Gartine

Gartine is a petit café serving French/Dutch-inspired breakfasts, lunches and high teas. Delicious food, passionate owners and cosy interior. Highly recommended.

Tucked away on Taksteeg, an alley that runs down the side of one of the many H&Ms on Kalverstraat, Gartine is the kind of place you have to know or you'd never find it; but once found, you want to keep to yourself like a jealously guarded secret.

Gartine is so small it only has room for 10 small tables, including two on a mezzanine level above the tiny kitchen. It's run by husband and wife team Kirsten and Willem-Jan Hendriks. Kirsten runs the kitchen while Willem-Jan waits tables.

They also collect antiques. As a result, the décor, like the menu, is mix of southern-European chic and Dutch down-to-earth gezelligheid: a huge metal chandelier hangs from the ceiling and every table is adorned with a fresh flower in an old-fashioned glass bottle and brass-topped salt and pepper pots.

Despite the small kitchen, the breakfast menu, in particular, is quite extensive and sometimes surprising: croissants with homemade jam, chocolate brioches with lemon curd, wentelteefjes (French toast) made from Frisian sugar bread served with pear and cinnamon butter and sourdough toast with scrambled eggs.

Or the big breakfast is a good option if you can't choose. This includes a selection of the individual breakfast items plus a few extras: croissant, wentelteefje, sourdough toast, fried egg, a ‘savoury plate’ of cheese and paté, tea or coffee and orange juice.

The lunch menu includes filled rolls, large salads and soup. Between 14.00 and 17.00, high tea is also available, €9.95 per person for a small high tea or €17.95 per person for the blow-out version.

Service is prompt and the food is always beautifully presented on Dutch blue and white crockery. The quality coffee is served in French-style bowls and the ingredients are always fresh and mouthwateringly good. When they are not in Gartine, the owners are keen gardeners and many of the fruits, vegetables and herbs used in the kitchen are homegrown and thus also seasonal.

The owners are passionate about what they do and it shows. For anyone looking to get their day off to a good start, I can’t recommend Gartine highly enough. If you're prepared to get up early and bag a table before the shoppers arrive, it’s worth every homegrown bite.