Gebroeders Niemeijer
The Bakery
Gebroeders Niemeijer is an artisanal French bakery located in the heart of Amsterdam. It is situated in a beautiful historic building with an original art deco ceiling. While visiting the shop or when sitting down to enjoy your meal you can look right into the open bakery and watch the bakers at work. Shortly after opening the bakery gained recognition as one of the best bakeries in the Netherlands, receiving international acclaim.
We make all of our breads and pastries by hand and bake in a large stone-floored oven. We do not use additives or prepared products. We always choose quality, including organic ingredients where possible. Whether baguettes, sourdough loaves, croissants, macarons, éclairs, millefeuille, or financiers... all you taste in our bakery are good ingredients and pure flavors.
In our bakery café and restaurant you can enjoy a classic French breakfast, lunch, or afternoon tea with delicious pastries. In addition to our breads, sandwiches, and pastries, we serve espresso from Turin; homemade jam, chutney, and marmalade; Mediterranean salads and soups; French cheeses; and charcuterie.
The Niemeijer Brothers
“Gebroeders Niemeijer” received its name from brothers Marco and Issa Niemeijer who opened the bakery in 2008 (the Dutch word “gebroeders” means “brothers”). Marco graduated from the Rietveld Art Academy and worked as a cook before opening the bakery. Issa studied sociology at the University of Amsterdam. During his studies he applied himself more and more to baking, already developing many of Gebroeders Niemeijer's unique recipes. Before opening his bakery, Issa worked with Gosselin in Paris, Menno 't Hoen in Rotterdam and Hartog Bakery in Amsterdam. From 2011 Issa continued as the sole owner of Gebroeders Niemeijer.
A book about bread
JAN Magazine:
"A master class on bread"
Read the review (PDF)
Hiske Versprille, De Volkskrant:
"Baker Issa Niemeijer is a radical artisan"
Read the article
Trouw:
"Nr 1 best cookbook of the year, 2020"
Read the article
Epicurious:
You'll gain a sense of what strengthens the crust, or what makes it more delicate ‐ what will deepen the flavor of your bread, or lengthen the freshness of your crumb.
Read the article
Jonah Freud, Het Parool:
"It turns out that, like his baking, Issa’s writing is high quality. In his book he writes clearly and calmly how to make bread that is just as nice as in his bakery"
Read the article
De Telegraaf:
"Issa shares his secrets in this new book, that may be rightfully called the new Amsterdam baking Bible"
Read the article
Elle Food:
"This beautiful book is an ode to bread and describes Issa’s love of the craft, it teaches you how to make superb bread"
Read the article
Peper Hofstede, editor in chief, Eva Jinek:
"This book is for the enthusiast – but who isn’t when in the weekend your home smells of fresh fougasse or pain au noix"
Read the article
AD:
Read the article: How do you know if you are buying heathy bread? The colour doesn’t mean much
Brood & Banket (Belgium):
"A book about bread by the best baker in Amsterdam"
Read the review
Mangiare! NPO Radio 1
Listen to the interview with Issa Niemeijer-Brown.
Delicious Magazine:
"The name Niemeijer is a household word. From the basics of flour and sourdough to how to make a perfectly crispy crust and the best baguette"
Kookboeken NWZ:
"An ode to artisan baking. Issa writes with care and to the point. This is knowledge that is truly useful to the homebaker";
Read the review
Soester Courant:
Read the article (PDF)
Friesch Dagblad:
"A Book About Bread is at a whole different level, beautiful in its simplicity"
Read the review (PDF)
Bakkers in bedrijf:
"The book radiates love of the craft"
Read the article about the bakery and the review of the book
Leeuwarder Courant:
Read the article
Knack Weekend (Belgium):
"Beautiful and serene book"
Read the article
June tot Twaalf, Radio Noord Holland:
Listen to the interview with Issa Niemeijer-Brown
Ronald Giphart, author, De Gelderlander:
"Truly an exceptional publication"
Read the article (photo)
NRC:
"And look, the miracle happened: the dough becomes bread. And the bread was delicious"
Read the review
Product Range
Our Bread
All of our bread is shaped by hand, given a long slow development, and baked directly on the stone floor of the oven. The process creates the bread's characteristic crust, which bursts open during baking.
We use our own recipes. Our sourdough breads (batards, boules, and nut breads) use our homemade French levain with a mild, subtle flavor. The bread is sturdy, but at the same time maintains the light and open structure typical of French bread. The flavor of the bread is mildly sour but more than anything else very full. It is flavorful on its own or a complement to any dish.
