De vakantie

*The long-awaited vacation is finally here. I'll be in London and Venice till Sept 27. A presto!

Fishes

[Fresh fish and seafood at Fishes, Amsterdam]

With a 9 to 5 work schedule, I could never indulge in the luxury of selecting the freshest seafood from one of the open-air markets in town. The neighborhood Albert Heijn (the ubiquitous Dutch supermarket) around the corner is one of the bigger stores in town but there’s no fresh meat or seafood counter in sight. Cellophane-wrapped ground round and chicken breasts abound, and so are cooked tiny shrimps and sickly colored farm-raised salmon. But other than that, I really did have a problem finding a good source for the fresh catch of the day.

That was before I stumbled on Fishes, an unusually sleek fishmonger, unbeknownst to the unsuspecting eye on Utrecthsestraat. Flanked by two facing rows of funky cafés, ethnic restaurants, quaint little shops, traditional delicatessens, hairdressers, and high-end furniture stores, the fish shop stays open 30 minutes past the 6 p.m. closing time for almost all stores in town, allowing people like me to slip in for a few fresh scallops for the evening pasta.

[A fish delicatessens on funky Utrechtsestraat ]

The minimalist and chic interior makes it an experience to select the freshest ingredient for that special homemade dinner. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and they really know what they’re selling and what to do with them. Fresh whole dorados, deboned monkfish, marinated shelled jumbo shrimps, wild trouts, imported Spanish sepia... all these you can find alongside freshly made raw fish sushi and that emergency lemon that has yet to be checked off from the shopping list.

In my next post I’ll blog about one of my retail adventures there: a splurge that resulted in two surprise culinary creations, one of the recipes given to me on the spot by the enthusiastic assistant. Next up, I'm eyeing at the live lobsters swimming in a built-in tank in the wall. I'd have to research a little more about dealing with the king of crustaceans.

In the know:
Fishes
Utrechtsestraat 98
Amsterdam

Loading up on kitchenware in Amsterdam

[Duikelman's porcelain section]

There's one address in Amsterdam that avid bakers and passionate cooks show up for their tools and wares. I first learned about Duikelman because Talia was raving about this awesome zester/grater that gets the zest off lemon without that white pith. And she was sure that I would be able to find it at this store loaded with every kitchen gadget imaginable close to De Pijp's Albert Cuypstraat open-air market.

Sure enough, the store had the Microplane zester that I was looking for. Not only that, the person who helped me was very helpful -- gave me a whole run down of all the options I had, and he seemed extremely knowledgable of every item stocked.

With two adjoining stores and a prominent window displaying a colorful row of Kitchenaid cake mixers, the family-owned business has been around for 60 odd years. Across the street, they have another storefront for fine porcelains and a showroom for home and professional kitchens. I was so drawn to the minimalist display in the porcelain storefront, with an upstairs corner dedicated to a fine collection of cookbooks in both Dutch and English.

My sudden urge to stock up on bakeware has gotten me a 30cm Kaizer loafpan, a glass-bottomed springform pan, and a fluted tart tin. I am comtemplating going back for a paella pan sometime this week, and for your information, the search on the perfect egg cup is still on.

In the know:
Dzuikelman
Ferdinand Bolstraat 68-68A
1072 LM Amsterdam
020-671.22.30/ 671.75.69

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Brasserie Harkema

[Lunch fare at Brasserie Harkema, Amsterdam]

The last two times we dined at this sleek eatery, we found ourselves being the only guests at their premises. The reservation I made was unwarranted but the quality of service and food (rack of lamb and tuna steak) we found extremely good.

Second time around was a bit disappointing. The renovation in the main dining hall had just been completed, it was lunch time, the server noticed our presence, but went on about her business by the kitchen. It probably took us a good five minutes before we decided to seat ourselves by the huge window and at this point the server slowly strolled by. The saving grace was the food served -- best fries in town. I succumbed to my craving for a good hamburger and T had a dish made with mussels and a wine sauce.

Despite the fact that this restaurant is in the Wallpaper city guide, it's not getting a whole lot of traffic and momentum these days. And so it goes in the competitive world of setting up restaurants, the fad will aways give way to the other new kid on the block. However, if you want a decent meal in a design-conscious environment, this is a good place to go. It's very easy to get to with its location so close to Het Spui and the flower market. And you can easily take a design detour to visit Wonderwood and Droog nearby after your lunch.

In the know:
Brasserie Harkema
Nes 67
+31 (0)20 4282222

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Balthazar's Keuken

[Assorted appetizers at Balthazar's Kitchen]

A fabulous girl I know from work, an accountant by day, is a serious kickboxer. Yup, think Million Dollar Baby. When it comes time for a match, she trains hard and consumes all the calories she needs. Lunching with her makes me feel like a wimp -- portions that throw any diet out of the window.

When it comes to food, Gabi is a connoisseur in the Amsterdam foodie scene. I "interviewed" her once on her favorite eateries in town and she was kind enough to list them all out on a piece of draft paper, along with a line explaining each place's key characteristic. Once, we've gone together to one of the places she'd recommended - Pata Negra, a lively tapas bar in Utrechtsetraat that has been faithful in serving latenight bites to merrymakers in search of the scarce working kitchen past 9.

Her favorite haunt in the list was this small Meditarranean place -- Balthazar's Keuken in the Jordaan. There's no menu. Instead, you get to choose a meat, fish or vegetarian set dinner that the chef would create for the evening. It comes with an assortment of appetizers and a dessert to complete the meal.

I made my reservation (open only for dinners from Wednesday to Friday), and showed up for the second seating at 8.30. There was a gathering crowd on stand-by for their reservations. The interesting thing was how the restaurant owners were able to control the traffic. They technically have a right to request the first seating guests to leave by that time.

We were completely pleased with the entire meal. I haven't been so excited about a particular food for a long time, but I remembered savoring every bit of the fried Indian-inspired appetizer with onions in a spice-loaded fritter-coating. The goat-cheese with olives went very well with the farm bread that was served and the server was more than happy to replenish the bread basket. We each had salmon on risotto and a duck with new potatoes as the main course, and was served a delightful coconut ice-cream to end the meal on a sweet note. Plenty to fill the tummy and lots to offer for a cosy dinner for two. This is truly a gem for Amsterdam.

In the know:
Balthazar's Kitchen
Elandsgracht 108, Amsterdam
Reservations in advance: +31 (0)20 420.21.14

Marrying table etiquette with outdoor dining

[Snap and Dine single-use tableware]

What a quirky way of reinventing the idea of a picnic in the park. The work of product designer Demelza Hill, Snap and Dine is a "portable lunch setting that reinforces some of the tables manners and etiquette that have been lost over time." Presented at the Milan design festival and International Furniture Fair, the design won the young designer the British Council's National Design Award for 2007.

I would love to see it on the retail shelves some day! Bear in mind that it's truly green too: components made out of completely bio-degradable plastic resin.

*Image courtesy of www.demelzahill.com