About the author
It was just another boring day as I was on my way to the university, when suddenly my attention got drawn to these overly cute windows filled with homemade pies and other good stuff. My heart pounded faster, my mouth started watering and a huge smile appeared on my face at the sight of all these delicious goodies. So you can imagine I actually skipped class to consume one of those cakes – a white chocolate cheesecake with strawberries, which I believe was screaming my name – at this amazing place called De Laatste Kruimel. Or as I call it: my new favourite hotspot.
Feeling at home
As the name De Laatste Kruimel (The Last Crumb) mentions, I ate that piece of cake until the very last crumb. Only to discover on the chalked menu that there was so much more to taste and eat. But before my greediness could take over, I took a good look at the place to discover that it was indeed just as cute as I thought when I entered it. Or even better. Stacked pallets as a pay desk and (work)table, cradles as stools and colanders as lampshades. Topped of with romantic wallpaper, flowered cups and small jars of marmelade which are placed here and there with the sound of Frank Sinatra in the background. The whole place made me feel like home. And that’s exactly the feeling Ivelina and Pavel, a very cute couple and the owners of De Laatste Kruimel, were opting for when they opened the store three months ago.
We wanted to create a safe place for people to come to in Amsterdam. A place where they feel like home; or at least like they’re visiting a very good friend.
A dream came true in Amsterdam
Pavel and Ivelina are both from Bulgaria and moved here 5 years ago. “We came here on a holiday to visit my sister, when we became fascinated with the city and decided to move here,” Pavel says in flawless Dutch. Ivelina adds: “Amsterdam is such an authentic city and the people here are very open-minded. Besides that, there’s a lot of creativity. It’s a great city for young people.” They always knew they wanted to start something together. With her passion for art and his for cooking, they dreamed about opening a place like this in their new hometown. “For 2 years we’ve been searching for the perfect location, but there was always something wrong. When we entered this building however, we knew we found the perfect place,” Ivelina explains.
It was clear Pavel would handle the cooking part and Ivelina would focuse on the interior. “In that 2 year search, I went to the Noordermarkt every Monday morning to collect the cutest things. I stocked everything in a box, not knowing when our dream would become reality.” After they found their dream location, it took them only 5 weeks to transform the place into their lunchroom. Pavel: “We had no plan at all. Everything was created spontaneously. Our friend Martin helped us with the stacked pallets as a table, so the kitchen was finished first. The rest followed later and came into being with a lot of creativity.”
Homemade apple-olive marmelade and scone
Craftmanship and creativity
With 7 years experience in the catering industry, chef Pavel gathered enough inspiration and experience to make everything himself: from the bread for the sandwiches, to the pies, quiches, marmelades and croissants. As he explains: “I like to bake everything the old-fashioned way, with butter, eggs and flour as the basis. My main inspiration comes from a cookery book called ‘Cooking the Modern Way’, which is dated from 1910. No artificial stuff is added to any of my baked goods. It’s all made the way it was supposed to be.” Furthermore he only uses biological ingredients, so everything tastes as pure as possible. When I ask him what he does with leftovers, Pavel explains: “We don’t place leftovers in the window the next day to sell it again. But we don’t throw it away either. ‘Old’ scones, croissants and bread are re-used for bread pudding, cake crusts or French toasts.” He continues: “But to avoid that, we only bake a certain amount of cakes and bread every day. And luckily for us, we usually sell all our cakes and sandwiches.”
Authenticity and craftmanship is very important to us. It’s simplicity that does the trick for an ultimate see and taste experience.
On the menu
The chalked menu on the wall changes every week, so there’s a lot of diversity. “We do have a few permanent things on the menu, such as the sandwich with taleggio, tomato marmelade and walnuts or the standard cheesecake, but that’s because they’re people’s favourites. I like to change things every now and then, so people don’t get bored,” Pavel explains. He continues: “We’re people without a plan, and therefore a lot happens spontaneously, especially in the kitchen. For instance the courgette cake with lemon curd was created because I had nothing else left besides courgette as the main ingredient. I experimented with it and now it’s one of our top selling cakes.”
Changing the menu is also effected by suppliers. Pavel explains: “We have an Italian supplier, who provides us with Italian cheeses and sausages. But when he doesn’t have a product, we just adjust the menu.” He continues: “I do hope that one day we can produce everything ourselves. That we have our own farm somewhere near the city where we produce our own cheese and meat. That would be something.” For now they’re busy enough though. Ivelina: “We work everyday from early in the morning until very late in the evening. Sometimes this means working from 07.00 till 02.00. Long days, but for now we’ll do everything it takes to make our dream successful.”
Window with baked deliciousness
Have lunch and eat cake
The commitment and hard work of Ivelina and Pavel will definitely pay off. I’m already one of their regular customers when I’m working and in need of a healthy and delicious lunch. Locals, tourists, dogs; everyone gets a smile on their face when they pass the lunchroom and see the windows filled with homemade pies. It’s hard to resist that kind of urge. So they all get in to get a piece of heaven. It happened to me. And believe me, it will happen to you. After the interview I enjoyed my courgette lemon curd cake at home. And I didn’t leave one crumb.
DE LAATSTE KRUIMEL
Prices*:
Cold sandwiches €3,50 (small) or €4,20 (big)
Hot sandwiches €4,20 (small) or 4,90 (big)
Quiches €4,50
Homemade pastry €1,00 – €3,75
Times:
Seven days a week, 08.00 – 20.00
Location:
Langebrugsteeg 4
1012 GB Amsterdam
* Don’t forget to bring your valid student card for a 10% discount on everything!
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