Winery Chateau Amsterdam is now also a culinary hotspot

Amsterdam Castle is no newcomer to Amsterdam North. Since 2017, this urban winery has been harvesting the best grapes in Europe and making more than 20 different wines on its own soil. In Amsterdam, for Amsterdam. After moving to a former meat processing company around the corner, the winery has expanded with a culinary hotspot in addition to its tasting room. I took connoisseur Mirjam with me to try as many wines and dishes as possible and here is our report.

You immediately notice the raw urban atmosphere when you drive there. You weave between commercial premises, old car garages and machine factories and the streets are still open. With the string lights on the street corners, the young people in the street and the muffled bass sounds coming from the buildings, we really have that “Friday night feeling”; here is a nice place to discover.

Shop and cellar

We enter the shop where the wines of Amsterdam are on sale. It immediately strikes us that wine is central here. Continuing to walk, we suddenly find ourselves in a large industrial space that gives the impression of being the guest of a winemaker. A winemaker who also operates a restaurant, an innovative concept for the Netherlands.

The first thing that catches our attention are the vessels that can be seen through a glass wall. The pride and ambition of this family business flow from this. Here, the grapes are assembled in an impressive collection of barrels. They work with barrels of steel, wood, concrete and even terracotta. In their own internal laboratory, they experiment and innovate to turn grapes into special wines. Each one is unique and corresponds to 3 characters: the father (strong and deep), the son (rebellious and slightly different) and the grandson (accessible and flexible).

The concept is clear, the space is clear. The room is open and grand, but anything but cold. The space is divided into zones: the tasting room, the bar and the restaurant. For those who like personal space spacious enough and yet privacy, this is a good option. When the restaurant is full you will hear a lot of noise, but there is more space between the tables than in many small restaurants. This way you don’t have to follow the conversation of the neighbors.

Restaurant

The tasting room was already a hit at the previous location, just missing a good bite. Now that there is more space, that dream could come true. The entrepreneurs wanted to create a place to eat that feels real, pure, authentic and innovative. What you see in the wines was also to become the basis of the restaurant. Chef Joey Baal (known to Toscanini) has proven himself eminently capable of creating the flavors that match these wines.

He tells us his personal story; he has known the simplicity of food since his childhood when it was mainly about macrobiotic cooking. He himself prefers richer dishes, but without giving up simplicity. Beauty, passion and color reign in her cuisine. With this, Joey and his team create excellent Italian dishes that pair well with the chateau wines.

We are presented with different dishes, from oysters to meat and fish, pasta, combined with a journey through two generations of wine (father, son, grandson). Not artificial, but beautifully made. Authentic and very tasteful.

Conclusion: go to Chateau Amsterdam

Amsterdam North has another addition. My dining companion and I were both very happy with the more classic wines and the exciting, more experimental wines. Along with the wines, you can choose from many tasty and well-executed dishes. Amsterdam Castle is well worth a visit!

See the Amsterdam Castle website here.