My brother and I started De Ruyschkamer in 2013 with no experience in the hospitality industry and no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We didn’t have a set plan at the time but we knew we wanted to create something that didn’t exist in Amsterdam: somewhere you could go and chill, put your feet up, feel at home and even do some work – this is how De Ruyschkamer was born.

Our concept is pretty simple – “Feel like home in our bar.” It’s about creating a relaxing, homely environment for our guests. It’s always been a passion project rather than a way to make money, which is the common goal for bars. We have big couches, a workspace and all-round comfortable furniture. We know we could maximize the space in order to achieve higher capacity but that isn’t what we are about. We have 70 different kinds of beers and 40 different kinds of soda, which we source through Dorstlust so we serve a very unique offering originating from various cities around the world.



As a team it’s like we are one big family. It’s a playful environment and you can see that in our décor and tone of voice. For example everyone in the team has a cocktail on the menu named after them – mine’s Scippillicious: liquor 43, ginger, lemon, mint and soda… We work really hard, sometimes 80- 90 hours a week, but it’s a lot of fun otherwise and 90% of the people who come here thank us for the service and they come back. For us, this is better than money.

We are a bar through and through but during the day some local businesses and freelancers use the bar as workspace because they like the atmosphere. Monday and Tuesday we take private bookings from birthday parties to presentations and other private events. Our entertainment schedule is quite relaxed, every so often we will have live music nights, film nights and other events. Because of our ethos we never book DJs… and we have to respect the neighbours!



Next for us, we’re looking at having a second location in Amsterdam. Maybe in the East. We’re looking for a space with a terrace. It won’t be easy but we are thinking next summer.

A lot is possible in Amsterdam. The people are really varied. There’s a lot to do culturally from bars to restaurants and museums, which is really cool. In the winter it’s nice but it’s beautiful in the summer – it’s just such a peaceful city.