By: Andrew Martin
On
September 3rd, I attended De Kas with a group of nine classmates and
teaching staff from our Amsterdam seminar. All we knew about the restaurant beforehand was that it came
highly recommended by one of our friend’s parents; we called and managed to
snag the last reservation for the night.
Dining at De Kas was truly a five-star experience, from the food to the
atmosphere. In this review, I’ll
focus only on the customer service and atmosphere of the restaurant. Dining at De Kas came down to two main
themes: customer service so good that you don’t even notice it, and an
atmosphere meant to make the meal a social, bonding experience.
You
can take the public tram to within 500 feet of the restaurant, and in walking
up, the first sight you see is of the large greenhouse that the restaurant is
built in to. Upon entering, you
are greeted by a friendly, smiling maître d'. He
cheerfully took our coats, and completely understood that we were twenty
minutes late, saying it was no problem.
He was the perfect example of customer service living by the old adage
“the customer is always right.”
He then led us to the outdoor patio, where we joined the rest of our
group.
The
outdoor patio was surrounded by a beautiful garden, carefully manicured with
dozens of plants and trees growing fruit and vegetables. Our outdoor waitress promptly arrived
and took our cocktail orders, skillfully inserting herself in the lulls of our
conversation. She also made no
attempt to rush us out of the patio, allowing us to enjoy the “golden hour” and
sunset for over an hour. It
was not until we finally decided we wanted to head to our table that she led us
inside.
Once
indoors, our waiting staff allowed us five minutes to get comfortable and
admire the refreshing and open atmosphere of the greenhouse restaurant. Doors to the outside patio were open,
and plants growing in the greenhouse added to the fresh smell of the
restaurant. All of the tables of
the restaurant were slightly larger than normal; I noticed that many diners,
including myself, were forced to lean in to converse with our groups. I believe this was an intentional
choice, not only because De Kas serves many plates with the intent to share,
but also to encourage its visitors to lean in and engage in conversation. To further add to their goal of
creating a social, bonding experience, mirrors of many different sizes were
skillfully located throughout the restaurant. These mirrors were at a height so that you could see the
faces of every visitor at the restaurant, even if their backs were facing
you. This helped create a feeling
of openness throughout the restaurant, as if you were sharing this experience
with everyone. This shared
experience was further created by the fact that everyone at the restaurant eats
from the same fixed menu, all of us enjoying the same food together.
Our
table’s primary waitress was exactly what you want in a waitress: someone you
never even notice is there, but you never have the feeling of needing
anything. Everything was accounted
for throughout the meal, whether it was napkins, silverware, or refills of
water; everything was always replenished without asking. Yet when you would notice her, it was
her smiling, polite, and light-hearted attitude you would be greeted with. Even more, when one of our guests asked
her for “whatever wine you think I should have,” she came with a reasonably
priced glass of a honeysuckle colored wine, nothing any of us had seen
before. It was such a good choice
that several of us ordered another glass.
Even
after the check had been paid and as we left the restaurant, the waiting staff
still attended to our needs with great attentiveness. Whether it was knowing who’s coats go with what person, or taking
the time to take a picture of us in their greenhouse, they were happy to meet
our every need. Full and happy, we
all started to head out the door when the last surprise of the night was there
to greet us. The wait staff placed
a bowl of freshly picked apples from their greenhouse, and urged us to all take
one with us as we traveled home.
Even though I was completely full from the delicious meal, I just had to
take one, a perfect way to end our three hour stay at De Kas, hopefully to come
again.
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