Young entrepreneurs & new concepts | Petit and Bakery Heemelrijck, the SKEWER BAR and Restaurant Paarl

28-1-2025

  • SKEWERS BAR in RotterdamSKEWERS BAR in Rotterdam
  • Bakkerij Heemelrijck wentelteefjes met Nars - credits Denise Valk PhotographyBakkerij Heemelrijck wentelteefjes met Nars - credits Denise Valk Photography
  • Petit Heemelrijck Bar - credits Denise Valk PhotographyPetit Heemelrijck Bar - credits Denise Valk Photography
  • Petit Heemelrijck - Balletjes in sate saus & Patatje Stoofvlees - credits Denise Valk PhotographyPetit Heemelrijck - Balletjes in sate saus & Patatje Stoofvlees - credits Denise Valk Photography
  • Petit Heemelrijck interieur - credits Denise Valk PhotographyPetit Heemelrijck interieur - credits Denise Valk Photography
  • Zuid-Afrikaans pop-up restaurant Paarl in SassenheimZuid-Afrikaans pop-up restaurant Paarl in Sassenheim
  • SKEWERS BAR in RotterdamSKEWERS BAR in Rotterdam
  • SKEWERS BAR in RotterdamSKEWERS BAR in Rotterdam
  • SKEWERS BAR in RotterdamSKEWERS BAR in Rotterdam
  • Bakkerij Heemelrijck wentelteefjes met Nars - credits Denise Valk PhotographyBakkerij Heemelrijck wentelteefjes met Nars - credits Denise Valk Photography
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Every day we spot fun, new concepts. This week: the SKEWER BAR in Rotterdam, where you can enjoy meat, vegetables and tofu skewers. An authentic street food restaurant specialising in dishes from the Changsha region in China. In Amsterdam, restaurant Heemelrijck has opened a new restaurant, Petit Heemelrijck, and bakery Heemelrijck with a new Wentelteefjes (French toast) to go concept. A new concept with a 75-year family history! And in Sassenheim, the South African pop-up restaurant Paarl opened in the third quarter of 2024. They treat you to a shared dining menu with all kinds of South African dishes such as biltong, braai, boboti, samosas and so on.

We wish all these entrepreneurs and their teams lots of fun and success with their concepts. More information below!

2 minutes read

SKEWER BAR in Rotterdam | Chinese skewers, great beer and good times!

This streetfood restaurant already opened at the end of August 2024 and they’ve been busy ever since! The SKEWER BAR at the Schildersstraat 24A in Rotterdam is an authentic streetfood restaurant specialising in dishes from the Changsha region in China. Their dishes focus on the rich, fragrant spices of this region, which are different from the well-known Sichuan ‘numbing’ spices. This gives the dishes a unique, deep flavour experience. All dishes are prepared by hand, using fresh ingredients. This is reflected in the taste! They offer tasty beers (including Chinese) and cocktails in a cosy atmosphere, in addition to tasty culinary Chinese skewers.

They offer vegan-vegetable skewers – such as with broccoli, cauliflower, garlic sprouts, white cabbage, potato, King oyster mushroom, courgette, enoki tofu roll, Chinese chive tofu roll and, for example, the coriander tofu roll. You can decide the degree of spiciness yourself! They also have various meat and fish skewers. There are also some specialities like grilled Taiwanese & Japanese sausages, aubergines etc. and the familiar sides like edamame but also sugared tomato, thousand-year-old egg with hot pepper sauce or MeiGanCai pancake. Open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 11pm. Below is an Instagram post from Eatngo where you can see what to expect!

Heemelrijck celebrates 75 years of family history with new restaurant and bakery with a ‘Wentelteefjes’ (French toast) to go concept

They are certainly not new in business, but they opened a new concept for restaurant Heemelrijck at the Van Woustraat 23 in Amsterdam. Early January, Nars Hemelrijk, the third generation of the family, proudly announced not one, but two new locations in the heart of Amsterdam: Petit Heemelrijck on the Singel 161 and Bakery Heemelrijck in the Torensteeg. A new concept of Wentelteefjes to go will be introduced at Bakery Heemelrijck.

Restaurant Heemelrijck is the epitome of primal Dutch ‘gezelligheid’ (cosiness) where the citizins of Amsterdam and visitors to the city come together for the tastiest Dutch food. Heemelrijck’s story begins in 1949 when grandfather Nars opens his first sandwich shop on the Damrak. Thanks to its success, the business transforms into a restaurant in 1962, which is continued for decades by son Robbie. After a brief closure, grandson Nars reopened restaurant Heemelrijck on the Van Woustraat in 2023, continuing the tradition in a modern guise, but retaining the authentic atmosphere and accessible prices. You can enjoy classic dishes such as stew of endives, snert (pea soup), simmered meat or a perfectly fried steak.

After the success of the restaurant, Nars is now expanding his Heemelrijck with two new concepts, located side by side on the Singel in Amsterdam. Petit Heemelrijck and Bakery Heemelrijck! Petit Heemelrijck is an intimate ode to the original restaurant where you can enjoy traditional Dutch dishes and a warm atmosphere in a smaller setting. In the summer, they have a terrace with 75 spots and it is also possible to dock by boat. Petit Heemelrijck is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with the same classic dishes as restaurant Heemelrijck and, for dessert, the traditional wentelteefjes (French toast) according to the Heemelrijck family recipe.

At Bakery Heemelrijck, an entirely new concept will be introduced: Wentelteefjes to go. This is where you get the award-winning wentelteefjes according to grandpa Nars’ recipe, prepared with Frisian sugar bread. The traditional recipe is given a modern twist with surprising toppings such as bacon with syrup, pistachio cream and lemon mascarpone. Sounds delicious!

Restaurant Paarl | ‘Boerekos’ from the South African cuisine in Sassenheim

Our colleague Daimy recently ate at the pop-up restaurant Paarl in Sassenheim, which opened in October and serves South African cuisine. Marc and Charlotte’s pop-up restaurant is on the premises of the Van der Valk Hotel Sassenheim – Leiden. At the moment, the restaurant is open on Friday and Saturday evenings. You can enjoy South African shared dining dishes and on Sunday afternoons you can also enjoy a Sunday Roast! From February 6 on, they will also be open on Thursday and Sunday evenings but then they unfortunately won’t serve the Sunday Roast anymore.

Their Food menu includes among others Boboti Samoosas; Rooibos grilled prawns; biltong; Maistert with mushrooms; Aubergine Chakalaka, Melktert and Dulche de leche ice cream! And, of course, grilled meat and vegetables from their braai. In our opinion, it is also a fun place to visit in spring/summer, they have their own braai outside, a fireplace and on Instagram, it looks like they have outdoor cinema. Of course, they have cocktails, mocktails, beers and South African wines. Daimy enjoyed the food and the waiters’ stories about the food. They told her that the South African chef has his dried sausage made to his own recipe at a butcher’s!

Every week we highlight 3 new concepts or young entrepreneurs, do you know a company we really need to mention? We’d love to hear about it! 

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