European Diary

The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur in Europe
August 4 - Amsterdam

Time is going so quickly now. We spent the day in Amsterdam, first on a canal boat tour to get a flavor of the town, then a long lunch on the Leidse Plein, one of the major downtown squares that turns into a huge open-air restaurant in the summer. It seems to work like a food court. The square is filled with tables and chairs and each restaurant that fronts the square lays claim to a number of them and provides food and beverage service. It is a delightful place for relaxing . . . and particularly for people-watching. Service is slow by our standards, although I found that true all over Europe. I think they just work at a different pace than we do.

For photos of Leidse Plein, click here.

Last night we went to Restaurant Marienberg with our hosts. The restaurant is located in an old abbey in town that dates from 1495. It has been completely renovated without losing the ancient character of the place. The floor is original although we were told that it was removed and a radiant heating system installed underneath the original tiles (stones?) I guess it is a little difficult to effectively heat old stone buildings any other way.

The specialty of the restaurant apparently went to local stew-type dishes, served in hand-crafted covered pottery crocks. I thought that just the presentation made the dishes more special. What signature items could you develop if you started with an unusual piece of serviceware and built from there?

The best part of the restaurant was our waitress, Marlous Luiten, who also sang at the tables and, I gather, serves as the manager of the restaurant. Even if it were not for her flawless English (which definitely helped), her presence at the table would have spoken volumes. It just reinforces my belief that, ultimately, this is a one-on-one business.

For photos of Restaurant Marienberg, click here.

For travelogue photos of the Amsterdam canals, IJsselstein and our hosts, click here.

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