Our sister restaurant is a contemporary café and bar inside the Stedelijk Museum. Fonda was designed and developed by our design studio. We led the project from concept to launch and continue to oversee its daily operations—shaping the menu, design, service, and upkeep.

Conceived as a contemporary take on classic luncheonettes, Fonda has two locations within the museum that serve as modern-day pitstops: places to pause and recharge, while staying connected to the museum’s creative rhythm and evolving with the times. The result is a refined, high-quality offering that sets a new standard for museum hospitality—welcoming locals, travellers, and art lovers to gather over thoughtful food in a relaxed, design-forward setting.

A slice of our Almond Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with a cookie

Fonda's shirt, available for sale in our webshop

Fonda's sweet and spicy Nut Mix of walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, black sesame seeds

The menu at Fonda Café

Chairs designed by Sabine Marcelis

Fonda’s identity offers a contemporary take on the classics—familiar and comforting, yet refined to elevate the museum experience. Its branding spans menus, signage, packaging, staff T-shirts, and digital platforms, combining earthy tones, soft forms, and crisp typography to reflect the café’s atmosphere, designed in collaboration with architect Paul Cournet. Through references, site visits, and material research, we shaped a café and bar attuned to the museum’s rhythm and aesthetic, developing service protocols inspired by counter-service culture to bring the concept fully to life.

Gnocchi with Black Kale Pesto, Burrata, and Miso Butter Breadcrumbs for Formafantasma

Focaccia available exclusively at Fonda Bar

Frangipane Tart with Seasonal Fruit and Sencha Green Tea

Roasted Pepper Toast with Sunflower Tahini and Fermented Chilli

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Shallot Jam, Pickles, and Fermented Hot Sauce

At Fonda Café upstairs, the menu features sandwiches, salads, soups, and pastries—freshly prepared each day from scratch using seasonal ingredients, organic where possible. At Fonda Bar downstairs, guests will find a focused selection of cookies, cakes, and focaccia, all baked in the café kitchen. Across both, we offer specialty coffee from La Cabra, Japanese teas, and a curated range of fountain drinks. Fonda also provides catering for events inside the museum—from working lunches to evening openings—crafting menus that carry Fonda’s philosophy into new formats.

We created a site-specific dinner for REST, a transdisciplinary project on a farm in southwest Friesland. Inspired by the project’s themes of material memory, temporality, and transformation, the menu responded to the land’s agricultural history and was integrated into the spatial layout of REST’s seasonal exhibition. Woven through the evening’s meal were elements from the land itself—pickled kohlrabi, white kimchi, garden leaves and flowers—served alongside local ingredients like smoked eel and Friesian bread. Each dish became part of the site, a way to read the land through taste. Read more about the project here.

Hanging yoghurt, dripping whey

Ajo blanco with fig leaf oil

Welcome snack of a ball of ancient grains wrapped in a nasturtium leaf

Our debut in Japan took the form of Ronde: a (con)temporary tea room shaped by slowness, shared presence, and the rainy season. The project bridged Dutch and Japanese approaches to the pleasure and hospitality of tea, inviting guests to enter into a space designed for exchange and reflect on the quiet gestures of care that unfold through tea. The tea room was created in collaboration with Dutch painter Thomas Trum. His sculptural paintings resonated with the spatial logic of Japanese interior design, where repetition and proportion offered a soft visual rhythm that shaped the flow of the space.

Ronde was introduced with a series of intimate tea gatherings. What we served reflected our research into Japanese and Dutch tea cultures. Our research came to life through encounters with tea farmers and food makers. We chose to focus on black tea as it is much less common in Japan than green tea and by contrast, in the Netherlands, black tea is the everyday norm. Black tea was also the first type of tea traded between the two countries. We served mochi handmade in collaboration with a wagashi master as well as a reimagined speculaas we created with sansho from Takayama, kinako, and sesame seeds.

