Eric van Beek brought the team behind the world's number one bar home to Stadhouderskade, eighteen months late and worth every week of the wait.
Shakerato is the Amsterdam project of Eric van Beek, co owner of Mexico City's Handshake Speakeasy, ranked number one in the World's 50 Best Bars 2024. The Spirits Business tracked its opening on Stadhouderskade after an eighteen month construction delay.
The Cocktail Lovers called the welcome loudly warm, hot towels included, an energy it labeled very un Amsterdam in the best way. The bites come from a Michelin starred chef and punch over bar snack weight.
Who would hate it? Spontaneous drinkers. It runs four nights a week and books out, so this is a planned occasion, not a stumble in.
Where Handshake hides behind a Mexico City door, Shakerato sits openly on the canal ring near Leidseplein with a long bar built for watching the builds. Entree Magazine covered the design as one of the most discussed Dutch hospitality openings of the year.
The menu runs from aperitivo classics, a martini, a negroni, the namesake shakerato, into Latin inspired signatures carrying the Handshake DNA, most around 19 euro. Tripadvisor's early reviews repeat one word about the service: exceptional.
Order a signature over a classic; the kitchen's Michelin starred bites are mandatory alongside. Skip Friday at 8pm without a booking, the room simply will not have you.
International bar pilgrims, Amsterdam's hospitality crowd, and date nights that planned ahead. OpenTable reviews praise attentive service in a city not famous for it.