Our current sourdough culture is eight and a half years old! We refresh it daily, keeping a portion of the old sourdough and adding fresh flour and water. In this way we maintain a specific and unique culture of natural yeast and bacteria. The bread has a slightly different flavor every day. This is caused by variations in the sourdough, flour, temperature, dough development, and shaping and baking of the breads.
In our yeast breads (baguettes, épis and pavés) the taste of the grain is enhanced by the use of a minimal amount of yeast. This, combined with a long and slow development time and the gentle weighing and shaping of the loaves, creates bread with a light, nutty flavor and a crispy crust.
We do not use any additives (no fats, lactose, bread enhancement powders, etc). The only ingredients in our breads are stone milled French flour, unrefined French sea salt from the Guerande, water, and sourdough or yeast. For the sourdough breads we use organic flour, for the baguettes and pavés certified label rouge, tradition Française.
We do not knead our doughs, instead only mixing the ingredients. This allows the gluten structure to develop naturally during an extended development time. We fold the dough by hand midway through its development to align and reinforce the gluten structure – a process known in France as “giving the dough a rabat”.
Keeping the Bread
Our bread has a strong crust; keep it in a paper bag to ensure that the crust remains crunchy and the bread stays fresh. On humid days (as happens often in Amsterdam), or when eating the bread the next day, it is possible to refresh it by placing the bread in a hot oven (e.g. 220 degrees Celsius) for just a few minutes. The crust loses its excess humidity, making the bread crunchy again.
€ 3,70
yeast bread, white, development time ± 20-21 hours
€ 3,95
sourdough bread, white, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 3,95
sourdough bread, grey, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 3,95
sourdough bread, wholemeal, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 5,40
sourdough bread, grey, with walnuts, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 6,00
sourdough bread, grey with walnuts and figs, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 4,20
sourdough bread, white, development time ± 20-24 hours
€ 6,50
sourdough bread, white, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 5,95
sourdough bread, grey, development time ± 18-20 hours
€ 4,25
sourdough bread, white, with walnuts and blue cheese, development time ± 20-22 hours (available on Saturday)
€ 2,25
yeast bread, white, development time ± 21-28 hours
€ 3,25
yeast bread, white, development time ± 21-28 hours
€ 0,90
yeast bread, white, development time ± 24-28 hours
€ 0,50
yeast bread, development time ± 24-28 hours
€ 0,50
sourdough bread, development time ± 20-24 hours
€ 0,50
sourdough bread, development time ± 20-24 hours
€ 0,70
sourdough bread, grey with walnuts and figs, development time ± 20-24 hours
€ 4,75
sourdough bread, rye flour, wheat flour, development time ± 20-24 hours (available by advanced order)
€ 1,85
classic recipe from Rome, yeast bread, white, development time ± 24-28 hours (available Friday-Sunday or by advanced order)
€ 12,50
made with our own almond paste, development time ± 20 hours (available seasonally for Christmas and Easter)
Viennoiserie
We make our own croissants, pains au chocolat, Saint Joseph, pains aux raisins, brioches and brioches feuilletées based on classic French recipes. The flavors are enriched through long proofing times and a natural development of the dough, which is made with French flour. Our products never contain additives, preservatives or colorants. Our scones are based on an American recipe using crème fraiche in place of butter and milk. Just like the rest of the Viennoiserie, they are shaped by hand.
At Gebroeders Niemeijer we use real butter, making our pastry uniquely flavorful. Conventional bakeries making croissants or brioches feuilletées use a modified butter product designed to withstand the shaping process without melting into the dough. While convenient, the modified product affects the flavor of the pastry. Because we use real butter there is a variation in our pastry from day to day, but we maintain a flavor, structure and quality that is difficult to find nowadays – even in France. Elle Food magazine selected our croissants as the only ones in the Netherlands which easily match the quality of their French counterparts, and ranked our croissants as number one in the magazine's National Culinary Top 100.
€ 1,85
€ 1,95
€ 2,75
€ 2,95
€ 1,70
€ 2,10
€ 1,95
Patisserie
Our patisserie is also made by hand! From macarons to tartelettes au citron, canelés, and tarte tatin. From profiteroles, éclairs, and brownies to millefeuille, financiers, and galettes (Saint-Pierre). In winter we make our own gevulde speculaas - filled spice pastry, a Dutch specialty - with our homemade almond paste and home roasted spices. We use only our own original recipes and all pastry is made fresh every day.