After the in-person tea gatherings, there was a three-week exhibition period, during which visitors could move through the installation at their own pace and enjoy a café menu we developed for VAGUE Kitchen. We served classics from our canteen menu in Amsterdam, with Japanese twists as well as a delicate stew with soybeans we sourced directly from Soya Unehata farm. Guests were able to purchase exclusive goods, such as the speculaas cookies and a Japanese black tea we served during the gatherings, as well as the Japanese adaptation of our Everyday Granola.

To celebrate Colour Make Us Do Vibrant Deeds!, we hosted a one-night exhibition and walking dinner at our canteen. Titled Lemons, Celery, Radicchio, Sardines, the event unfolded in colours inspired by the name: turmeric rice, celery pecorino salad, steamed artichokes with pistachio vinaigrette, pickled radicchio with mozzarella, beet borani, sardines, and black sesame semifreddo. Guests moved through colour-coded zones, each shaped by Heidi’s vibrant paintings and matching dishes. The meal lived in the space between living and making art—layered, fragmented, alive—each plate a personal composition.

Black sesame semifreddo with berry granita and charcoal-stained tapioca pearls

Blue zone

Turmeric rice in the yellow zone

Heidi in the magenta zone

For Aiayu’s AW25 collection, we hosted an intimate press day at our canteen. We offered guests a Gongfu-style tea tasting experience, guiding them on a journey through Taiwanese Oolong tea. Gongfu Cha is a traditional Chinese tea ceremony that emphasises precise brewing and the careful selection of tea leaves.

We explored two contrasting Oolongs: a rare Chi Lai High Mountain Oolong, grown at one of Taiwan’s highest elevations — fresh, misty, and delicately floral — and a five-times charcoal-roasted Dong Ding Oolong, slowly roasted over the course of a month, with deep notes of coffee and dark chocolate. The teas were paired with an almond kumquat Linzer cookie and a miso, cheddar and wild garlic biscuit.

Dark Chocolate Mousse with Salted Caramel

Langoustine Tail with Coral Fudge and Dried Flowers

For the opening of Van Cleef & Arpels’ boutique in Amsterdam, we designed a selection of canapés that reflected the elegance of the occasion. Every detail was carefully considered, resulting in refined bites such as langoustine tail with coral fudge and dried flowers, sea bass tartare with fermented blueberry and shiso, and dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel. A menu shaped with precision and finesse, made to complement the brand’s timeless sophistication.

For the opening of Birkenstock’s first store in Amsterdam, we created a playful selection of pastries and sweets that evoked the feeling of a birthday celebration. The spread featured a strawberry Charlotte cake with a pistachio matcha layer and a bright lemon meringue tart, alongside smaller treats like canelés, pâte de fruit, and madeleines—a mix of classic and nostalgic flavours, made to mark the occasion.

Strawberry Charlotte Cake

Strawberry Charlotte Cake with a Pistachio Matcha Layer

Lemon Meringue Tart

Canelés

For an event at Het Hem dedicated to the collaboration between The Macallan and Bently Motors, we created food installations inspired by the materials integral to both brands. Our table styling used aluminium and copper to underline the motif of a ‘Horizon’, the name of the whiskey bottle born out of this partnership. Glass, wood and leather served as the inspiration for daikon sushi with omelette and glass potato chip, tamales al pastor with mushroom and charred pineapple, and houjicha mochi with dried fruit, macadamia and cherry. The flavours we embraced in these canapés represent the profile of the single malt whiskey itself.

For the opening of the Flos showroom in Amsterdam, we served a buffet-style dinner upon the space’s iconic, long table. We presented classic and comforting dishes, like lasagne verde, fresh peas with crème fraîche and ramson oil, and houjicha tiramisu. The shared dining experience heightened the celebratory and cheerful spirit of the event.

To complement the showcase of Guess Jeans’ innovative airwash technology, we served a multi-course dinner for 50 guests. Our concept centred on the elemental qualities of the nanobubbles used in airwashing, such as their small scale and uniform, spherical shape. We created round bites like a cabbage leaf taco with pistachio mole and courgette, steamed buns with shiitake and green onion, and fishballs with spring vegetables in a seaweed broth. Our circular tables were adorned with glass and silver circles, and featured a custom lazy Susan in the middle to accentuate the motion that occurs within washing machines.

