August 9, 2018 · Team HG
PPizzeria Buurman & Buurman, currently with only one location in the city, is expanding westward as of September 1st. On the first day of autumn, the new branch will open in the former Café Westend at the corner of Kraneweg and Friesestraatweg.
We both work at Neighbor & Neighbor on the Rodeweg. We see that the pizzeria is doing very well, so we regularly have to turn people away. And because everyone who works here is very committed to the business, the owners Douwe, Sjoerd and Anouk gave us the opportunity to start something of our own at a new location. A kind of expansion of the Buurman & Buurman family, so to speak.” These are the words of Sam van der Zee (28) and Jene Bons (30), the new owners, who are currently busy renovating to get everything ready on time.
It is clearly visible inside the establishment that it was a café for seventy years. “You can see the old woodwork, original wooden floors, bar lamps, and of course the stained-glass windows. And outside, right on the corner, there is still a small piece of paneling from Café Westend,” says a laughing Van der Zee. According to the two owners, they are definitely leaving these original, typical café features intact.
“We are a restaurant, but we do want to explore whether we can eventually regain a bit of the function of a neighborhood café or meeting place. In any case, everyone is always welcome to stay for a drink after eating the pizza, salad, antipasti, or our famous cheesecake. We think it would be nice if people from the neighborhood would drop by for a drink, a glass of wine, or a beer. But first and foremost, we are a pizzeria,” says Bons while busily sanding a door right next to the bar.
There will soon be room for five spacious terrace tables with chairs around the building. Starting next spring, that number will be expanded to ten. “Because we are situated at this open intersection, we always have sun for a very long time. It is truly lovely,” says Bons.
The opening party is on Friday, August 31st. To top it all off, we will have a performance by Guilty Bangers“They themselves say they are as guilty as OJ and more banging than Rob de Nijs. That promises to be another awesome party. And of course, on Saturday, September 1st, we’ll be working hard with 200 free pizzas, naturally from our unique in-house stone oven,” concludes van der Zee.
