Gartine is a tiny cafe hidden in the city center of Amsterdam. It's easily missed if you aren't looking for it. Gartine's menu is full of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, many of them coming from the owner's garden. We discovered it for this reason: it has the snail of approval. The restaurant is committed to the slow food movement and its principles. We try to always find a slow food restaurant while we are traveling as the snail has never let us down before.
For those unfamiliar with slow food, the movement originated in Italy. It had its beginning when founder, Carlo Petrini, protested a McDonalds going up near the Spanish Steps in Rome. Slow food is a response to McDonaldization, of fast food and fast living, and is all about slowing down and finding an appreciation for food and remembering that dining is an experience. Additionally, the slow food movement is all about food that is good, fair, local, and sustainable.
Regardless of whether or not you're looking for slow food, Gartine is a fantastic spot for breakfast, lunch, or tea, and I have a couple of tips if you plan on making this part of your trip to Amsterdam. Firstly, I'd highly recommend making a reservation. I can't stress how small and busy this restaurant is. During our visit, the host turned away multiple people because the restaurant was chucked full. Secondly, bring cash. They do not take card. Thirdly, they are closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays.
Now onto the food.
Tyler and I both ordered the same thing--the soup made from a fresh harvest from the winter vegetable garden, served with sourdough toast, horseradish cream butter, and truffle oil. The soup was gluten free, and they had gluten free bread as well which was a major plus because I was really excited about trying the horseradish butter. The bread turned out to be some of the best gluten free bread I've had mostly because it had the flavor of a more rustic, slightly crusty, variety. That kind of bread is hard to come by in the gluten free world. Well, up until this point, I thought it was pretty much nonexistent.
The soup, like the entire place, from the thoughtful waitstaff to the antique tableware, had a certain charm to it. It was not your average vegetable soup. The vegetables were fine, not pureed necessarily, but they had created a thicker, frothier broth--the color resembling a succulent green. It was rich, hearty, satisfying in a way that vegetable soup isn't typically. It surprised us how much we enjoyed it. Not to mention, it was the perfect antidote for the frigid weather.
Gartine is proof that sometimes the simplest of dishes can be made anew, made fresh, and that sometimes the simplest of ingredients are the tastiest ones.
