Anyone who cycles along the Zeeburgerpad from time to time knows the location. For nine years, Kop van Oost sat here. That chapter closed, and in that same tall, bright building by the water, Eshwin Boetting started over. With TÊTE.
Boetting is no stranger to the Amsterdam hospitality industry. In Watergraafsmeer, he runs Roef, a neighborhood restaurant with a fifteen-by-fifteen-meter herb garden behind it. That's a little more than a decorative patch of land. At TÊTE, he draws the same line: accessible, affordable, no detours. The marble tables and distinct colors of the previous tenant are out. What has taken its place is quieter and more inviting to linger.
The terrace is large. A hundred people can fit on it, on the waterfront, with a view of the mill. On a sunny afternoon, that's exactly where you want to be. The indoor room is high and light, as it is with buildings like this in East. The atmosphere is informal: you slide in at your convenience, from eleven in the morning until late at night.
The terrace is large: a hundred people can fit on it, by the water, with a view of the mill.
Zeeburgerpad is one of those places in East where the city briefly stops being itself. Water on one side, the mill in sight, and then this building that has been there for nine years but now looks different than ever. TÊTE fits the bill of places that East has gotten in recent years: no big names or investors in the background, but entrepreneurs who themselves are behind the bar and know what their neighborhood needs. Boetting is already doing that in Watergraafsmeer with Roef. On Zeeburgerpad he is starting over, with more water and a larger terrace.