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

Ten course vegan fine dining at vegetarian restaurant Bois

restaurant bois hem

When cultural space Het HEM approached Arvid Schmidt if he would be interested to start a vegetarian restaurant in their building, he couldn’t say no to such a beautiful location. Het HEM is situated in a former munitions factory at the Zaandam side of the North Sea Canal, and is home to various artistic projects. Among others a space for music, a library, exhibition spaces, artist studios and food.

Schmidt is chef/owner at restaurant Entrepot, from where he brought his kitchen colleagues Boris Sanders and Tim Martinus to join him at Bois. Just like at Entrepot, they are cooking here on wood. Partially also for practical reasons, there is no gas connection in the building. In the open kitchen they focus on curing, fermenting, smoking and roasting with ingredients grown and collected in the Netherlands. Read more

Organic restaurant Bloem is now fully vegan!

bloem restaurant

Bloem started in 2006 originally as a simple restaurant, serving meat and fish as well. Throughout the years they developed in a more organic and sustainable direction, with more and more vegetarian dishes on the menu.

Daniel Hutchinson started in the early days as restaurant manager, but by now is the owner and head chef of Bloem. After corona slowed down beginning 2022 he decided to no longer use animal products in his kitchen. “We switched to a fully vegan menu because we believe it is more fitting within these times and it’s also better for the world. But what we especially are trying to do is to show to people who are usually not eating vegan, that vegan food can also be very delicious.” Read more

Theehuis De Roos: vegetarian lunchroom within Vondelpark spiritual centre

de roos amsterdam

Located in a 19th century villa, De Roos exists since 2001 as a general spiritual centre, not one specific direction. They have daily activities such as yoga, meditation, mantra singing, various workshops and lectures.

A part of the centre is the ‘Theehuis’, which is open every day of the week. They don’t just serve tea, it’s a modest lunchroom with a 100% vegetarian menu, some dishes are vegan. They use organic ingredients. Read more

The Old Soul: vegan classic dishes from the Afro-Surinamese cuisine

 

the old soul amsterdam

“Nothing comes ahead of its time,” her mother used to say. Cooking has always been Diana Gambier’s passion and already twelve years ago she was making plans to start a food business herself. But after she left her office job the moment was there. She opened The Old Soul March 2022.

Diana moved from Surinam to the Netherlands 35 years ago. Cooking means for her togetherness, enjoyment and community. “I want to tell the story of the Afro-Surinamese cuisine. Dishes like Moksi Alesi or Her Heri, how did they originate? To me this is important, because it is part of my culture and my background. Not everyone knows what happened in those times and I want to tell that story.”

In the 17th century the Netherlands colonized Surinam and brought enslaved persons from West Africa, to work at the plantations. So certain dishes and ingredients from West Africa became a part of the Surinamese cuisine, which is a melting pot of cuisines due to all the different people and cultures coexisting in Surinam nowadays.

Anything can be veganised

Diana found out a while ago she is lactose intolerant, so she got used to eating vegan. Also what is known as soulfood is not always good for the soul, as it includes many unhealthy animal ingredients. This shaped her determination to focus on the many colourful plant-based options which already exist in the Afro-Surinamese cuisine. “Anything can be veganised”, Diana emphasizes. Read more