Amsterdam Foodie

When I was a student in Amsterdam (which is longer ago than I care to admit), I took my parents to Blauw aan de Wal. They were just called Mr and Mrs Hampton back then, before they’d been forced to change their names to Mr and Mrs Foodie. But they (like I) have always been [...]

Last Thursday, my friend Andrea celebrated her ten-year anniversary in Amsterdam. I met Andrea in our first week at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, in September 2001. We’ve been friends for a decade and, during that time, I spent three miserable years in the UK, whereas she made the decision not to return to her native [...]

The brief: “Can we eat somewhere fairly healthy and not too expensive, please? I am on a budget. Oh, and can we go dancing after? Thanks!” This was the email (more or less) from the friend I had staying last weekend. In the last six months, she’s separated from her husband, lost several kilos and [...]

I am too tired for an angle today. I had friends staying for the weekend, which meant the amount of sleep I had was indirectly proportional to the amount of alcohol I drank. Still, that’s what coffee was invented for, eh? Last week I went to Donna Sofia, which had been on my to-try list [...]

Yesterday I had a Computer-Free Day. I can’t remember the last time I had one of those… except perhaps on holiday. But I wasn’t on holiday; I was at home, in Amsterdam. My laptop was right there, and I resisted opening it for an entire day. It was slightly boring, but also strangely liberating. It [...]

I don’t usually read recipe blogs. As in, I look at the list of ingredients – I just don’t really do the blog part. You know the ones: they always seem to be written by smug mothers banging on about what they cooked their little darlings for dinner whilst busily not having a job. Then [...]