Beurs van Berlage
As tables are set on this Monday morning at the newest location in the Beurs van Berlage, open since the end of last year, Fleur and Fons sit down to coffee. Just under two metres above street level, where on the Damrak tourists pour in early in the morning, father and daughter reflect on the past few years. While Fons called the start-up of the first two Seafood Bars - the first time we spoke at length, for PROEF!Hospitality #3 in 2015 - a rollercoaster, what followed was a whirlwind. ‘It seems like a lifetime ago,’ sighs Fleur, thinking back to that time. ‘I was 27, working seven days a week, standing on the floor in both restaurants. Working from seven in the morning to 11 at night was not unusual. Then I would take a break in the afternoon to have an hour's bath at home, and then back to work.’ Meanwhile, her brother Pepijn was busy with the financial side of the business, father Fons with the overall concept and - of course - the fish. Daughter Eline was also still working at the time. Funny, actually, acknowledges Fons de Visscher. His wife and he sold their successful fish shop in Helmond in 2010 after 27 years. ‘We changed course business-wise, because the nest was empty. But in no time, all three of our children were working in the business again. When we sat at the table together, we would sometimes agree not to talk about the business. But within 15 minutes, we were talking about it again. We always have plans, thinking about how The Seafood Bar can grow even further.’
Third and fourth business
Then, at the kitchen table in 2015, there was slight hesitation about growing further. ‘Can we keep that uniqueness of The Seafood Bar even with a third business added? I wasn't sure about that at the time,' recalls Fons. ‘We didn't want it to become a marketing ploy.’ The thought didn't last long, by the way. Within two years, a third Seafood Bar on Ferdinand Bolstraat and a (now closed) fish shop on Leidsestraat followed, followed by a place on Utrecht's Stationsplein in 2018. And why not? The Brabant entrepreneurs had tapped into a niche: fresh fish presented in an approachable way. ‘There wasn't anything like that in the Netherlands yet,’ says Fons. For a country by the sea, we have quite a strange fish culture, De Visscher thinks. Because you either eat a herring out of hand at the fish stall, or you have to eat out in luxury right away. There was a gap between the fishmonger and fine dining’. A gap into which The Seafood Bar fitted perfectly, and could count on enthusiasm from day one. Without any advertising, within six weeks the place was full night after night, with queues of people waiting all the way to the street. Locals, tourists, young people; everyone soon knew how to find The Seafood Bar, just as De Visscher had once envisaged.
From Amsterdam to Soho
‘Fish for everyone, that's my mission. Pure, organic day-fresh fish.’ Who knew how to find The Seafood Bar? ‘Well, who didn't, really? Families who sit here all evening, celebrating birthdays, but also people who come for a quick tuna sandwich.’ And so it still is, twelve years after the first The Seafood Bar opened in Amsterdam-Zuid. In that same slightly Mediterranean atmosphere with lots of white, blond wood, glass and marble, fish still disappears from display case to plate at a rapid pace. From fried fish to six oysters and a coke, but especially the fruits de mer - platters full of cockles, mussels, crab. Although the Covid time was a bit of a pass. ‘We got through that time quite well,’ Fons looks back, but the pace was off and business was done in a completely different way. Although their pragmatic and down-to-earth nature was also useful during this time. Less than a day after the cabinet's all-important press conference that put the country on lockdown, the Visschers cancelled the contract of their office building. ‘The notice period was three months, we understood immediately that this pandemic would last a while. So cut costs, and back to the kitchen table. That was not a problem for us, but a godsend for the business,' states Fons.
By now, The Seafood Bar had hundreds of people on its payroll. ‘The wage bill each month was hefty,’ Fleur adds. ‘There was some support from the government, but we didn't want to fall behind.’ Around Easter that year, they sold packets of fish for home. Fons: ‘That ran like clockwork, and was nice labour therapy. We carried on quite well, but didn't earn anything. We didn't lose anything either, fortunately. We are of the old school, always paid our bills immediately, didn't put anything off. We wanted to start with a clean slate after Covid, not with arrears.’ So big was the surprise when the De Visschers opened a Seafood Bar in Soho, London in 2021 - during Covid. ‘Pepijn has been to London many times, he lives there, and he always sees great locations and opportunities. I decided to live there for six months too, to get the feel. There was always a reason for delay: location, permit, brexit. And then the ideal property came along. You can wait, but you can also just do it.’ Although doing business in England was not easy - legislation, staff, finding builders - it was an instant success here too. ‘Quite funny though, if the hospitality industry was allowed to reopen in June 2021, remotely everything of course, the streets in Soho were cordoned off at 17:00 in the evening. At 17:03 all the terraces were full.’
