Italian Restaurants In The Netherlands

In 2020, the Netherlands had about 1500 Italian restaurants and the coverage of the pizza delivery corps was 98%. It was only after the First World War that cities such as Amsterdam and The Hague got their first, sort of, Italian restaurants. How unknown that cousine was at that time is apparent from the joke that appeared in several newspapers in the 1920s. Someone without the right cultural baggage says, pointing at the map, that he has an appetite for ‘Vitorio Spinosi’. Then the waiter informs him that this is the name of the owner, not the name of a dish.

Restaurantes italianos en los Países Bajos

Italian and Indonesian cuisine were the most important new foreign influences in the period between the World Wars. For example, In en Om de Woning, a magazine for domestic science schools, published 83 savory macaroni recipes and 172 savory rice recipes between 1910 and 1930.

Italienische Restaurants in den Niederlanden

荷兰的意大利餐厅

During the Second World War, development came to a halt, but in the years that followed, ‘foreign’ food quickly became more popular. Technological innovations naturally also play a role in this, so the Italians in the Netherlands increasingly sourced from their own country. Thanks to the increasing prosperity, the Dutch went out to eat more often; Chinese-Indian, but also Italian. In 1970, the weekly Margriet enthusiastically told readers about ‘fruits from faraway countries‘ such as broccoli and zucchini, and a variety of products, including Italian products, suddenly appeared in supermarkets.

Ristorante Luca ad Haarlem, Paesi Bassi — Ristorante Luca in Haarlem, The Netherlands

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مطاعم إيطالية في هولندا

Restaurants Italiens aux Pays-Bas

At Villa Rozenrust in Leidschendam, Italian history was written fifty years ago. The property was over 200 years old when Giovanni Matarazzi opened an Italian restaurant there in 1968. The cuisine was so refined that it received a Michelin star.
Another pioneer of the Italian hospitality industry in the Netherlands was Mario Uva. He was still a small boy when he moved with his family from Taranto to Cattolica. His grandfather, father and uncle were active as cooks locally and it was there that Uva learned his father’s trade. In the winter of ’64/’65, Uva moved alone to the Netherlands, where he met Tine Wingelaar not much later. It soon becomes more than love, because in 1967 the two were able to take over the village pub Het Anker in Neck from Tine’s father, thus creating Ristorante Mario.

Итальянские рестораны в Нидерландах

Italiaanse Restaurants in Nederland

Italians have also traditionally played an important role in the Rotterdam hospitality industry. Much of this has to do with the port. Italian guest workers soothe their homesickness at the table. The very first mention of an Italian restaurant in the Rotterdam newspaper archives was that of the Marinello-Jacques family, who wanted to open an eatery for Italians in the port city at ‘t Bolwerk in 1956. More restaurants gradually followed, peaking in the 1970s, when Rotterdammers cautiously went for the carpaccio and pasta bolognese. Since 1969, Italian food has been cooked at Palermo on Zwart Janstraat. This made it the oldest Italian restaurant in the city. In the early years of the restaurant, the owners followed each other in quick succession. There was a Palermo da Mario, da Roberto, da Enzo and from 1983 the name Palermo da Franco adorned the window on the Zwart Janstraat. Then Franco Argento took over the restaurant, a Sicilian sailor who accidentally ended up in Rotterdam.