Nicolette van Dam thinks that for many people her brasserie in the capital is inextricably linked to a day trip to Amsterdam. “They come from Brabant or Groningen, it’s part of it.”
Almost nine years ago, Nicolette van Dam and her brother Sebastiaan took over the Brasserie Van Dam restaurant from their parents. The brasserie is a great success and gets nice reviews on TripAdvisor, where people give an average of 4.0 (out of 5). She is very proud of it.
“Who’s on the terrace?”
Nicolette has the idea that people come from far and wide to eat in her brasserie, partly because she and her husband Bas Smit are well-known Dutch people. “They come from Brabant or Groningen, it’s part of a day in Amsterdam. They want to experience it. They may know me from TV, Bas and I are both very active on social media.”
She is proud to be a part of seeing and being seen in the bustling Amsterdam South. She tells in The watchword: “It’s crazy to say about your own business, but people also think: who’s next? Johan Cruijff used to just sit on the terrace.”
‘Kind of Paris’
Brasserie Van Dam, which was launched earlier this year has been completely demolished in the podcast Mediameiden, is located in the Cornelis Schuytstraat. “It’s almost a kind of Paris. Mondain, a bit more polished than, for example, De Pijp. The flowers on the street, the terraces. You can sit here and people watch. How they are dressed, what kind of stuff they just bought.”
Amsterdam-South has become very expensive over the years. “The people who lived there could no longer afford it and moved. This is what happens in a big city whether we like it or not. I prefer to look at what is going well.”
Not everyone is a fan
Incidentally, not everyone feels like sitting on Nicolette’s terrace. Her husband Bas not only has many fans, but also quite a few haters. For example, last week he received a nasty sneer from Telegraaf columnist Kitty Herweijer: