Essentially Amsterdam – Friday, November 6, 2026

Friday November 6, 2026

Good morning, Amsterdam. Today: KLM plans to cut 5,000 jobs, a food hall with a hidden cheese restaurant opens in Noord, and an ice rink by the Poel in Amstelveen waits for frost.

Amstelveen’s Poel ice rink is ready again, if the frost comes: Amstelveen has received the paperwork for the natural rink behind the town hall, run by volunteers from skating club De Poelster, with a hot drinks and snacks stall, for 14 December 2026 to 5 March 2027. Skating depends on frost: the Netherlands now averages about three ice days a year, down from about eleven sixty years ago.

Estate agents plan their own rival to Funda: Brokers unhappy with rising listing costs on Funda are setting up Homek, open only to certified agents in industry associations, who will share in its profits. It aims to launch in March 2027 at the earliest, once 1,000 agents have bought in or €1 million is raised. Its backers say €200,000 came in within 48 hours.

Local VVD wants Vondelpark-style fatbike ban in Westerpark: The party cites reports of women harassed by fatbike riders in the Westerpark, and notes counts in the Vondelpark fell from up to 101 to at most 14 after its ban. The West district board prefers to wait for national rules that could allow fatbike-free zones.

A Dutch cook brings Filipino home cooking to Amsterdam: Beate Duma has cooked Filipino food for 28 years and runs House of Pinoy Foods, the catering business she started with her late Filipino husband, Rheneir. His longganisa recipe is her best seller and often sells out before the end of the week. She refuses to adapt the dishes, from adobo to pancit and dinuguan, for non-Filipino tastes.

Science Park co-op named residential building of the year: Architectenweb Awards judges praised De Nieuwe Meent, built mostly of wood, for its mix of affordable homes, sustainability and shared facilities. Residents rent from the cooperative, run it together and share 45% of the space, including a large kitchen, laundry and roof terrace, and a corner café and bookshop is open to the neighbourhood.

KLM to cut 5,000 jobs, nearly 15% of workforce: The airline plans to shed the posts through voluntary departure schemes and by not replacing leavers, outsourcing ground handling at KLM Cityhopper and part of baggage handling, and digitising customer service. It says it needs a structural €1 billion more a year to invest in a new fleet after years of weak profits at parent Air France-KLM, while rising Schiphol fees and fuel prices add to its costs.

Dutch answer to US Darpa based at Amsterdam’s Marineterrein: State Secretary Derk Boswijk launched the Netherlands Institute for Defence Technology on Thursday, with 350 million euros to fund risky projects by companies and universities. Its first challenge asks for systems to protect the North Sea from threats such as sabotage of subsea cables.

Food hall with hidden cheese restaurant opens in Noord: Kade Noord opens today in the former Storkhal on the IJ, with 300 seats and vendors including Bon Burger, Dime Slice and Tango Taco, plus Speak Cheesy, a cheese restaurant from the people behind the Kaasbar, hidden behind a secret door (booking required). The city has given the hall two and a half years, possibly longer, before the area is redeveloped.

Amsterdam wants its children playing outside more: Amsterdam has almost 2,000 playgrounds, yet children play outside less and less, blamed on screens, busier streets and big differences between play areas. Alderman Lian Heinhuis, whose portfolio includes outdoor play, says the city will look at making streets more child-friendly and planning for children in new districts from the start.

PUDU shows all six robot lines in Amsterdam: The Chinese firm used its European partner summit at the Van der Valk Amsterdam-Amstel to set out a plan to run one AI system across all its machines. The firm wants Europe to be among the first markets for the approach, and says its robots should support workers, not replace them.

UvA student tests Japanese dog-pee post in Zuidoost: Nanako Okusa, a 21-year-old exchange student, co-designed a post for dogs to relieve themselves on, shown at Dutch Design Week in October. A sponge-like material channels urine into soil inside the column, so dogs can smell it but people cannot. In a test in a park near Amsterdamse Poort, two local dogs used it again and again, though they also stopped at a lamppost nearby.

Film camera shop in Amsterdam-West seeks a successor: Foto den Boer, on Tweede Hugo de Grootstraat since 1950, now specialises in film, cameras and darkroom supplies; its owner says analogue photography is popular with 18 to 40 year olds. René Verburgt, 71, runs it with his wife and wants more free time, but no successor has come forward.

Sportpark Drieburg in Oost to get padel courts: Sports company Footy will develop and run a 3,915 square metre plot vacated by korfball club AW.DTV, with three five-a-side pitches, three padel courts, a children’s outdoor course and a clubhouse with terrace. Roots after-school care will also open there. Building is expected to start in autumn 2027.

NS warns rail competition could mean more transfers: The Cabinet decides early next year what happens when NS’s concession ends at the end of 2033: open access, tendering or another direct award. NS says it is not against competition but wants the government to keep a big role in allocating track capacity, and union FNV opposes market forces on the railway. Operators’ body the Federation of Mobility Companies wants more competition, and regulator ACM proposes tendering part of NS’s services.

Picnic boss says supermarkets wanted to trip up Picnic: In a podcast interview, Michiel Muller, who has taken on Shell, ANWB and now Albert Heijn, says large firms try to push newcomers out and wants more room for innovative companies. He also says Picnic is not allowed to sell German cola, even when it is 50 cents cheaper.

•  Café Dapper (Dapperstraat): Breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks in Amsterdam-Oost using market produce and sustainably caught fish and oysters, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

•  Lucky Duck (Voetboogstraat): Thai, Chinese and Japanese cuisine served family-style in the city centre, with an open kitchen, robata grill and crafted cocktails.

•  Kade Noord (Noord): A new food hall in the old Storkhal on the IJ, opening 6 November, with burgers, pizza, tacos and a cheese bar behind a secret door.

 

De Tuinen Van yard sale: De Tuinen Van, 17:00 – 21:00.

Daily markets open today: Minervamarkt (Minervaplein), Nieuwmarkt and Van der Pekmarkt (Van der Pekstraat). See all markets open today

Parttime Retail Assistant Hoofddorp: Primark, Hoofddorp, EUR 8.69 – 16.39 an hour – Help Primark customers with their shopping, keep the store organised, serve at the tills and process deliveries.

Financial Accountant: TicketSwap, Amsterdam, EUR 60,800 – 84,100 a year – Own month-end close, reporting and process improvements with TicketSwap’s Financial Accounting & Operations team.

Senior Domein Architect: Transavia, Hoofddorp, EUR 4,800 – 10,000 a month – Translate business vision into target architecture and roadmaps, and govern architecture standards for the C&P domain with the IT team serving the Netherlands and France.

People Partner Bean to Bar: Tony’s Chocolonely, Amsterdam, EUR 76,000 – 96,000 a year – Partner with Operations, the Factory, Super Store and Tony’s Open Chain leaders to shape people strategies, coach teams and handle employee relations.

More international jobs in Amsterdam: see the full list or get them in your inbox every day.

Looking ahead: Museum Night 2026 (from Sat 7 November), Food Phreaks: Biodiversity of the Kitchen (from Sat 7 November) and Make It Yourself Festival & Sustainable Home Market (Sun 8 November). See the week ahead →

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