Café Visscher brings bistronomy to Leiden

29-9-2023

Since early September, Café Visscher has opened on the Stationsweg in Leiden. As luxurious as the Art Deco interior of the brand-new establishment of chef Arie Visscher (36) from Rotterdam looks, Arie himself is down-to-earth. After years of cooking at the highest level, the chef takes a completely different approach in Leiden. In Café Visscher, Arie cooks without any fuss and does not have the intention to score in the guides, but to score with the guests. In Visscher’s first own establishment, located at the gateway to the centre of Leiden, accessibility is the key word. From guests who prefer something tasty à la minute to extensive à la carte dining: no one is missing out here.

Besides cosy dining, Café Visscher also serves lunch and drinks! Especially on the terrace with a Parisian flair, the wine is served at the right temperature together with delicious bar bites. Be sure to try their oysters with cucumber and dashi, the marinated mussels and the delicious watermelon!

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SLA opens new location in Leiden

31-3-2023

From now on, Leiden can also enjoy “the magic of veggies” with all the healthy and delicious things SLA has to offer. The fast-growing fast casual concept SLA is expanding nationwide and has opened a 14th location in the center of Leiden. Together with franchisees Berre and Munur, SLA opened the first of a series of new branches on Maarsmansteeg in Leiden. read more

World first innovative cabin against stress and sleep problems by AYAVAYA at BLUE Wellness resort Leiden

13-10-2022

BLUE Wellness has partnered with AYAVAYA. This start-up, which is part of the Dutch start-up and scale-up mission to the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, has developed an innovative cabin that addresses two major social problems: stress and sleep problems. The collaboration between the two parties has led to a prototype of this unique cabin with automatic therapies, with the intention of a long-term partnership to make a wellness experience even more complete. The AYAVAYA cabin against stress and sleep problems can be experienced exclusively at the BLUE Wellness resort Leiden until December 2022.

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Fat Phill’s Leiden opens and will be treating some of you

22-9-2022

On Saturday, September 24, Fat Phill’s celebrates the Grand Opening of their new location in the Dutch city Leiden with an exclusive opening action. A day full of festivities dominated by good food, cozy atmosphere and good music. The Grand Opening will take place at their new location at the Stille Mare 13 in Leiden. And they’re giving away 50 free cheeseburgers!

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Freshly Chopped Leiden | First location from this chain in the Netherlands

10-3-2022

On Monday 14 March, the very first Freshly Chopped location in the Netherlands will open at the Stationsweg 11 in Leiden. This successful Irish franchise concept already has more than 60 restaurants in Ireland, the UK and on Cyprus, and now the Dutch can enjoy their fresh, healthy and tasty salads and meals as well. Core of the fresh formula: all ingredients are freshly ‘chopped’ under the watchful eye of the guest. As an opening promotion they have a Leiden Garden Salad (with cheese from Leiden) with a bottle of Vitamin Well.

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Hotspot in Leiden: De Buurt

6-7-2016

Dutch city Leiden has a new hotspot in the city for the upcoming three months. De Buurt (the neighbourhood) recently opened next to Leiden Central station. A place where art, culture, food and fashion meet. read more

Restaurant Waag opened in Leiden

29-7-2015

This month ‘Waag’ opened in Leiden. The Waag was once the bustling center of Leiden but was barely used until recently. This summer, the monument is the vibrant heart of the city again.

The Waag as backdrop for traditional events

Guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Waag under the magnificent vaults of the monumental Boterhal or in the new glass construction. The Waag remains the backdrop for the traditional presentation of herring and white bread on 3 October and the Waag will be renamed the House of Saint Nicholas in late November.

Interior

Great Persian rugs and a special lighting plan transform the stately monument in a place where it’s pleasant to stay. A wall full of old scales refers to the past, when ‘The Waag’ was the commercial centre of the city and traders had their goods weighted.

Glass construction

To relieve the monumental Waag and Boterhal an additional glass construction was built behind the high, vaulted room of the Boterhal. Here is a large open kitchen located in the glass construction with a private entrance to the Mandemakers Alley.

Chicken in the lead

Freshly grilled chicken plays a major role at the Waag. On a Josper charcoal oven chickens are freshly grilled in French or Portuguese style. In addition there are salads, pastas and culinary classics like a sirloin steak, prawns, satay and a burger on the menu.

Terrace in 2016

The monumental ‘Waaghoofd’ will be the location of the new ‘Waag’ terrace in the spring of 2016, and has room for 150 guests. To achieve this the main bridge of the Waag is moved to Catharina Alley in late 2015.

Debut BV – Hospitality Management and Development

The Waag is part of Debut BV, which is responsible for several successful restaurant concepts as Mad Mick’s Breakaway Café Rotterdam, STAN & CO, Belgian Beer Café Olivier in Utrecht and Leiden, the Mexican restaurants of Popocatepetl, Hometown Coffee & More in The Hague and Stadscafé Progress in Eindhoven.

