First appearances can be deceiving.
Walk through the heart of Holland’s most famous market, the Albert Cuypstraat in Amsterdam, and you’ll find a hub of activity centered around a not unfamiliar establishment called ‘The Butcher’.
On stepping inside, what first strikes you is the meaty aroma. Not the aroma you would expect from a traditional butchers, but a mélange of searing meats and the fragrant spices they have been embellished with. Couple this with the acoustics of a sizzling grill and the backdrop conversation of the recently fed and you begin to get a feel of Amsterdam’s most famed Burger joint – or at least so I thought.
Rest assured, the burger is first and foremost the heart of the operation as their charismatic General Manager David Sesti tells me,
“It took us two years to decide on the perfect beef to use for our burgers. Two years.”
This statement serves as an indication of ‘their’ depth of purpose. By their, I refer to The Butcher’s International founders Yossi Eliyahoo and Ricardo Sporkslede who have other international vested interests, the closest in proximity being Momo Restaurant and the Sir Albert – a luxury private mansion boutique hotel also on Cuypstraat. After two years of contemplation they ‘settled’ on Aberdeen Angus beef; the world’s finest beef breed in the last 200 years.
But I repeat, first appearances can be deceiving. Walk to the back of The Butcher, and you come face to face with a buzzer, adjacent to what appears to be a dead-end metal door in keeping with their overall design, akin to what you would expect to find in an abattoir.
Press the buzzer, and the door may open, but more often than not it remains closed, as those privy to access are few and far between. Fortunately the social status of my current company, served as entrance fee and the door slid open; a modern day reenactment of Ali Baba I entered, unbeknown to me what ‘treasures’ awaited on the other side.
Due to the longstanding rules of Speakeasy, I am unable to reveal much of what happens in the ‘Kitchen’ – or even who were in attendance – but imagine a familiar gathering of disparate guests, all whose mere presence attests to their social credibility. The venue somehow manages to create warmth and intimacy despite the cold appearance of metallic walls; beverages are expertly served by the city’s finest Mixologists showing you variations of your favourite drinks you weren’t aware existed. The Bar is an Island, well habited by guests encircling it waiting for their next concoctions to arrive.
There are no windows, so naturally you forgo the concept of time, flitting from conversation to conversation with the many colourful characters and intriguing guests you encounter within.
Apparently there were only 40 original members to the Kitchen; those 40 were allowed to invite 40, and so on and so forth. Hence this underground elite group of tastemakers has grown – certainly a group to aspire to.
Twice fooled and twice pleased; The Butcher is an antithesis of the brutal connotations of a meat shop, within which is hidden a social haven featuring the refined art of mixology. It’s a bloody delight.
Feature originally published in JOSHUA’s Magazine Issue TWO
