the food frenzied Noord
There’s the Amsterdam with the cobble-lined alleyways, the topsy-turvy canal houses and the brick-paved bridges. And then there’s the Amsterdam across the IJ river. A dashing five-minute ferry ride away from Centraal to the riotously chic Amsterdam Noord.
Whether it’s for the huge entity of water portioning Amsterdam into two or, for its drastically contrasting architecture, Noord has risen out of its industrial past and been fashioned into a bona fide somewhat detached, residential patch. A pocket unknown to the darting day trippers where you bump shoulders or bicycle wheels with fellow Noord neighbours. The defunct factories and infinite shipyards of NDSM have swapped cargo ships, steelworks and tankers for lauded pop-up kitchens, art-house cinema clubs, kombucha breweries and some of the best sourdough on the Dutch market.
It’s a playground of creation. There’s an unabated wave of new openings, new restaurant residencies and new developments. So much so, the beloved spots are sometimes booted out until a new location can be hunted down on Noord’s evolving hoods. Pão + Maska’s bakery, home to confit tomato Danishes and nutmeg-rich Nankhatai, is just one example. Though, there’s also Omar Sanchez’s Cosmo Tacos, which dished up delectable bites of mushroom tinga tostata for a limited 3-month sprint. Thankfully, Sanchez’s magic can be hunted down on the sporadic jazz kissa nights at Noord’s esteemed wine cellar, Chateau Karlito, located up the road from Buiksloterweg ferry - a route that conveniently passes by the bustling bolthole corner café, Keppler and the farm-to-fork kitchen, Café Modern.
It was a similar case for Klaproos on the Papaverweg. Its sticker-plastered, graffiti-covered doors gave no hint to a top-notch, pizza hangout inside. A hesitant journey through the plastic curtain and veiled neon-red corridor led to the beating heart of Klaproos, where long plastic trestle tables were lit by a glittering candlelight and LED red rim. Thankfully, this slightly absurd vibe lives on in its new, equally ecstatic Papaverhoek location bordering the all-day diner, Café Soleil. It’s here that a beam-topped garage has been rammed with mahogany tables, reflective mirrors and hanging speakers to serve home-cooked grub.
The major facelift came in the radical expansion of the local haunt, now megapolis that is Kometen Brood. Everyone was doubtful when the corner-side, yellow-tiled nook was being swapped for the modernist, dazzling glass-fronted spaces of the NDSM. Would the fresh new space be crowded with IJ-Hallen flea market goers, and most worryingly would Kometen’s double baked pain au choc stuffed with salted caramel, sesame and miso paste cause a Sunday morning panic dash? Worries aside. Kometen’s new space can only be comparable to the dazzling magic of Wonka Chocolate Factory. And, if you do happen to be Iining up for a lunchtime nibble pop into the cultural project space, Door for a cortado at Crew de la Crema and a block of Mont d’Or from Kaasbuur ahead of the evening’s borrel.
When rumours mumbled that the grooviest table design and catering residency, Copain would be designing their own space, to serve seasonal dishes alongside natural wines, Noord hit overdrive. Rightfully so. Copain defines Noord; as an industrial garage converted into a creative, food-obsessed space. There’s a moveable stainless steel, deep-red bar, low-strung, metal pendant light fittings, bare-wood tables and burning taper candles. On the menu? Slices of Dutch hamachi perched upon a puddle of gooseberry, fennel, tarragon and horseradish juice, cocoa nibs daintily scattered across folds of miso and hazelnut and the fluffiest, whipped butter dolloped on ceramic oval platters.
No one could have anticipated this burst of culinary creations. Hat’s off to the old guard: the pizza-driven wine bar Euro Pizza, whose riff on a classic prawn toast comes in the form of a sesame-covered nugget; the East Asian-influenced vinyl restaurant cornerstore, which hosts a dim sum party every last Sunday of the month; and the bare-boned, mechanical repair store now creative kitchen that is Hotel de Goudfazant. Catch the annual De Broodsalon there, for an afternoon of doughy-delights. The recent boom has welcomed the unwaveringly cool Barracuda, whose name is subject to various spelling alterations depending on the day and whose fish-centric menu appeals to all those groovy ‘dammers. One can only imagine the Noord raucous when it announced a sibling, Surinamese space, Kwie Kwie, would pop up around the block.
COBA’s next-door cantina, Tula opened with a similar blissful fervor. Knowing that if you can’t cadge a seat at Bacalar, another of Joachim de Buck’s taquerias, you can at least head further into Noord for the double whammy - Mezcal mixes followed by golden, corn tacos and tostadas. Soft shell crab dressed in squid ink batter, served with a fermented lemon and pineapple sauce and a black garlic salsa arrives at the table. Juicy, sour, exquisite.
It’s in this same tucked-away block of Noord that we can settle into the unbounded sofas at FC Hyena cinema club or sweat off Barracuda’s kibbeling and fries at Kuuma, a no-nonsense city sauna. Badhus or Stretch & Fold’s hotboxes, equipped with an outdoor pool, yoga studio and restaurant, are a mere cycle away. Though really, Noord is itself an open swimming pool with most of the scattered jetties being an easy jump, dip and cold plunge situation; the Papaverkanaal in the resident-designed neighbourhood Klaprozenbuurt or, the Pereboomslot by Beeldenbos will wake you up sharp. Café 't Sluisje is a swimmable distance away should the Heineken be calling.
No one could have anticipated the giddy whoosh of good bites, creative glory and the achingly hip attitude of Noord. It’s cool but unfussy. It’s not the canal-lined terraces but arguably and equally as charming. There's a sense of pride when the ferries fill up as the ‘dammers keenly venture north and the sun goes down. And, what with R.de Rosa’s winter kitchen Keetje K. just opened at Noord’s community garden, who could blame them?
Hannah Rees-Middleton
Wild swimming. Natural wine. Excellent exhibitions. And glorious country walks. These are a few of our editor Hannah Rees-Middleton’s favourite things. Whether she’s bouncing around Mexico, paddling through the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond or ogling another mound of butter at a fabulous supper club, Hannah is always in the midst of something cool. A consummate planner, a lover of beautiful things, a traveller never without a camera and a deck of cards. Hannah is many things (including the perfect resource for perfect travel tips).
