Rachel Hazes opens an André Hazes café in this Spanish seaside resort
Rachel Hazes announced via her Instagram today that she is going to make a long-cherished dream of her late husband André Hazes come true: opening his own Hazes café. Towards the end of his career, he developed serious hearing problems, which meant that little else was possible. And that while he certainly still had wishes. Rachel: ‘One of them was to have his own Hazes café, where he had once started his career as a “singing bartender”.’
Only where André Hazes started out as a singing bartender in pubs such as Draka in Amsterdam-Noord and Café de Krommerdt on Witte de Withstraat in Amsterdam West, Rachel Hazes is taking her Hazes café across the border.
Off to Spain
On 10 February, Brasserie Casa Hazes will open its doors in the Spanish seaside resort of Torremolinos. No idea whether André Hazes Sr. ever visited, but Rachel likes coming there — just like hundreds of thousands of Dutch tourists every year. So there are plenty of people who can sing along to André Hazes’s songs. Fortunately, this Spanish city also has Friet van Piet, so after drinks you can order a nice croquette or frikandel. Basically as if you were simply in the Netherlands, but with a beautiful beach and pleasant temperatures. Doesn’t sound half bad.
Until then, the café is still called Brasserie Casa Beense, after owners Melanie Beense and Casper Groosman. According to the estate agent’s website, it has been for sale since 20 September 2023, so they will also be pleased with this takeover. And just to be clear: the fact that the name already sounds somewhat like a Dutch folk singer’s name, namely Peter Beense, is purely coincidental. That’s what I thought, until you observant readers pointed out that she is indeed the daughter of this folk singer — apologies for this mistake.
Not the first Hazes pub
‘Hey? Wasn’t there already going to be a Hazes pub in Amsterdam?’ I hear you thinking, and that’s right. Rachel was already cooking this up with Won Yip in 2020, but the plan ultimately never came to fruition. Unfortunately, because they had big ideas: a Hazes museum with a café attached, possibly on Leidseplein or Rembrandtplein. Sadly, that never happened; the two eventually opened a Tea Bar in the shopping centre in Amstelveen.
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