Three doors down from Choux, the restaurant that earned a Michelin star in 2025, Zuiver Bar is tucked away in a building on the waterfront. No big sign, no flashy facade. Raw wooden surfaces, a few bar stools, a bench outside, and a vinyl turntable that sets the tone. There’s room for about 25 people—and that’s just enough. Anyone who walks in is there for the wine.
Behind the bar is the Zuiver Wijnen network, which Dick Stegewerns founded in 2013. Stegewerns is no ordinary wine importer: he is also an academic specializing in modern Japanese history and a film curator, and imports sake to Europe and North America through Yoigokochi Sake Importers, which has been in operation since 2008. His business partners are Figo (owner of Choux and co-owner of 621ferments and Café De Linden), Merijn (chef at Choux, co-owner of Zuiver Wijnen and 621ferments), and Olivier (former sommelier at Choux, co-owner of Zuiver Wijnen and Café De Linden). The bar team also includes Job, who makes his own zero-zero wines and ciders; Tom, who previously managed Bar Centraal; and Luna, who earned her stripes in the kitchen at Choux.
The wines come exclusively from the restaurant’s own import collection. That means names like Jean-Pierre Robinot from the Loire and Franz Strohmeier from Styria, two winemakers who are rarely found outside the natural wine scene. Sepp Muster, also from Styria, is on the menu as well. The industrial space, the dim lighting, and the records on the turntable ensure that you don’t feel like you have to be some kind of connoisseur to sit here. The wine takes center stage, but not as a status symbol.
Anyone who had a glass of Gabrio Bini from Pantelleria on Thursday will find the same bar stools on Saturday, but a completely different selection.
Its location on De Ruijterkade, close to Central Station but on the quieter side of the quay, fits with what the place is trying to be: not right in the middle of the tourist crowds, yet still accessible. The building shares its address with the Zuiver Wijnen wine shop and online store, so whatever you’re sipping in the evening, you can simply take home with you. Add some bites to go with it, a great record on the turntable, and winemakers you won’t find anywhere else in the city. That’s it.