Pop-up lunch cafe A Beautiful Mess run entirely by women from refugee backgrounds

A Beautiful Mess will open a pop-up lunch café in the 17-century Cromhout House on the Herengracht in Amsterdam on Thursday, December 12. Women between the ages of 35 and 65 with a refugee background will run the new location entirely. The menu was also developed by the women and inspired by dishes they grew up with, from Arabic high teas to Fattet Hummus. By visiting the café, you are supporting the women in gaining work experience so that they can continue to thrive. The new location will remain open until at least June 2020.

Bahija, who works in the lunch café: ‘I lived in Syria and was responsible for the household and financially dependent on my husband. When I came to the Netherlands I started looking for a job. That was quite difficult because I had no work experience. You first have to learn the language, get the right diplomas and understand the Dutch culture. The fact that I can now do this together with other women who understand this makes it easier for me and much more fun.’

Accelerating integration process

A Beautiful Mess is an initiative of the Refugee Company. This foundation was founded in 2015 and promotes the economic and social independence of people with a refugee background, in order to accelerate the integration process in this way. The pop-up café is the third catering establishment opened by the foundation and is run entirely by women between the ages of 35 and 65. The foundation has specifically chosen this group for the new location because they noticed in recent years that women in this age group are finding it harder to get a job. Through this way, the foundation wants to give them the opportunity to further develop themselves.

The menu

The menu has been developed by the women themselves and is inspired by the dishes they grew up with. The menu is full of traditional Middle Eastern, African, typical Dutch dishes and a traditional Arabic high tea. It also hosts traditional coffee ceremonies from Ethiopia and Eritrea on request, with the roasting of raw coffee beans at the center. The space is also available for hosting events.

The locations of A Beautiful Mess

In 2016, restaurant A Beautiful Mess opened in the laundromat of the former Bijlmerbajes, with the aim of creating employment opportunities for residents from the adjacent azc. The location started as a small coffee shop and grew into a restaurant. Here, Refugee Company organizes special meetings, events and network meetings to promote cooperation with people with a refugee background. In the azc in Amsterdam-West, the organization opened its second location, a café, in 2018. In the past four years, more than 165 employees of A Beautiful Mess already found paid jobs.

The pop-up is at the invitation of the Biblical Museum. The museum was looking for a new filling for Café Cromhout, which closed its doors on November 1. ‘The Biblical Museum values inclusiveness, connection and the sharing of stories. This collaboration with the Refugee Company therefore fits very well and is a beautiful interpretation of the monumental space of Café Cromhout,” says Marjolein Marreveld of the Biblical Museum.

Café Cromhout and the Biblical Museum

The Biblical Museum is located in the Cromhout House in Amsterdam until the summer of 2020, together with the Amsterdam Museum. The museum organizes temporary exhibitions around Biblical stories and themes with commissioned art and/or loans. In it, young artists, designers and storytellers show what meaning the Bible has for them.

The pop-up of A Beautiful Mess is located at Herengracht 366 and will remain open at this location for at least seven months. The café is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.