There are few hotel bar concepts in the city where you can order both a ginger-infused cocktail and a plate of crab cakes that doesn't feel like an afterthought. Kevin Bacon Bar is the central space of Hotel Not Hotel on Witte de Withstraat, and it seriously does both. The bar acts as the hotel's living room, but the door is open to anyone walking along Witte de With street.
Behind the cocktail menu are bartenders who keep working after hours. In their own laboratory, they make homemade infusions and liqueurs, which then form the basis for their own creations. Kaffir lime, ginger and chili flakes are ingredients that you see back here in the glasses. So not a standard cocktail menu, but one that has visibly received time and attention. Award-winning chef Justin Brown is connected to the Amsterdam food scene around the bar through Verzet pop-ups, which indicates the kind of environment Kevin Bacon Bar operates in.
The space itself operates on two levels. At the bar you'll slide in on high stools, but throughout the hotel space you'll also find regular seating scattered throughout. The terrace on Witte de Withstraat catches the sun. Not a sleek design hotel interior that creates distance, but a space that functions as a conduit between hotel and neighborhood. De Baarsjes needs more places like this where the two worlds meet without feeling forced.
Bartenders make homemade infusions and liqueurs in their own laboratory after hours, which are the basis for their own creations.
Hotel Not Hotel has a branch in Rotterdam in addition to the Witte de Withstraat. That the concept works in De Baarsjes has to do with the street itself: the Witte de Withstraat attracts a crowd that does not necessarily come for a hotel, but for a good place to sit. Kevin Bacon Bar fits right in with that. You can go there for a quick Thai bite, a cocktail on the terrace, or both in succession.