There’s something that feels very British about the concept of ‘popping down the local,’ although I’m sure other cultures must have the equivalent. To constitute a local, an establishment requires a delicate balance of physical proximity (either to your house or your workplace), friendliness of service (not to mention clientele) and quality of drinks. And even once these criteria have been met, a watering hole doesn’t become a local until you’ve been there often enough to have a favourite table and for there to be some level of mutual recognition between you and the staff.
When I used to work on the Leidseplein, Café Eylders was my local. I spent at least two evenings a week there – either with colleagues (who were also regulars), with friends, or with potential dates that I’d get the bar staff to vet before I walked in to meet them. But then my office moved on, and so did half the staff of Eylders, and I’d lost my local.
Three years later, I saw building work going on down the road from my apartment. Nothing new there – the Spaarndammerbuurt is in a constant state of renovation, it seems – but this time I noticed beer taps behind the dusty glass of the soon-to-be café. And not just any beer taps: La Chouffe beer taps. I was intrigued, made a note of the name of the place sellotaped to the windows, and looked it straight up on Facebook. Café de Walvis (walvis means whale – don’t ask me the connection) was scheduled to open on 27th April, and its launch party made an immediate appearance in my diary.
