Word of mouth: Jon Fairclough, Breadwinner
He makes good food, but where does he eat?
Amsterdam is dense with restaurants, bakeries and bars. As much I try (and I do try, trust me), there are only so many places I can visit in a week. To help ease the load and get some fresh perspective, I’m asking well-respected food producers where they like to eat in the city.
First up, Jon Fairclough, the chief bagel-eater at Breadwinner, which is hands down the best bagel joint in town. Jon started rolling bagels during the pandemic and opened up his first shop in De Jordaan shortly after. If that sounds like a familiar story, then check out his successes, which are headline-worthy. Every day, Breadwinner bagels fly off their bespoke shelves (if you’ve never seen them, you need to).
Grab your pen and get ready to take some notes…
Favourite bakery?
I would say Focacceria, which you recently reviewed. A bit of a soft spot for me. I think their demi-sun-dried tomato focaccia is just amazing. It’s my favourite there. But mostly they’re just good, swell people that are genuine and make you feel at home.
I live quite close by and when I was still figuring out my recipes, my techniques and what equipment I needed, they welcomed me with open arms. I would walk in there and bounce ideas off of them. They’re responsible for some of the big improvements I made at the beginning. They taste tested the sh-t out of our food. They did a lot for me.
Favourite coffee?
I go between different roasteries. I love Monks, I love Lot61. Right now, it’s Five Ways. It’s an Aussie and Kiwi coffee joint. They’re super smart and their branding is on point, but the coffee is absolutely, fantastically good. And maybe this feeds back into what I was saying, but they have that feeling of welcomeness, the positive vibes. It makes me feel at home.
Favourite restaurant?
Right now, Ikaria Park. I think the venue itself is what sticks out for me the most, it’s one of a kind in Amsterdam. Super special. I love Greek food. I’m always quite sceptical of reimagined Greek food, so to see a place stick to its roots while also going a little bit beyond but not disrespectfully so is really, really nice.
Favourite cheaper eat?
Tigris en Eufraat. Coming from Toronto, we had a huge diverse food scene and I always gravitated towards Lebanese-style food. I don’t know where the owners are from but their falafel is absolutely amazing. I miss good hummus. I miss good spice. It has everything for me.
I’m still searching for a really good gyros here but I haven’t been able to find it. I need a big, chunky, crispy-on-the-outside chicken gyros.
Favourite place for drinks?
For a cocktail, I’d say upstairs at Paindemie, they have a cute little bar up there. Downstairs is Japanese, Subway-style food and then you go upstairs and it’s a regal, beautiful cocktail bar. As a concept, it’s pretty bold, or it was when they opened a couple of years ago.
One of my favourite places is just down the street, Bar Parry, and not just because I’m looking at it. It’s owned by the guys from Balthazar's Keuken. They have an amazing natural wine selection and amazing small bites. It’s the best place to get a drink right now.
What’s your drink of choice?
I’m not drinking these days but I love a chilled red wine, I love a Beaujolais, or something like that. But if I’m drinking a cocktail, I like a French 75, which is a gin, champagne and lemon cocktail. What about yourself?
I don’t drink. But my current obsession is sparkling tea, which has bitterness. I find non-alcoholic beer here is good too.
I always get a headache from non-alcoholic beer. But I feel this way about vegan food as well: I don’t understand the obsession with mimicking. You’re never going to get there… I don’t know why we need to have mocktails or anything like that. Just do your own thing. Own it.
People ask me if we’re going to stock vegan locks, which is brined carrot. And I might. But I’d rather sell it as brined carrot than vegan locks… you’re not kidding anyone.
What does Amsterdam do well?
What’s good about Amsterdam is how passionate and close the food community is. When I was on the outside, just starting up, I was always told that everyone looks out for each other.
A partner of one of the owners of Willicroft, who do vegan cheese, was a regular customer of ours when we were just starting out. And without even meeting me, they offered to sublease a dark kitchen space for pennies on the dollar. They said, hey while you’re finding your feet, why don’t you rent this space? It really blew me away. If it were me who owned that space, I would want to meet the owners first.
It’s people like that, putting their necks out, supporting what they think is going to be the next thing, a bit like the Focacceria people did. They’re the reason why we’re here.
What does Amsterdam suck at?
Hospitality. The more I work in this business, the more I realise how important it is to feel welcomed. I can’t say why it’s not good here.
When you go to somewhere that does hospitality well, you notice it right away. nNea runs like a machine, it runs like clockwork. I will have a heightened food experience because my wine glass is getting filled up the moment it’s empty, or if I get a brand new fork the moment that I drop it (because I’ve had too much wine).
Great hospitality is something that’s taken for granted in places like New York and London but Amsterdam sucks at it. But I do think we’re getting better.
I’m training people on the virtue and value of hospitality. It’s quite fun to watch them get it. How would you feel if you walked into a place and no one acknowledged your existence for five minutes? You’d just walk out again. So why don’t we say hi to every single person that walks in through the door, even if it’s not their turn to order? It makes a world of difference. We all want to be seen and we all want to be recognised.
What one thing would you transplant from another city to Amsterdam?
A better sit-down lunch scene. One thing I noticed when I was recently in New York, which is a terrible comparison I know because it’s nine or ten times the size, was that the lunch scene is insane. There are waiting lists for places. You have to wait weeks to even make a reservation.
I’d transplant this feeling that it’s okay to go out for lunch and it’s okay to spend a little bit of money. Maybe it’s economics. Dinner is down too. Restaurants are dropping off, like Otto Volente on Overtoom, which was one of the highest rated restaurants in the city.
Thank you Jon!
OK BYE!
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