We also make a limited selection of chocolate and cookies. Chocolate truffles (caramel au beurre salé), saucisson de chocolat, sablés au chocolat et fleur de sel, sablés à l’orange et raisins, tuiles, and speculaasjes in the autumn and winter.
We use no additives, preservatives or colorants. We make our own puff-pastry, grind our own nuts, and use high quality ingredients: Valrhona chocolate, Italian pastry flour, fresh vanilla, Sicilian lemons and organic seasonal (mostly local) fruit.
On request we also make larger lemon, chocolate, fruit or walnut tarts, as well as large tarte tatin and large pochon.
Gevulde Speculaas (filled spice pastry)
€ 4,75
per package (available seasonally in fall and winter)
€ 1,85
€ 1,85
€ 2,20
(available Saturday-Sunday)
€ 2,30
€ 1,75
chocolate, lemon, pistachio, raspberry, mocha, hazelnut, sesame, green tea, walnut, lavender
€ 2,75
chocolate, lemon, pistachio
€ 4,30
(Saturday-Sunday)
€ 3,50
(Friday-Sunday)
€ 2,20
(Friday-Sunday)
€ 2,75
€ 3,95
(Friday-Sunday)
€ 3,75
€ 3,75
€ 3,75
€ 4,25
(seasonal availability)
€ 3,95
puff-pastry based fruit tart with pear, cherry, rhubarb, peach, apricot, or plum depending on the season
€ 4,25
(Tuesday-Friday, with large tarte tatin available Saturday-Sunday)
Large tarts
€ 16,50
(Saturday-Sunday, weekdays by advanced order)
Tarte (lemon, chocolate, walnut)
€ 22,50
(available by advanced order)
€ 28,50
(only available in season by order)
Cookies and Chocolates
€ 4,90
per package
€ 4,25
per package
Sablés au Chocolat et Fleur de Sel
€ 4,65
per package
€ 4,90
per package
€ 4,75
per package
€ 7,50
6 pieces
€ 4,25
per package (available seasonally in fall and winter)
There's More...
Next to bread, viennoiserie, and patisserie, we also carry other homemade products. Some are only available in the restaurant, such as our lemon-ginger lemonade or homemade ice tea. Others are available in the shop, such as our homemade jams and granola.
€ 7,75
organic, per package
To Order
For pick-up the same day... phone the bakery!
For pick-up the next day... send us an email at info@gebroedersniemeijer.nl.
For large orders or for products that we do not make daily... also give us a call.
Keep in mind that the breads take two days to make, from starting the dough to baking the loaves. Many pastries also require more than one day to make the dough or the fillings. Be sure to order well in advance!
Breakfast & Lunch
In our café restaurant you can enjoy a classic French breakfast, lunch or high tea – or simply sit and savor a coffee or a pastry. We make our own granola and muesli, served with fresh yoghurt or quark (fromage frais). Our salads and soups are also made fresh in house. All of our dishes and sandwiches are also available for take away.
To complement our dishes we serve cheese from Amsterdam's renowned Fromagerie Kef, and charcuterie from Lindenhoff and Brandt en Levie. We make our own jams and marmalades. We work with organic salad, fruit, milk and yoghurt. Of course we emphasize our bread, but we also serve gluten free options such as salads and soups (...and for the sweet tooth, delicious macarons). In addition to a wide vegetarian assortment, our soups are always made without cream or milk products – our salads can also be adjusted to remove any dairy.
We serve Costadoro coffee - an Italian espresso with an intense, robust, but never bitter, flavor.
French Breakfast & Viennoiserie
‘petit déjeuner’ (until 12:00)
three petit pains with marmelade and butter, croissant or brioche, coffee or tea and fresh orange juice 9.40
‘petit déjeuner extra’ (until 12:00)
four petit pains with marmalade and butter, croissant or brioche, a slice of Dutch farm cheese, gruyère and free range Italian ham, coffee or tea and fresh orange juice 12.25
baguette
with jam and butter 3.50
with Dutch farm cheese (mild or mature) 4.50
with gruyère Alpage 4.75
with Dutch farm cheese and free range Italian ham 6.50
‘walnut & fig’
three walnut & fig petit pains with gruyère cheese 5.75
viennoiserie
croissant with jam and butter 2.95
croissant with free range Italian ham or Dutch cheese 4.25
brioche with jam and butter 2.50 / brioche feuilletée 2.65
scone with jam and crème fraiche 2.95
pain au chocolat 2.25 / Saint Joseph 2.95 / pain au raisin 3.25
granola
quark (fromage frais) with home made organic granola 6.50
muesli
farm yoghurt with home made organic muesli 6.00
Patisserie
tartelette
au citron (lemon) 4.10 / au chocolat 4.10 / aux noix (walnuts) 4.10 / aux fruits frais (fruit of the season) 4.50
pochon d’été (puff pastry tartlet baked with fruit of the season) 4.50
tarte tatin
tarte tatin with crème fraiche 4.75
various
selection varies daily - check the pastry display in the shop!
