Refresh Magazine

COOKING UP:
“Restaurant Breda in Amsterdam
We donʼt
want bullshit
on the plate.
The reviews were amazing. People couldn't stop
talking about it. It's a must-see. And if you want
to eat there, you have to plan weeks in advance.
What better reason to head off to Amsterdam
to visit restaurant Breda? We spoke with
co-owner and chef Freek van Noortwijk.
Just like his two partners, he comes from Breda
and together they are turning the culinary world
upside down.
Everyone loves
people from Breda
Restaurant Breda is situated on one of
the most beautiful canals in the city, the
Singel, in a historic canalside premises.
It's a former warehouse in the style of a
brasserie. The walls are high and bare,
the colours are warm and the
atmosphere is relaxed and inviting.
The restaurant is run by three friends who
met in the first year of secondary school
in Breda: Guillaume de Beer, Johanneke
van Iwaarden and Freek van Noortwijk.
When they needed to come up with
a name for the restaurant, the name of
their secondary school sprang to mind:
the Mencia, which is also the name of a
Spanish grape variety. However, nobody
would have made the connection and
it also sounded rather like a hospital
canteen. ‘So then we thought: “Let's just
call it Breda, because everyone in
Amsterdam loves people from Breda.”‘
Don't be afraid
When you meet Freek van Noortwijk,
you can tell right away that he is a total
enthusiast and a hard worker. He talks
passionately about what he does,
enjoys his kitchen, delegates with ease
and when something needed to be
sorted out during the interview he did
so effortlessly, as the show must go on.
‘We never planned for the three of us to
open a business. In Breda, we worked
for a lunchroom and caterer which is
where we became so enthusiastic about
the trade. Even when I was studying
business economics at the University of
Amsterdam, I carried on working in the
catering trade. I did study, but I would
often leave early in the afternoon to
head over to the Albert Cuyp market
where I would buy delicious fish,
nice cuts of meat and vegetables.
On the internet, I used to watch videos
of Jamie Oliver to learn how to prepare
fish. Later I worked at various
restaurants where I learned a lot from
the chefs. But above all, I did a lot of
work myself. Don't be afraid, that's my
motto.’
Best decision
‘When we graduated, Guillaume became
a chef at Daalder in Amsterdam and he
got me a job there too. I became his
sous-chef and later we became a chef
duo. From there, Guillaume and I set
up Guts & Glory in early 2015.
That restaurant took off right away and
everything was going very steadily.’
Freek and Guillaume left Daalder,
Johanneke left her job with a real estate
company and the three of them decided
to open their own restaurant.
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