We gave a formal tea tasting for the Valentine’s Day reveal of Kye Intimates at Carmen. At this intimate gathering of fourteen people, we ritually poured two of our Taiwanese teas and shared black sesame mochi. We let guests witness methods of preparing tea, enjoy the freshly steeped liquid and hear short stories about our tea. Such a serene ceremony aligned with how Kye Intimates reminds us to foster a gentle relationship with ourselves and those we love.

Black sesame mochi

Tasting from one of our Tea Cups

Time flies by, flows along or freezes entirely, just like water, a motif of IWC’s brand. For the opening of their Amsterdam location, we engineered the phases of time and water into festive canapés.

A wavy pumpkin purée on shokupan toast

Pear sponge cakes topped with meringue

Charcoal tartlets with brandade and cubes of apple vinegar jelly

Nasturtium leaves filled with rice, topped with vinegar drops

Vinegar drops on top of a nasturtium leaf with rice tucked into it represented evaporating. A wavy pumpkin purée on shokupan toast reflected moving. Charcoal tartlets with brandade and cubes of apple vinegar jelly, as well as a pear sponge cake with meringue, captured freezing.

For the launch of HUSH HUSH, formerly known as Michel Bos PR, we created 225 savoury éclairs. These late-night bites were presented on the monumental, marble table in a corner of Karel L. Sijmons’ De Thomas, a brutalist church in Amsterdam. The geometric arrangement served as a reference to the new brand’s gridded logo.

For the opening night of the ‘Par un beau soir de carrés’ installation, we served a mystical menu. Guests wandered through the store to discover ethereal delights such as kohakutou crystals, black kale sponge cakes, seaweed tartlets filled with trout roe and crème fraîche, and shiso-wrapped balls of rice with smoked salmon. Those who requested a cocktail witnessed butterfly pea tea transform from a deep blue to an effervescent purple when poured in citrus tonic and gin. Our creations mimicked the hues and shapes of what can be found in the depths of an enchanting forest, echoing the theme of the installation itself.

We created three snacks for a Valentino showcase at the Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. Each bite was inspired by the shapes and textures in the brand’s upcoming SS24 collection. Big fortune cookies were modeled after the form of a handbag. Beet tartlets filled with beetroot hummus, pickled daikon and fish eggs accentuated velvety materials. A rice crisp on top of a herb frittata with aioli reminded viewers of cloud-like tulle fabric.

Beet tartlets and herb frittatas on one of our metal tea trays

Big fortune cookies next to the bag that inspired them

Crispy rice paper sheets

During the summer of 2023, we had the joy of making soft serve with Oatly at their first ever pop-up shop. For two days only, we took over the tiny venue on a corner by the Noordermarkt in Amsterdam to serve our own ice cream flavours of matcha from Uji, Japan, houjicha from Shizuoka, Japan, and stone-ground toasted black sesame seeds. We gave customers the option to add a blend of genmai and sobacha, cacao nibs, tapioca pearls in Kuromitsu syrup, and miso caramel on top of the perfectly swirled, plant-based treat. We designed digital and print posters to promote the event, as well as corresponding menus to display at the location and stickers to adorn the paper cups.

Our poster hanging out front of Oatly's pop-up shop at Prinsengracht 16, near the Noordermarkt

Toasted, Stone-ground Black Sesame Soft Serve topped with Tapioca Pearls in Kuromitsu syrup

Matcha Soft Serve topped with Genmai and Sobacha

At an event for Hermès during Dutch Design Week, we created a buffet around the luxury design house’s 2022 theme of ‘lightness’. 

