The building on Staalstraat 7B has been a fixture in downtown for years. @droog opened a complex here that combines design store, art gallery, boutique hotel and offices. In between, on the second floor, sits Cafe Restaurant @dry: 150 square meters where you can just walk in for coffee, a piece of cake or lunch, while being surrounded by art and design that come together like this nowhere else in the city.
The space revolves around the work of Berend Strik. He made his own version of Rembrandt's ‘The Steel Masters,’ and that painting hangs large and present on the wall here. Not as decoration, but as a statement. @droog was founded in 1993 by art historian Renny Ramakers and designer Gijs Bakker, two people who have always explored the boundaries between art, design and everyday life. That is reflected in this café: it is not a store café crammed in, but a place that really carries the philosophy of the brand.
During the day, the café is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The menu features a daily lunch menu, cakes, pastries and a selection of drinks. The space has a bar and a kitchen, and you can tell: it feels cared for without being stiff. The location on the second floor does mean there is no elevator, which you know when you're walking up the stairs with a stroller or bicycle bag. Deliveries go through Groenburgwal 44, but that aside.
The café is the most accessible part: just walk in, order, and sit under that Rembrandt artwork by Berend Strik.
@droog has built a place on Staalstraat where you can see multiple sides of the same story: buy, look, eat and stay. The café is the most accessible part of that. Just walk in, order, and sit for a while under that Rembrandt artwork by Berend Strik. That alone is worth it.