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A family company for more than 50 years TEXT: JULIËN L’ORTYE | PHOTOS: BRASSERIE VAN DAM
It is safe to say that Brasserie Van Dam is a household name in Amsterdam. It started as a butchers in the 1960s and was turned into a lunchroom and catering company a couple of decades later. As of 2013, it is run by the third generation: Sebastiaan and Nicolette van Dam. The couple transformed the place into a café-restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner or just a couple of drinks and some small bites. But how do you make sure that, in a branch that is constantly evolving and mushrooming (especially in the Dutch capital), customers keep coming back to your restaurant? In the opinion of co-owner Sebastiaan, the answer is pretty simple: “It’s all about knowing your guests and working with good and fresh products.” If you ask us, there is way more to this restaurant. What about their famous sandwiches, with truffle egg salad or homemade filet amér-
icain? Or their delicious meat from their own butchers, such as Côte de Bœuf or the special catch of the day like wild sea bass? As the restaurant is settled on the Cornelis Schuytstraat, in the capital’s most prestigious borough, it is a matter of ‘see and be seen’ according to Sebastiaan. “There are locals that visit the restaurant multiple times a day, as well as tourists staying at the surrounding hotels. They start with a healthy breakfast like banana pancakes and finish their day with our famous
Black Angus burger and a gin and tonic.” With so many choices, we see no reason not to visit this exciting eatery. www.vandambrasserie.nl