A welcome drink of sake with yuzu, kukicha and a purple shiso leaf

A welcome snack of crispy rice, black kale furikake and pickled daikon

Guests served themselves from a two-tiered table, which was covered with Hermès plates presenting our Banchan dishes

Matcha-pistachio opera cake sponge cake taking over an entire table's surface

Japchae (cold, seasoned glass noodles) served from elevated stainless steel half-pipe we had especially made for this event

Sticky rice in lotus leaf with lotus root unwrapped on a guests' plate

The dishes on our menu were made of ingredients that are innately light in weight, were transformed to be lighter, or were presented as being so. The main course took inspiration from the delicacies of Korean and Japanese temple food. We incorporated elements like lotus leaves, to subtly refer to the deep yet light meanings carried by such buoyant symbols. Based on the traditions associated with the ‘light’ ingredients we chose, we designed custom table settings and unconventional surfaces to present our food on.

We presented a multi-course feast celebrating the opening of Loewe’s flagship store in the Netherlands. This intimate, seated dinner was held in De Thomas, a brutalist church in Amsterdam. 

Starters, like a long goat-cheese-watercress cheesecake, set on the table for guests to share

Throughout the night, we poured glasses of Constel.lació by Cosmic Vinyaters

Three kinds of petit fours: honeycomb-matcha chocolates, brandy snaps, and pâte du fruits

Smoked eel brandade and egg yolk raviolo with preserved lemon and cavolo nero as a main course

We served shared starters, individual main dishes, and a grand arrangement of bite-sized desserts. As the purpose of the gathering was to welcome Loewe to a city in the Low Countries, we incorporated ingredients typical of the Dutch agricultural landscape, like seaweed, eel, kohlrabi watercress, and cheese.

For Abel’s latest Eau de Parfum, we developed a cocktail inspired by the scent Black Anise alongwith packaging to present this drink with the perfume in a gift box. The cocktail was based on the notes of the fragrance to give recipients a different sensorial way to experience the perfume. 

Each recipient was gifted our cocktail, a glass, and the perfume

Graphic treatment on a slightly-transparent, texture wrapping paper to reveal the mystery of what is in the cocktail

Lapsang tea steeping in the Mono Classic teapot

A smoky lapsang tea has been stirred into a cognac infused with bitter cocoa nibs and bright star anise. The moody mix is saturated with black currant syrup and Chinati Vergano’s red bitter vermouth. Abel’s dark and daring perfume is full of mystique. We embraced that intrigue in our boxes by disguising the cocktail within layers that need to be unveiled.

For the launch of Amsterdam-based skincare brand, Routinely, we created a conceptual food installation inspired by their products. As Routinely makes the pure and potent products, we focused on the “essential” extracts used in their serums. We created bites based on the main ingredient in three of their thirteen serums. Our presentation of the three different snacks was based on the shape of each ingredient in its raw and original state.

Dark Reishi chocolate with dehydrated mushrooms inspired by Serum 06

All three snacks, including a pumpkin jelly with fermented pumpkin seeds inspired by Serum 02, on a guests' plate

Kombu and rice chips with sea salt inspired by Serum 15

Our signature green iced tea of Kukicha with lemon juice and honey

To launch smokewear products made in collaboration by High Minds and J. Hill’s Standard, we hosted a dinner in our canteen. Our four-course menu reflected the features of both what is smoked (buds) and what is used to smoke (pipes). 

Flat tart with fig leaf cream, green gooseberries and fig leaf oil

Courgette flower tempura, burrata, miso mayo

We highlighted the merit of materials that both these Irish brands work with. Flowers guided our decisions for flavour and form, while crystals led our choices with texture and appearance. By having both flowers and crystals on our plate, we showcased how the two brands have grown together through this collaboration. 

Spanish denim brand Lois Jeans invited us to serve a high tea in Ibiza for the presentation of their Collection Número Dieciocho launch. The characteristics of Oxfordshire fields, with their dry stone walls weaving through the countryside, were the source of our inspiration for the menu and styling, as this atmosphere was also the inspiration for the collection itself.

