Beemster cheese summer tour!
This summer Kim from @unbloomfotografie and Tamara from @aantafelmettammie.nl will take you on a tour of the Netherlands. They will visit the nicest catering locations where they have delicious dishes with Beemster cheese on the menu. In this news item we also take you on tour. Below you can read the experiences of the ladies. This news item will be updated weekly with the newest locations.
The Frenchman - by Kim from Unbloom Photography
My partner in crime Melissa and I indulged in cheese fondue. I'm kind of the "do whatever" type. So owner Karin Hiemstra pulled out all the stops to let us taste as much as possible. Thank god I had spent half the day hanging out at the gym, because every bite could be stuck directly to your buttocks. But mèèèèn, how worth it! Newest addition to creative with Beemster cheese family at The Frenchman is the cheese bitterballs. Nice and crispy and firm crust with a creamy, slightly spicy cheese ragout filling. A good prelude to the tasting of cheese fondues that followed.
Meanwhile, the Alkmaar Cheese Fondue has had considerable company from, among others, a version with truffles and - my favorite - the Devil's version with sundried tomatoes and peppers. And what do you dip with? Well just about anything in the refrigerator: from greens to potatoes to fruit to sandwiches. And yes, it's hard work to get everything finished.
Recommended? I call it again: yes! I can dream the menu by now, but it's always a treat to sit down. Now in case you're thinking: a whole cheese fondue like that is too much for me. Then go for the cheese fondue with tapas menu or another favorite: the Bacchus meat fondue. I promise ... you won't regret it!
The Tosti Club - Spar City Monarch - by Tamara of Aantafelmettammie.nl
From Den Haag Centraal or Laan van Noi you can walk to The Tosti Club in 10 minutes. The Tosti Club is located in a Spar supermarket and is a chain of lunchrooms. Fun fact: every (new) Spar supermarket in a city gets a Tosti Club in the building. They sell delicious -and not unimportant: good filling- sandwiches in all kinds of flavors. So stress of choice.
I hesitated between two sandwiches: the JFT sandwich with cured Beemster cheese, country ham, scrambled eggs and tomato or the S.A. taco sandwich with young cured Beemster cheese, taco salsa, seasoned minced meat and chimichurri. Both delicious! But I had exercised in the morning, so I opted for the protein and went for the JFT sandwich. The thick slice of melted cured Beemster was easy to taste, delicious!
What completes the sandwich is the delicious sauce that comes with it. The sauce reminds me a bit of aioli with tomato, nice and spicy and creamy. Luckily I was given a bottle to take home by Hamza, the franchisee of the City Spar Monarch where we were. So you can also buy the sauce separately. And in case you work in the neighborhood? Then it's definitely the ideal lunch spot! You can find all of The Toasti Club's locations here. What makes it extra fun are all the fun quotes throughout the restaurant. Time to ketch-up is one of them, I love it!
Kwalitaria Oudorp - by Kim from Unbloomfotografie
The cool thing about Kwalitaria is that they have more variety on the menu than a standard cafeteria. Of course they serve good peanut fries (compliments on the men's sauce (!)), fingerlicking hotwings and my love the @kroketterijdebourgondier but also plenty of creative dishes.
The menu features plenty of fries variations with the most delicious toppings, such as the fries nacho, hot cheesy sauce or gyros. The list of exciting burgers is even longer: meat, fish, veg. Pimped or not with a slice of delicious Beemster Cheese. Here the choice fell on The Bull with bacon, lettuce, onion and barbecue sauce, although the new Mexican seasonal version with chicken and nachos was also looked at obliquely.
The mango-pineapple milkshake did go down well from the changing menu, as did the Mexican special frikandel, which really did look like a colorful festive picture.
To end the bacchanal, I went for an ice cream. You see, at Kwalitaria Oudorp they not only have the most delicious soft-serve ice cream but also artisanal ice cream from @ijssalonpinoccio and say no to that.
Heidezicht - by Tamara of Aantafelmettammie.nl
The next location of the tastiest tour of the Netherlands is at Heidezicht, a café-restaurant on the beautiful Bussumerheide in the Goois Nature Reserve.
