, chairs, lamps and brick-a-brack outside on the pavement, creating a relaxed hangout right in the hustle and bustle of the Overtoom traffic. The store’s welcoming feel lifts it from a lot of the other vintage stores in Amsterdam. Even if I don’t end up buying something, I end up sitting outside, chatting.

It’s packed to the brim inside, but what may seem like colorful chaos is in fact a meticulous collection of beautiful vintage furniture, clothing and weird paraphernalia, all hand-picked and continuously replenished by Ari himself, who has been in the second hand trade for years. Some of the things he sells are even personal family heirlooms!

Ari admits to having a weak spot for slightly ugly stuff. So do I! Some things are beautiful in their ugliness, and I love rummaging around the like a magpie sifting rhinestones through rubble. The store seems endless. It’s amazing how much well-priced stuff you can find, and the fact that you have to actively comb through it is what I love about vintage shopping, and why I love this place. You have to search the city to find it, and search some more once inside, but either search is well worth it!

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ARI Vintage | Shopping
Overtoom 532 | +31652711591
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 18:00, Sat 12:00 – 18:00

Picture this: Little round tables covered with fluffy table cloths, the fabric girls nowadays make maxi skirts out of. Bottles of coffee creamer on each, that might have been around as long as the tablecloths have. Colored glass windows, stained in more ways than one, that let in just enough daylight to illuminate the big old clock in the smoky back room, which chimes every thirty minutes – perhaps to let you know it’s time for your next kopstoot, or to remind you that time is indeed passing, no matter how easy it is to forget about it here.

De Hegeraad is another one of those old pubs that are great to get lost in, quite similar to De Pilsener Club, except that besides its obvious pale ale throwback, it’s a black-coffee-morning-paper kind of place as well (even if they open at 12:00).

Perhaps, if I’d been born way back when, I would have been selling under-the-counter ointments in the apothecary this pretty Jordanese building used to house. Or I would have been one of the fun gals being boozed up by the bartender in the off-license it held afterwards.

With a pretty terrace under the trees on the picturesque Noordermarkt, De Hegeraad can get a little crowded on weekends but somehow retains its time traveling appeal. Buy yourself a fitting top hat or even one of those carpet skirts at the vintage market on Monday mornings, and take the leap.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Slijterij De Hegeraad | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Kopstoot € 6
Noordermarkt 34 | +31206245565
Mon – Thu & Sun 12:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 03:00

Moroccan bakery Mediterranée on the Haarlemmerdijk has been my Sunday morning croissant supplier since I was a child. I grew up around the corner, and my mother used to send me out early on weekends to buy breakfast there.

We weren’t the only ones – Mediterranée has become a household name for people from the Westelijke Eilanden and Jordaan areas. In fact, the bakery’s walls are adorned with portraits of their regular customers. I’m actually kind of stumped that I’m not on there! Their croissants are not your typical petite French examples, but these huge, buttery monsters are one of the things I miss most whenever I’m away. The turkey ham and cheese croissant is my personal favorite (be sure to have it heated!) – but they also sell really nice Maroccan bread, spinach pastries and all kinds of little friandises and cookies.

In the years Mediterranée has been around, it’s hardly changed a bit. The blue tiled walls and simple plastic tables might not ooze warmth, but somehow it’s genuinely satisfying to sit there on Sunday mornings (they’re open from 08:00), soak your croissant in some simple, steaming hot black coffee and watch the eclectic mix of people swarming in and out. Or take your croissant with you for a stroll down the Westelijke Eilanden, a villagey safe haven right in the city.

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Bakkerij Mediterranée | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Cheese croissant € 1.65
Haarlemmerdijk 184 | +31206203550
Mon – Sat 08:00 – 19:30, Sun 08:00 – 18:00

I love discovering places in Amsterdam that have been around for ages without my knowing about them. A while back, I found myself in De Pilsener Club, hidden right next to the horrible shopping strip de Kalverstraat. To locals the pub is better known as ‘De Engelse Reet’ (roughly translated as ‘The English Arse’, but don’t let that put you off!)