Restaurant in Leiden with homely atmosphere

15-7-2015

The historic building ‘The Volharding’ at the harbour in Leiden in The Netherlands is the home base of homely restaurant ‘Lot & de Walvis’ since a few weeks now.

Homely atmosphere at restaurant in Leiden

The fictional tour of Lot and her van that was named ‘De Walvis’ (translated as The Whale) went through Southern Europe and South Africa and recently ended at the port of Leiden. At ‘Lot & de Walvis’ American Barn wood and authentic weathered materials are used, mostly gleaned together by co-owner Rob van Wijnen himself. In the opening week, neighbours were personally invited for a drink and 80 people attended the neighbourhood drink. Friends and residents got a 25% discount to have a taste of the food in the first week.

Nightmare

The walls are plastered and transformed from sleek and straight into coarse and wavy. It was a nightmare for the plasterer who was used to deliver plain walls, but the result feels very natural. The various areas are named after the various rooms as you would expect in someone’s house. By using the same tables and style both inside and outside, the various areas of ‘Lot & de Walvis’ feel as one. On the toilet hangs a sign “The toilet design is Lot’s next project”, indicating why this space is less connected to the rest of the restaurant and still needs a make-over.

Food and drink

The extensive menu provides the opportunity to have breakfast all day. In addition, there is a cacophony of categories with headings like ‘bites’, ‘sandwiches’, ‘soups’, ‘small dishes’, ‘homemade burgers’, ‘Lot’s favourite dishes’, ‘desserts’ etc. The fans of refreshing fruit water can eat their hearts out with complimentary glasses of water from three jars with for example fresh melon water, citrus water or lemongrass water. There are beers available from the local brewery Pronck Leiden, wine lovers can definitely enjoy themselves and trendy Gin and Tonic lovers are served as well.

The Hospitality Group Leiden

Just as you would expect when visiting someone’s home, new guests are given a tour of the property, which, with its many nooks and spaces is well suited for a discovery tour. The waiters are already experienced in welcoming guests because a part of the crew worked at the party centre La France in Oegstgeest. Lot & de Walvis is part of the Hospitality Group Leiden together with Van der Werff, La France and City Hall. The board consists of the brothers Richard and Wouter van Leeuwen and Rob van Wijnen. Wouter van Leeuwen and Rob van Wijnen are responsible for the hospitality companies in Leiden. Richard van Leeuwen focuses on four Harbour Clubs based in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Scheveningen and Ibiza.

It was a warm welcome at the harbour of Leiden. Although we would have loved to get acquainted with the real Lot!

Italian restaurant ‘modern style’ in Leiden

9-2-2015

From the walls The Godfather and Berlusconi (in graffiti form) look down on the tables with bright red chairs. Zucca is an Italian restaurant in Leiden (The Netherlands) but slightly different than a more traditional Italian restaurant. But they serve artisanal pizzas and dishes created with real Italian ingredients and love for their origin.

Graffiti as art

The staff wears shirts with ‘I’m Italian, what’s your super power?’ And a classic work of art as the Mona Lisa now wears an eye patch and the Venus by Botticelli wears sunglasses. In short, no classic design for this Italian restaurant but graffiti and a contemporary decor. An artists collective created the artwork on the walls that can best be described as a mix of classic and now, with a big wink. The Madonna by Rafael carries a baby in soccer outfit and Botticelli’s Venus is surrounded by graffiti figures and angels on a Vespa scooter.

Italian restaurant ‘modern style’

The interior may be anything but traditional Italian, their dishes taste like they are served in a trattoria in Italy. The pizza crusts (thin!) are made in a glowing stone oven and their pasta’s, anti pasti and secondi are made from fresh ingredients.

New offshoot

Zucca is part of Witteman Hospitality Management, led by Ruud and son Singha Witteman. They now have six restaurants, five of which are located in Leiden. They are known for their accessible hospitality concepts, aimed at a large audience.

Spin to win

These entrepreneurs continue to innovate. Often by thinking and acting ‘out of the box’. Like everyone who will be eating on a Tuesday or Wednesday at Zucca’s; can give a twist to the ‘O Fortuna Rad’ after checking out. There can earn prizes for their return visit, like a complimentary bottle of wine or even up to 50% off on the next dinner.

Rrroling Leiden

9-4-2014

Leiden is the Dutch food truck capital on 23, 24 and 25 May. The Pieterskerkplein in the city center will be full with delicious trucks including Choripan, Het Crepe Chalet, Fritez, Garbanzo, I scream for Icecream, Vive le Vin, Los Hapje Pasta Joe, YOOS, Mac & Cheeze, Grill ‘nd Smoke, Allegaartje op wielen, Dartel, Lizz Bizz, All Class, World Wide Wraps and WattSap. To subscibe with a food truck, owners can get more information on the Facebook page of ‘Rrrollend Leiden’.