When you drive up you immediately see the beautiful Bussumerheide. A short walk and you are among deer and large grazers. At Heidezicht you can go for lunch, drinks and dinner. From coffee to warm apple crumble pie to salads or as I took: thick sourdough sandwiches with old Beemster cheese and apple syrup. I love the combination of savory and sweet. Next to it a healthy freshly squeezed juice with beets, pear, ginger and red pepper. Delicious!
You can read Tamara's entire report here.
Naturally Egmond - by Kim from Unbloom Photography
Who's ready for the next stop of the @beemster_cheese Summer Tour? Part 3 already... I actually want to ask Beemster for additional stops already because how cool is this Tour! Even I get to visit gems in my region that I've never been to before. Yes, because @naturegmond is really worth a stop!
The name says it all: they do wonderful good produce at Naturally, but also happily fire up the Big Green Egg or put out a well-stocked high tea. Although there is a lunch menu (beautifully sandwiches) as well as dinner menu (plenty of veggie options, but those desserts!), you can order the full menu all day. Top-notch service.
But after a long bike ride - ok, 12 kilometers but on a real bike (me then) with full-blown wind against it in the polder because North Holland - my cycling buddy Marrion and I decided it was drink time. We hesitated for a second whether to walk all 18 holes on the miniature golf course, but we were thirsty. And I had already probed the map and saw a wonderful drinks board with that twisted Beemster Cheese, of course.
With wine, breeze and a very extensive board - price quality really top - we sat on the extended terrace really nicely. Nice chatting, nice people-watching and the occasional cozy waitress at the table (props to the staff!).
To finish and give us courage for the way home, we went for dessert. I really liked the triffle with pineapple from the bbq. Not sweet, nice and fresh and the brownie next to me also went in enthusiastically.
Kwalitaria Delifrance Vathorst - by Tamara from Aantafelmettammie.nl
I had a nice day out with my sister and after the cozy center of Amersfoort we went on to @kwalitariadelifrancevathorst. So in Amersfoort you have 2 Kwalitaria's / Délifrances. They have the same menu, so that saves choice stress. Kwalitaria Délifrance Vathorst is near shopping center + station Vathorst and Kwalitaria Délifrance Emiclaer is about 3 km away at -you guessed it- shopping center Emiclaer. At Emiclaer you sit by a beautiful stream and Vathorst sits on a square.
There is plenty to choose from at Kwalitaria Délifrance, including dishes with Beemster cheese. For lunch, for example, eat a richly filled baguette Beemster cheese. Since it was our evening meal, we ordered a nice table full of things like crispy chicken salad and cheesy hot fries. I went on for the Red Rebel burger with arugula, red pepper, jalapeño, Beemster cheese and sriracha garlic sauce. Deliciously spicy! My sister went for a classic the Bull burger with bacon, Beemster cheese, red onions and BBQ sauce. Tasty!
This was another delicious stop, snacking! By the way, for more photos and a more in-depth report, click here.
The Toasti Club Leeuwarden - by Kim from Unbloom Photography
My heart made a little leap of joy when Beemster cheese sent me to Leeuwarden for @thetosticlub for the Beemster Summer Tour. Because both a great day out with the boyfriend and biting into some sandwiches. Win-win right?
Now @thetosticlubleeuwarden is in the heart of the center and in a beautiful location on the canal with a large terrace and young but super enthusiastic and sweet staff running around. A day before the COVID lockdown the club opened and a day later they were allowed to close the doors again. But since they have been in full operation, it has been packed non-stop. In Leeuwarden they also love a sandwich.
I myself was just able to get a table outside because for once it was nice weather this summer. And then the menu... If it fits between two slices of bread, you can make a sandwich out of it. God, where was this concept 20 years ago?
Friend went for the trippled up SA Taco - yes I know like ordering from a coffee shop - with thick layers of minced meat, chimichurri, salsa and a thick slice of Beemster cheese. Again, I couldn't resist a dish of Beemster cheese. The Dutch Pizza Tuna suddenly had a thick slice of Beemster cheese on it instead of mozzarella. And since everything is freshly topped, you can customize your sandwich a bit. Or just build it yourself.
