Amsterdam is doing an amazing job when it comes to authenticity. Young people keep on coming up with new concepts, original themes, markets and bars. Sometimes they do not even have to be brand-new to excel in their authenticity.
Amsterdam is full of treasures. Somewhere between the university buildings, the squats, the tourist cafés, the canals and vintage streets, a little gem is hidden in a tiny alley. Rena Noordermeer founded this store after daydreaming about it during her studies in graphic design, which was 10 years ago.
After a long period of visiting Starbucks, my eyes suddenly opened up for the real art of coffee making. One day my girlfriend took me to Two for Joy Coffee Roasters in Amsterdam.
I got interested in this phenomenon after visting Pristine Fixed Gear in Amsterdam. As a mere visitor in the world of fixed gear, race and cyclocross bikes, this shop was the perfect environment to get an overview of what’s being sold and used in the bicycle world.
Somewhere in the centre of Amsterdam, a place called Hutspot, definitely deserves to be called a hot spot, literally and figuratively. This huge store reminds you of a Berlin café with a lot of Scandinavian design, while still being overtly Dutch in their way of working and helping customers. What you see is what you get (buy).