Until a few years ago, the village of Koekange had four pubs. There is now one left. It is typical of this time, in which the heyday of the brown café in villages is behind us.
In the series One with the jacket on I, Jeanine Hofsteenge, investigate how it is possible that the cafes in Drenthe are deteriorating. I myself was ‘born under the counter’, as it is called when you grow up in a café, and I watch the decline of the traditional brown pub with sorrow.
A cyclist is drinking coffee in the veranda when we pass by Café De Brouwmeester on the Stationsweg in Koekange. My uncle Henk Hofsteenge is behind the bar polishing glasses (rubbing with a cloth, ed.) and his wife Greet is busy in the kitchen. They have run the company together for years.
They have seen many changes over the years. Henk Hofsteenge: “When we came here 23 years ago, a lot was still allowed in the cafe. They were allowed to smoke a cigarette and the 16-year-olds were allowed to drink a beer. That coziness is really gone.”
Want to know what has changed since the heyday of the brown pub? Watch episode 2 of the series One with the jacket on here: