French Flair with Dutch Cosiness

French wining and dining in the heart of Amsterdam? You can at Auberge Jean & Marie in De Pijp. Just around the corner from the Albert Cuyp, you can enjoy a huge selection of wines by the glass and classic French dishes.

The Auberge has white-clothed and sturdy wooden tables side by side. With an open kitchen including a chef’s table, a wine bar with 70 wines by the glass, a stylish wine cave and a fireplace. This is a place where you can go for a beautiful classic dish, but just as easily for a fine glass of wine.

Crowdfunding

Jan Grijspeere and Marije Bremer – Jean & Marie themselves – started this project together. After gaining a great deal of experience at, among others, Bistrot Neuf, Blauw aan de Wal and Guts & Glory, it was time for their own dream. Much of the auberge was realised through crowdfunding. A nice touch, because that makes it feel like it belongs to all of us (or at least to those who took part).

Wines from the dirty corner

The dishes and the predominantly French-oriented wine list will make your mouth water. The menu of the week – the burrata, followed by a consommé with a poultry quenelle, then red-braised beef chuck and beef chuckravioli – is truly delicious. And the wines served – partly from the secret ‘dirty corner’ (be sure to ask about it) – are original and carefully selected.

Jan and Marije want their auberge to become a household name in Amsterdam. A cosy, accessible place you keep coming back to. For lunch, drinks with friends, or simply a good meal. And they are still brimming with ideas. Their frontage, for example, which has already been moved inward to make room for a lovely terrace, should also be able to open downward. So you can sit comfortably sheltered inside, while still being outdoors.

Albert Cuyp 2.0

Moreover, this somewhat untidy – market-free – stretch of Albert Cuypstraat will undergo major changes in the near future. As part of Amsterdam’s large-scale metro plan, the tram tracks here will be narrowed and the pavements widened. It will only make the area more enjoyable.

Already quietly opened in June (2016). Just to practise for a while without too much fanfare. Smart. But I can already hear the drumroll slowly swelling. For that lovely, new, vinous little piece of France in the heart of Amsterdam.

Auberge Jean & Marie
Albert Cuypstraat 58-60 Amsterdam
lunch & dinner, 7 days a week

Image: Auberge Jean & Marie