The regenerative farm Terra Masia, that provided us with fresh produce for the event

A row of pitchers of Iced Kukicha, Iced Tamaryokucha Tsuyuhikari, and Sencha Cold Brew and the respective tea leaves on display

An edible pebble made of dates and nuts covered in cocoa and kinako powders to welcome guests

Savoury tea sandwiches were placed on the table, scones were raised slightly above, and sweets sat higher than the rest

Wagashi Mochi made with fig leaves picked on site, Linzer cookie, and a traditional Meringue Tartlet

More than 80 guests were welcomed with a stone-shaped snack and a vibrant display of tea. They were then led to a 22-meter long table, upon which we reimagined a high tea’s tiered-stands by using separate slate surfaces to elevate the three courses. While following the classic format of the British culinary tradition, we showcased the Spanish setting by serving dishes such as mint, star anise scones as an adaptation of Flaó d’Eivissa.

For a small symposium organised by Hermès in their Amsterdam store, we translated the brand’s annual theme of ‘lightness’ into a menu. Each item we served that night displayed the qualities of either drying, floating or transparency. 

Our snacks spread over a vitrine, to showcase our interpretation of 'lightness'

Onigiri with seaweed and umeboshi, next to candied citrus peels dipped in white chocolate

Glass potato chips, to show lightness through transparency

Miso white bean dip for crudités positioned adjacent to meringue clouds with cream

An onigiri, a glass potato chip with spring onion aioli, an herb cracker with a slice of Comté cheese and some crudité on the side

While drying, ingredients become lighter in weight as they lose moisture. When floating, ingredients reveal their density in relation to one another. If transparent, ingredients let more light in, allowing us to see beyond their surfaces. Our menu, with an array of different kinds of sweet and savoury snacks, exhibited the materiality of lightness.

In the spring of 2022, Renessence, a holistic centre in Amsterdam where patrons can go to reconnect with their true essence, opened its doors. Their restorative services are interconnected with the four classical elements of water, fire, earth and air. 

Mushrooms and potatoes buried below crushed black kale furikake

Thin crackers for a spread of smoky eggplant

Blocks of honeycomb covered in white chocolate

The team behind Renessence hosted a celebratory gathering in their space to welcome guests in for the first time. For this opening, we served one dish per classical element. We wanted to nourish the age-old, almost innate wisdom that well-being comes from these fundamental building blocks existing in harmony.

Orginics is an organic gin made in Amsterdam. The distiller, Nils, experiments in small batches with niche Dutch ingredients. We were tasked to devise an identity for Orginics, a new product line that would still carry an authentic edge of the core brand. 

The shipping boxes

The labelling process

Our label design for Orginics has two stickers, one is notably an enlarged ‘seal’ that was historically used in distilleries. The icon on this seal is an adaptation of the “O” and “G” of Orginics, as it is an OG (short for “Original”) product.

Up-cycling was the core value of this collaboration between Viktor & Rolf and Zalando. The Dutch fashion designers utilised overstock fabric to make a unique collection. We were invited to serve bites and drinks for the launch of this collection. 

Toasted bread with fermented radishes and black garlic oil

Thin chocolate sheets with dehydrated raspberries

A deconstructed station to create your own wrap, using all the parts of the beetroot in different forms

To do so, we extended the theme of up-cycling into our menu. Our concept took shape through three thematic, unconventional encounters, each using up-cycled food. The styling of our food was inspired by the setting of a gallery space.

In celebration of the work of sound artist Jennie C. Jones, we were commissioned to create an edible installation at Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. For our menu, we took inspiration from Jones’ audio collage as well as the Sculpture Gallery’s geometric architectural forms.

Date, pecan and chocolate balls rolled in coconut flakes

The long buffet table

We started this project at the beginning of the pandemic, when restaurants in The Netherlands had to first close their doors. We noticed that many farmers were struggling to get their produce in the hands of locals. This was especially true for the farmer we work closely with, Wim Bijma, especially since he only works with restaurants. 

Cooking the Garden Salad

The zine with the shopping list

We decided to collaborate with Wim by giving people a chance to cook with his vegetables, ones that you usually couldn’t find anywhere else. This project consisted of a print publication with recipes and was accompanied by a box of Wim’s fresh vegetables.