SLA Opening soon A New Organic Salad Bar

Last night, on my way to a restaurant, I discovered this sign on a window on the Ceintuurbaan in Amsterdam. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to read that an organic salad bar is opening up in De Pijp. I love living in de Pijp. It’s Amsterdam’s SoHo, a very lively area filled with small cafes, eateries, boutique shops and vintage stores.

In recent years lots of new places of have opened up like Cottoncake, both a shop and café, which serves healthy, organic food. Or The Proud Otter, which you can find in the back of sustainable fashion store Charlie+Mary. Or ‘de Wasserette‘, a former launderette turned café that serves a mean breakfast and really nice coffee. Or Foodware, a delicatessen shop, where you can choose a selection of small dishes and create your own plate. Or Hutspot, a brilliant concept store where they sell about anything under the sun. You can get a hair cut, buy a nice dress, get new sun glasses, buy extra virgin olive oil or work behind your laptop at the large communal table with a nice cup of coffee.

De Pijp is clearly thriving. New innovative shops, galleries, eateries and cafes open up every month. I love all these new additions to our neighbourhood. Yet the very one thing I have been missing is a place where you can eat a nice, big salad or even better, a place where you can create your own ‘salad-to-go’ to enjoy in the park. A place that uses the best organic, fresh produce only. It’s something I have seriously felt this area is lacking.

Most places in De Pijp serve sandwiches or they offer one daily salad only. I am not a cheese sandwich girl and I prefer to stay away from gluten most of the time. Instead I love to eat a big salad for lunch, with fresh, organic ingredients, lots of leafy greens, fresh vegetables and herbs. The only place that I know in De Pijp that serves really nice big salads is Le Pain Quotidien. It’s a tad expensive but you can choose five different salads on the menu. They use fresh organic ingredients only and the salads are delicious, creative and healthy.

Yet nothing beats creating your own salad! I can’t wait to find out more about this new organic salad bar, SLA (literally lettuce in Dutch). I will be definitely be the first to try it out. I love the idea of a create-your-own salad bar with lots of beautiful ingredients to choose from.

Last time I checked the website wasn’t live yet but what I could gather from their Facebook page is that the salad bar will include a garden where they plan to grow their own salad greens and herbs. The garden, a design by De Meisjes van de Bloemen, will also be a place for contemplation, a silent garden where you can retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. For the produce they can’t grow on their own, they are talking to local, organic farmers. And there’s more. You can event rent out the space (SLA LAB) for dinner and events and it looks like they will be hosting food workshops too. It’s not finished yet but I had a sneak peak in and it looks really beautiful, open and spacious, with huge windows at the back that look onto a beautiful green urban garden.

Keep your eyes open. SLA will open soon at CEINTUURBAAN 149 for lunch, dinner and coffee.

Check out their website which will be up and running soon here.

Like them on Facebook if you want to stay up to date.