From fish shop to The Seafood Bar
De Visscher and his wife ran a successful fish shop in the Brabant provincial town of Helmond from 1983. Fresh, line-caught fish sliced in front of the customer's eyes was already the basis of their success there. In 2010, around their fifties, the couple wanted to change tack once more, to embark on an adventure. The fish shop - despite the crisis - quickly found a buyer, and the search could begin. Amsterdam-Zuid turned out to be the perfect place for their dream: a food shop where you can eat on the spot or take away goodies: approachable, fresh and refined. After the success of the first The Seafood Bar on Van Baerlestraat from 2012, a second - much larger shop - on the Spui followed in 2015. This was followed a year later by a (now closed) fish shop on Leidsestraat, a third branch on Ferdinand Bolstraat and a Seafood Bar on Utrecht's Stationsplein in 2018. In 2021 - during Covid - the first foreign Seafood Bar opened in the middle of London's Soho. And since the end of 2023, the sixth food shop is a reality, on the Damrak in the Beurs van Berlage. And the end of the adventure does not seem to be in sight yet. As long as opportunities and great locations present themselves, a seventh opening is not out of the question. But now first, time for the oyster and cocktail bar in the basement of the Beurs van Berlage.
Cocktail & oyster bar
For a while things were quiet, the past few years were all about rebuilding after Covid - finding and retaining staff - but in late 2023, adventure arose again. Fleur: ‘Pepijn came up with this location, the former Tony Chocolonely shop that wasn't running well enough in this spot, and immediately saw all the potential.’ And? ‘He saw it right again,’ smiles Fons. ‘With guests from the Beurs van Berlage, but also close to department store De Bijenkorf and of course lots of traffic. And then there's also a cocktail & oyster bar coming soon, in the basement, with those hip vinyl DJ girls there. Even in January, not the busiest month, we were always full.’ And he should know, because Fons and his wife regularly eat in their own establishment. ‘We like the conviviality, just having a chat. Just last week, residents of Helmond turned out to be sitting here. They wanted to take a look at their old fishmonger. I try to be in all the shops as often as possible. Even as a guest, that's important. If I discover that the bread here tastes better than in another shop, I point it out. We then look for the reason. Not only the fish, but also the bread should be as tasty as possible everywhere.’
Meanwhile, the conversations at the kitchen table at the De Visschers have long since moved beyond the business. The family has grown, and there are little ones at the dinner table again. Fons' wife no longer works in the business, and daughter Eline has also picked up her other work. Fons, Fleur and Pepijn are responsible for the day-to-day running of The Seafood Bar. They see each other a lot, and call even more often. But home is really home now. Although business and family flow seamlessly into each other, they have no trouble parking The Seafood Bar when the family is together. ‘Healthy too,’ De Visscher concludes with satisfaction.
White, marble, light
The first Seafood Bar on Amsterdam's Van Baerlestraat was still assembled by Fons de Visscher himself. For the 300 square metres on the Spui, that was no longer an option. De Visscher enlisted the help of Michel Ruijgrok of ESTIDA, agency for interior design and concept development. Together, they developed a light, fresh look, with something industrial too. Trimmed raw walls, tiles, steel cabinets, white chairs, marble. Steel bar cabinets, a marble bar and a special marble basin in which the fish lay cool. It is still the basis of The Seafood Bar's interiors: the focus is on the food, the interior has to blend in. ‘Furthermore, I wanted everyone to be able to feel comfortable.’ ‘White chairs stand out against wooden tables, covered without rugs, and the lighting too is white.’ Meanwhile, the De Visschers also do most of the interiors themselves. They have plenty of ideas, and son Pepijn turns out to be rock solid in interior design as well as real estate.
