All vegan neighbourhood restaurant Lokol opens at Kinkerstraat

lokol amsterdam

In 2018 entrepreneur Mathijs Huis in ‘t Veld and chef Pepijn Schmeink started vegan restaurant Jack Bean in Rotterdam. They found eachother in a shared mission to make the food industry more sustainable, and to show people a different way of eating. Fully plant-based, with ingredients sourced locally as much as possible. “Plant-based food can be just as tasty, and is much more sustainable,” tells Pepijn. “You really show people an alternative, not just for a niche group but for everybody. There are so many discussions going on, these are concrete solutions.”

Fastforward to 2022, when they open up a new location in Amsterdam but decide to slightly change the concept. Less about fastfood, more like a neighbourhood bistro and with an even bigger focus on sustainability. Nowadays about 70% of their produce comes from regenerative farming. An approach of agriculture which takes more care of the soil, for example by not tilling and by rotating crops. They decide to change the name to Lokol. They open September 2022. Read more

Liever Hier – vegan pastry and coffee place in picturesque Noord

liever hier amsterdam

After they got together as a couple, Ellen Wiggers and Rogier van Buuren quickly started working together as well in Ellen’s coffee place at Buikslotermeerplein. Here they served coffee and homemade pies in cultural community centre De Modestraat.

Some years later they had the chance to buy a former cafe at Nieuwendammerdijk. They plan to turn it into a pie bakery / coffee house. After months of renovating they open in 2019, with the new name ‘Liever Hier’ (meaning ‘rather here’). As this is their preferred place to be!

Early 2022 they decide to go vegan themselves as well as to make the full menu at Liever Hier 100% vegan. “Now that our eyes have really been opened we can no longer look away from the animal suffering, the horrible living conditions in the meat- and dairy industry and we are acting upon it. No more animal products, animals have a right to life just as much as we do.” Their regular guests react very positive. People who initially were skeptical about plantbased milks in their coffee simply get convinced when they try it! Read more

New ‘healthy fastfood’ concept Nom Nom Nom

nom nom nom amsterdam

New ‘healthy fastfood’ concept with several pop-up locations and some future normal ones. Not the first one to embrace this term, clearly there is a market for healthy food fit for city lifestyle. All their food is vegan!

At Nom Nom Nom their food is made from wholefoods, fastfood without deepfrying. Instead they prep and finish it in the oven. Their modest menu features several burgers, made from black beans, lentils, mushrooms or vegetables. Some side dishes as well (veggie nuggets and more) and a changing dessert special. Read more

Patisserie Koekoek – new vegan pastry shop in the centre!

patisserie koekoek
Sher started baking about seven years ago, influenced by her father who was working as patissier. She became vegan, simply because she likes animals. “After seeing slaughterhouse footage, how can you continue to eat animals?”

Three years ago she started baking only vegan at her job in lunchroom Iets Aparts (not vegan but they have many vegan options), where she is also one of the owners. “There  was an increasing demand for vegan pastry, and people don’t taste a difference anyways.” Since this became so successful she wanted to do something more with it, that’s how Patisserie Koekoek became about. Read more

Juices, ginger shots, smoothies and more at vegan juice bar Dr. Smooji

dr smooji

As you soon as you enter this tiny shop you’re surrounded by plants and stacks of fruit everywhere! Before she started Dr. Smooji, Yalda Ali was working in healthcare, but it was her dream from early age to start her own food business. Back in Afghanistan she was raised eating lots of fruit, vegetables, ginger etc. and continued to do so later.

In 2016 she made the initial plans to open up something evolving around healthy, freshly prepared food. In 2020 she opened, tough enough during the first corona lockdown. It has proven a succes however and many people living in the neighbourhood have found her place. Read more

Yoghurt Barn switched to a fully vegan menu!

yoghurt barn

Yoghurt Barn (also known as YB) started in 2012, initially offering frozen yoghurt and other dairy based foods. They have locations in various cities in the Netherlands. Kind of like a casual place to meet or have lunch.

Some years ago they expressed their ambition to become fully plant-based, due to the negative effect of dairy products on the planet. Slowly but surely they replaced the dairy with vegan options, and made the final switch October 2022. They want to show that plant-based food can be just as delicious, or even more delicious! Read more

People’s kitchen AND seven course vegan dinner at this Sloterdijk community space

testtafel de sering

De Sering started in 2019 as a community kitchen in a building at Middenweg, originating out of a group of Extinction Rebellion activists. Besides the food here they also hosted lectures, movie screenings etc. After a while they attracted more and more people, including students and people living in the neighbourhood.

In order to be able to finance it all they started with Testtafel. A more fancy dining concept generating a bit more income. Originally they meant to organise just a few dinner nights, but it quickly grew so successful that they continued with it. After being housed at various temporary locations, they now found a stable home within theater space De Sloot, located in Westpoort. Here they opened spring 2022. Read more

‘No Shit’ food box: organic and vegan (!) vegetables

no shit groente

What’s not vegan about vegetables you ask? At farm Zonnegoed, located in Flevoland, they do things differently compared to other vegetable farmers. Joost van Strien is growing his vegetables without the use of any animals in the production chain. For example, instead of commonly used animal manure, he is using green manure, made by fast-growing crops which are dug into the soil. Another important factor in his company, he is leaving the soil alone by not plowing or tilling. Those are just some of the regenerative farming techniques they practise at Zonnegoed.

Van Strien has been growing organic vegetables for almost 25 years, and since 2019 fully plant-based. The farm is the first one in the Netherlands to receive the international Biocyclic Vegan quality mark. They also got awarded as Agricultural Entrepreneur of the year 2022 in the Netherlands!

New since this month, these vegetables are available in Amsterdam! You can order a box and pick it up on Fridays at a location in Oud-West. Alternatively you can also get them delivered at your doorstep. Each box comes with a recipe for a vegan dish you could make with the veggies. Read more

Taste Before You Waste: vegan dinner made from rescued food

taste before you waste

Taste Before You Waste started in 2012 in an effort to reduce food waste. Several times a week, volunteers cycle with a cargo bike past various food stores at Javastraat to pick up food which would otherwise get thrown away. On Wednesdays this food is used to prepare a three-course meal, aka ‘Wasteless Dinner’. By directly saving food, their mission is also to create awareness amongst citizens about consumer food waste.

The reason why the food they offer is vegan is that that way they can reach the widest audience, as well as be the safest regarding food safety guidelines. Also vegan food has maximum shelf life, so there’s the least spoilage, tells chairperson Wingston Sharon. He is programmer by profession, many other volunteers are students. Read more

Rå Bowls: all vegan, healthy meal bowls in De Pijp

ra bowls amsterdam

Restaurant concept first started in Hamburg by two young entrepreneurs, since May 2022 also present in Amsterdam. Located in Groningen as well. The name Rå comes from the Danish word for ‘raw’ or ‘unprocessed’, reflecting their core principles of simplicity, health and sustainability. Hence a small menu, where everything is vegan. Their motto is ‘rethinking fast food’. Read more