Vinnies

Open at 7:30 on weekdays and laptop-free from lunch onward, which tells you exactly what this room is for.

Vinnies has been on the Scheldestraat since 2012 and it is the most useful weekday breakfast address in the Rivierenbuurt, mainly because it does the boring things properly: doors at 7:30 Monday to Friday, a kitchen that cooks rather than assembles, and a stated policy of being laptop-free during lunch and at weekends. That last line is the tell. This is a room built for people talking to each other, and a 8:00 table here is calm in a way that De Pijp at the same hour is not. The card is all-day breakfast and lunch and it is properly sourced: sandwiches on organic wholewheat sourdough from Mama Bakery, smoked chicken from Lindenhoff farm, a spiced red lentil soup, and the Omega-3 breakfast of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel mousse, roasted vine tomatoes and mashed avocado on sourdough at 17.75. The shakshuka at 16.75 comes with mini pitas, and the banana-spelt pancake stack at 15.50 is the sweet order. They also run a private dining room in the evenings, which is worth knowing if the breakfast meeting turns into something longer. Note that the old Vinnies on the Haarlemmerstraat is closed: this is the only one left, and half the internet has not caught up.

Monday to Friday 7:30 to 17:00, Saturday from 9:00, Sunday from 9:30. Book a table through their site. Laptops are fine early but banned from lunch onward, so do not plan to camp.

Photo: VINNIES