financier (almond or hazelnut cake, made with ‘beurre noisette’) 2.20
saint-pierre (butter cake, only on weekends) 2.50
canelé (dark caramel with fresh vanilla) 2.50
macaron (almond meringue filled with butter cream) 3.10 / small 1.85
speculaas filled with almond paste (Dutch specialty, seasonal) 4.25
éclair 3.95, profiterole 2.80, brownie 2.90, millefeuille 5.25, citrus cake 4.75
chocolate
a small dish of ‘truffes au caramel de beurre salé’ (pure chocolate truffles) and ‘saucisson de chocolat’ (pure chocolate slices with honey and almonds) for two people 8.25
Lunch (from 11.00 to 14:00 hours)
baguette
(on weekends also available on pizza bianca at 1.5 times the price)
Dutch farm cheese mild or mature 6.50
gruyère Alpage6.75
mozzarella di bufala, cherry tomatoes and basil 9.25
San Daniele ham (free range) 8.50
Portuguese sardine pate (cups) 6.50
lightly smoked wild salmon (MSC certification) 9.95
salad with bread
chèvre - salad with Tunnel de Chèvre, balsamico-fig dressing and roasted walnuts 12.75
Drinks
coffee Costadoro
espresso 2.45 / espresso macchiato 2.70 / double espresso 3.80
cappuccino 3.15 / café au lait 3.15
latte macchiato 3.60
latte mocha (with dark Valrhona chocolate) 4.85
flat white 4.40
plain black coffee 2.60
Americano small 2.60 / large 3.95
tea
range of Simon Lévelt organic teas 2.70
fresh mint or ginger tea 2.80
chai latte (caffeine free) 3.75
hot chocolate
with dark Valrhona chocolate 4.90
milk
milk 2.60 / buttermilk 2.70
ice tea
earl grey with fresh citrus and mint (homemade) 3.50
lemonades
lemon & ginger (homemade) 3.00
elderberry (organic) 2.90
fruit juices
fresh orange juice small 3.70 / large 4.95
apple juice from Bemelerhof 2.95
pear juice from Bemelerhof 2.95
cherry- or apple-berry juice from Bemelerhof 3.10
fruitshakes
orange and banana 5.10
green (spinach, ginger, pear, mint, lemon, orange) 6.40
fruit of the day 5.50
water & soda
Pellegrino (sparkling) 2.65 / Pellegrino large 5.25
Panna (flat) 2.65 / Panna large 5.25
Pellegrino (fruit) / Coca Cola / Coca Cola light 2.90
Media Quotes
The Guardian:
"I love Gebroeders Niemeijer croissants - super crispy and buttery"
Het Parool:
"Best croissant. Wildly attractive - the Serge Gainsbourg amongst croissants. Perfection in taste and structure. Paris can be jealous"
Keuringsdienst van Waarde (Dutch tv)
Watch episode24Kitchen (Dutch tv)
Watch episodeJamie Oliver Magazine:
"The best baguettes and tarts in town, le pain perfect"
Lonely Planet:
"linger over flakey croissants for breakfast or fantastic sandwiches made with walnut bread and lamb sausage for lunch"
Petit Futé:
"Véritable oasis de bonheur et de goût, qualité supérieure, les produits sont succulents et artisanaux"
Slow Food:
"one of the best bakers in the country"
Mobil Deutsche Bahn:
"Wer Glaubt, dass es die besten franzözischem Backwaren in Frankreich gibt, der war noch nicht in Gebroeders Niemeijer Bakkerij"
Guide du Routard:
"délicieux croissants, tartes, macarons et autres pâtisseries alléchantes, adresse qui contribue au renouveau du centre d'Amsterdam"
Elle Food:
"#1 Croissant"
Artisan Magazine Australië:
"delicious and freshly baked goods, there aren't many bakers that work so hard at perfecting the artisinal process"
Delicious:
"Super baker. The best French bread, pastries and lunch. One of the best bakeries in the country"
Trouw:
"I bake the most beautiful and best loaves when relying on my intuition"