This beer café is one of Amsterdam’s oldest, and it’s as ‘brown‘ (as the Dutch like calling their local pubs) as they come. Four generations of traditionally clad bartenders have made sure everything looks and feels like you’ve just traveled 125 years back in time – from the original sandy floor boards to the yellowed pictures on the wall. The stories that undoubtedly went down here over the years are almost tangible – they even have little name plates adorning the seats of their regulars through the years.

What I love most about places like this is that they make you want to act as the atmosphere suggests. You want to sit down in their creaky chairs, turn off your mobile phone, order three portions of ossenworst and Dutch cheese (they also sell eggs for 50 cents, because who would let the alcoholics go home to their wives on an empty stomach?) and talk about books all night, whilst trying at least six of the great array of special beers and jenever they have on offer.

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De Pilsener Club | Bars, Snacks | Boiled egg € 0.50
Begijnensteeg 4
Mon – Thu 12:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 02:00

Although I’ve never actually lived in England, my British genes have an undeniably strong impact on my food cravings. Every once in a while, I’ll find myself dreaming of soggy Weetabix in pools of velvety custard. I’ll secretly pour hot milk into my tea and swear at the fact that there’s hardly any decent bread pudding in town. I’ll start giggling at the thought of giant Creme Eggs, or have nightmares about drowning in fast flowing rivers of clotted cream. 

Thankfully, there’s Gartine. Gartine satisfies my British sweet tooth whilst actually being organic, wholesome and as far from soggy weetabix as you can possibly get. The owners own a piece of land outside town, where they grow their own produce. So the pumpkins in their quiches, the apples in their pie and the raspberries in their home-made jams are all from their own garden. Yes, it’s incredibly cute, but most of all it’s incredibly good.

Gartine’s lavender-walled space is very, very tiny, so you’ll need to call in advance. Make sure to take your time, too. It’s quite a battle to the last crumb, and I’ve rarely left without feeling slightly overwhelmed and high as a sugar kite after consuming three tiers of cake, fresh almond milk and a couple of gallons of tea. But it’s exactly how I used to feel after three days of Christmas at my gran’s – I don’t mind the feeling one bit.

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Gartine | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Small high tea (p.p) € 11.95
Taksteeg 7 | +31203204132
Wed – Sun 10:00 – 18:00

Baobab is the end-all-be-all when it comes to exotic jewellery. Whether it’s Mexican bangles, Nigerian chokers or Nepalese charm pendants, they’ve got it all. The ladies that run the shop look like fabulous foreign princesses themselves and their love for other cultures is quite infectious. Asian, South-American and African jewellery is all I ever wear, and I never go anywhere else in Amsterdam to get it.

Baobab’s been around since 1967 and has since become a specialist in ethnographic wonders. Anyone who’s ever been to Thailand or India knows how hard it can be to separate the real from the fake, and nobody likes bringing home faux silver that makes your ears bleed and that loses it shine after a week’s wear. Baobab selects it all for you and they take their time to help you pick out whatever suits your character and mood.

The store is an exotic sight to behold in its own right, with its walls adorned with curiosa and their little parakeets twittering away. Sometimes it’s worth popping in just to do a little daydreaming.

 

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Baobab | Shopping
Elandsgracht 105 | +31206268398
Sun – Mon 13:00 – 18:00, Tue – Sat 11:00 – 18:00

Soup Enzo is one of those formulas that make you wonder why nobody came up with it earlier. It filled a gap for healthy ‘fast’ food, which had been missing from the Amsterdam food scene before. With all the health food freaks taking over the city now, they’re pioneers and all the more relaxed for it.

One of their stores is near Waterlooplein, with a few seats by the window that are excellent for spying on all the flamboyant theatre students and random funny folk passing by de Jodenbreestraat. They also have a take-away store on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 54, close to Leidseplein. They’re not a snack chain by any means, though – everything here’s home made. They make their gallons of soup fresh each day and which recipes they have on offer changes accordingly. The Moroccan chick pea soup and the ‘Gentse waterzooi’ (Belgian chicken soup) are my favorites, as is the sweet potato (like baby food…but better). The Hungarian goulash is great when it’s cold out, the gazpacho in summer. 

I find myself eating at Soup Enzo far too regularly when I don’t feel like cooking or really eating out. It’s the perfect cheap meal. After a medium soup and one of their enormous salads – for those who’d like some solids with their soup, the feta salad’s great - you feel surprisingly satisfied and guilt free.

