September

Three Alex & Pinard alumni turned a Baarsjes corner into the neighborhood's candlelit wine bar with a real kitchen.

Matthew, Valentijn and Lizzy met on the floor at Alex & Pinard in Oost, then took over a corner on the Baffinstraat and did the sensible thing: small room, candles, green checkerboard floor, open kitchen, and a wine list where a third is natural and plenty pours by the glass. The menu is French at heart, changes weekly, and leans on vegetables from a Beemster farmer and bread from Ulmus around the corner, with meat kept deliberately scarce. Snacks like anchovy toasts and eggs with cress start things off, and the mains are the kind of quietly precise cooking you do not expect at these prices this far past the centre. De Baarsjes noticed immediately; De Westkrant was calling it a dream restaurant within three months of the 2023 opening, and Friday nights now run on a steady hum of regulars. Saturday opens at one, for long afternoon drinking that slides straight into dinner.

Saturday from 13:00 is the move: snacks, a few glasses, stay for dinner. Tiny room, so book ahead for Friday; check who is cooking, the kitchen hosts guest chef menus.

Photo: De Westkrant