And is it a sandwich party? Yes it is! Because the perfectly baked buns are filled - or in my case topped - with flavor bombs. Forget that prepackaged sports cafeteria crap! These are star-studded sandwiches ✨
Restaurant Krelis - by Tamara of Aantafelmettammie.nl
Restaurant Krelis is beautifully situated on Erfgoedpark de Hoop, between the Uitgeestermeer and Zwaansmeer lakes. A beautiful spot in the middle of nature where there is also a bed & breakfast and luxury glamping lodges. The Uitgeestermeer is the ideal place for water sports enthusiasts, you could see the windsurfers from a distance. And here again there was a large children's playground, so should you bring your kids you can enjoy yourself on the terrace of Krelis while keeping an eye on your children. Just like at the beautiful Heidezicht location in Bussum where I ate a Beemster cheese sandwich a few weeks ago.
Time to do what we came for, order a delicious lunch. Krelis' menu is very extensive and there are several unique dishes on the menu. No ordinary lunchroom so to speak. I went for the focaccia with smoked pastrami, truffle mayonnaise and old Beemster cheese. A delicious and surprising sandwich! I am going to use old Beemster cheese more often on a carpaccio or vitello sandwich, instead of Parmesan cheese. Also nice that it is a focaccia and not a regular bread.
By the way, hubby went for the eggs Benedict, an all time classic. Of course, both dishes were accompanied by a nice wine, an Australian Chardonnay. Check out Krelis ' lunch menu here.
So if you fancy a real North Holland natural landscape including cows, sheep and windmills, Krelis is definitely the place to be. The wine list is also extensive: 6 white and 5 red wines by the glass, in addition to the wines by the bottle, of course. Always important to me ;). To finish off, you can get a delicious ice cream for dessert at the small mill next to Krelis.
Restaurant the Reghter - by Kim from Unbloom Photography
Save the best for last, they sometimes say. Well, in this Beemster cheese summer tour, I more than succeeded! As my very last stop I was allowed to travel to the picturesque village of De Rijp, where restaurant @dereghter is housed in a beautiful old landmark building by the water.
For me, this was a gem in the North Holland polder that I did not yet know. Call De Reghter classic with a particularly creative twist and, of course, the requisite dishes with Beemster cheese on the menu, really finishing off some of the dishes.
Take the house-smoked steak that normally goes on the appetizer Beemster X-O- - for me a special edition on the antipasti platter - what a match made in heaven!
But the chef can do more than grate Beemster: he serves the classic carpaccio with a bitterball of the infamous cheese. For me, by the way, the steak tartare was an absolute highlight: perfectly cut beef with potato alfredo, foam of pickle, mustard ice cream, fried capers and egg yolk tufts. Every bite was pure delight and packed with flavor and texture. I've eaten many in my life but steams into the top two most delicious ever.
But in addition to smoking their own charcuterie (I haven't even mentioned the duck and ox sausage yet), the chef also works with the nicer cuts of organ meats. I am not an outspoken fan but for both duck liver and sweetbreads I gladly don my fan shirt. The entrée with the duck liver and lobster salad was promoted to main course and my friend went wild on the sweetbreads. Now the entremets were already a main course size (they clearly like good portions in De Rijp), but it was seriously enjoyable every bite. By the way, the service provided a matching delicious wine with each course with flair.
And how could you not end the Beemster cheese summer tour with a cheese board featuring, of course, Beemster and four other wonderful cheeses? This was pure enjoyment!
Madame Cyclette - by Tamara of Aantafelmettammie.nl
Madame Cyclette is a flexitarian restaurant. It sits right next to the Olypmic stadium, where -the name kind of gives it away- you can also rent bikes for a nice ride through Amsterdam. Don't think of one of those little bike rentals in a drain, no Madame Cyclette has a nice upscale entrance where you can rent bikes on the right and walk into the spacious restaurant on the left. The restaurant is brightly colored and nicely decorated. The bar looks super chic. Time to take a closer look at the menu!
Because that's what we came for, a nice lunch with something from Beemster cheese, of course. Because this North Holland cheese is also well used here! For example, on the hamburger with melted cheese, but also on the croque madame. A luxury sandwich with 3 kinds of cheese (young Beemster cheese, mozzarella and Parmesan) and a fried egg on top. I went for that. What a delicious sandwich!