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Soup Enzo | Snacks, Restaurants (Soup) | Soup (M) € 5
Jodenbreestraat 94a | +31204222243
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 20:00, Sun 12:00 – 19:00

I have soft spot for kitchen utensils. If there’s one thing I don’t mind splurging my money on it’s a shiny new sushi knife – coin on top if it’s a gift -, or a disgustingly cute Le Creuset snail pot. In fact, the more you’re likely to only use certain kitchen tools once or twice in your non-professional cooking career, the more I enjoy collecting them. I’ve been the proud owner of a nifty little peeler that peels only soft fruits and vegetables for years now – but the fact that I’ve only felt the urge to skin a bunch of grapes once still doesn’t make its existence less enjoyable.

Duikelman – which spans the length of two huge opposite storefronts in De Pijp – is the place to go if you want to stock up on Microplane graters, cast iron sausage presses or poffertjespannen. The experience of getting lost between the rows of piping bag tips and wine drip stoppers is pretty awesome. You’ll be able to  smoke, sauté, blend, batter, baste and beat pretty much anything when you get home.

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Duikelman | Shopping
Ferdinand Bolstraat 66-68 | +31206712230
Tue – Sat 09:30 – 18:00

Food and beer in an an old industrial style building. In Amsterdam, medium sized industrial production facilities were often hidden behind unspectacular entries in common apartment environments. The production facility itself usually extended behind the building into a one-story garage. In this setting Stadscafe van Mechelen settled down to offer all sorts of Belgium beer and classic dishes with products of local and sustainable oriented suppliers.

The setting is nice, informal, and – different than the usual Amsterdam cafe – it is a kind of a large space (read: in context). Which is positive. But also provides a pretty loud soundscape. So – no dinner for two with candlelight (okay, why not – it only wouldn’t be my first choice for that), but absolutely good for you and your fellows to hang out and have a beer all together.

Van Mechelen is open from 09:00, and I guess it is a little quieter in the morning, probably also a good place for a breakfast with a laptop (they bring the breakfast, you the laptop) – and the kitchen takes orders until 22:00.

I am always fond of those industrial styles, and here the whole setting is not industrial like in alternative-lifestyle-industrial, but kind of settled, well designed industrial style. Good. A new spot in Oud-Zuid, and different than all the others…

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Stadscafe van Mechelen | Bars, Restaurants | Average dish € 13
Sloterkade 96/97 | +3120221.2348
Sun – Thu 09:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 09:00 – 02:00

Some streets make you want to strut down them like you’re Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. De Haarlemmerdijk might not match 1970′s Brooklyn, but with its plethora of detail stores and beautiful old buildings, no wonder a lot of places here have been noticed by my fellow spotters! It’s amazing how many great hangouts can be found along such a small stretch of pavement. Some personal favorites:

Start with a croissant at Mediterannee, and go by 2 For Joy for fresh roasted coffee. Shop at revamp store Restored; at Mary Ann, run by wonderful ladies who really know how to rock old-school brassieres; at sneaker store Seventyfive, or photography specialists Nivo Schweitzer. As a film freak, I love browsing through the cult DVDs and posters at the wonderfully geeky Silver Screen, or catch a screening in one of Amsterdam’s nicest and oldest cinemas, The Movies.

You’re also in the right place for a makeover. During the phase where I had something pierced every time a relationship ended, the lovely Sharon at Dare2Ware - Amsterdam’s most comfortable piercing studio – made it so much fun. The artists at House of Tattoos around the corner are also extremely talented. And if you want to top off your new look with a bright magenta fringe, visit Kinki hairdressers down the street.

Finally, ‘de Dijk’ is a Mecca for foodies like myself – do-it-yourself with kitchen utensils from Deksels!, the amazing cookbooks at De Kookboekhandel (one of it’s kind!), cupcake supplies from De Tafel van 18, or the Tea Bar‘s teas. Or just feast on Jordino‘s Italian ice cream, Small World‘s huge sandwiches and restaurant Balraj‘s great Indian food.

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De Haarlemmerdijk | Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants
Haarlemmerdijk 1
09:00 – 18:00 daily (varies per store)