An Easter weekend in restaurants: Bar Spek and Aan de Amstel

Please note that since writing this article, Aan de Amstel has closed down

Please note that since writing this article, Bar Spek has closed down

I can’t pretend that Easter has ever been a huge celebration in the Hampton household (none of us have all that much interest in chocolate, for a start, or Jesus for that matter), but any excuse for a celebration is an excuse to eat – and that’s good enough for me!

On Good Friday, we headed to Bar Spek for a bit of pre-party pizza. They were big (which was somewhat the point – we were lining our stomachs) and extremely crisp of bottom (Mary Berry would’ve been pleased) and reasonably priced. I tried the Verdure, which was not only a vege pizza but it also didn’t have any tomato sauce. I learnt something about myself: I miss tomato sauce, possibly more than I miss meat. By good fortune, I followed it up with a Picante, which was a spicy little pizza package of salami and plenty of the good red stuff. All in all, at just over €50 for a couple of pizzas and a bottle of wine, we couldn’t complain.

On Easter Saturday, I met a friend at Aan de Amstel – famous for being the restaurant of Yvette van Boven, whose cookbooks I studied in minute detail with my designer while trying to figure out how to make Vicky Hampton’s Working Lunch. Turns out, she really does know what she’s talking about. I started with an octopus salad with white beans, fennel, tomato and an almond puree. The octopus was tender, the vegetables well prepared with a herby summery dressing, and the almonds roasted to nutty perfection.

My main was a generous helping of pork loin with beetroot (both chunks of the regular kind, and slices of raw Chioggia beets), potatoes and a buttery sauce. It was more homely than restauranty, but it was so well cooked I didn’t much mind.

For dessert, I opted for the cheeses while my friend went for the pear clafoutis. It’s hard to judge a restaurant on its cheeses (it’s not like they make the cheese themselves – it’s more about their ability to make a decent selection) but the clafoutis was just as it should have been: warm, comforting and gorgeously French.

Dinner came to around €65 each, including a bottle of white Burgundy, and was one of the best meals I’ve eaten in a long time.

Those who follow Amsterdam Foodie on Facebook will know that Easter Sunday was celebrated not out at a restaurant, but at home with some rather fabulous hot wings. Oh, and I did finally scoff a few of those chocolate mini eggs, too… any excuse indeed.