The travels of Darwin Year continue, and I’ll be off for a few weeks, posting sporadically. As always, I’ll be covered by my pitch-bloggers Matthew Cobb and Greg Mayer.
This Wednesday I’m going to the Ciudad de las Ideas in Puebla, Mexico, a meeting that resembles the TED conferences in assembling a diverse group of “thinkers.” The program, whose theme is “re-evolution,” features lots of interesting people, including confrères like Sam Harris, Dan Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, scientists like Frans de Waal, and real or potential nemeses like Dinesh D’Souza, Robert Wright, and SuperRabbi Schmuley Boteach. Randy Cohen, the New York times ethicist, will also be there, along with luminaries in fields far removed from mine, including Sudanese hiphopper Emmanuel Jal. It should be a hoot. The Sunday morning session promises some fireworks, featuring Hitchens, Harris, Boteach, and d’Souza.
I return for one day, and then am off for two weeks and three talks in Europe, first in London at the Royal Society meeting Genetics and the causes of evolution: 150 years of progress since Darwin, then in Groeningen, Netherlands, and Padova, Italy. I’m taking four vacation days in Amsterdam and two in Venice, and would appreciate hearing of any good places to eat.
Groningen, not Groeningen.
Whwn would that be?
I’m an American living in the Netherlands for the past 16 years; shoot me a mail and I can let you know what to do / where to go / eat /drink…
Bubbles and Wine for a pre-dinner drink. Kantjil en de Tijger is the most well-known Indonesian restaurant I think, but down near the flower market there used to be a better one (not sure if it’s still there). Any of the Irish pubs will serve very honest food. Lots of Thai restaurants near the red light district. Is there a particular cuisine you’re after? The Dutch do savoury pancakes rather well.
I think you mean “pinch” bloggers, not “pitch” bloggers.
If idiots like D’Souza and Boteach (screamers both) are the best they can offer even at this juncture, why haven’t we won already?
But can you be properly peripatetic without discussing nonsense like “necessary beings”?
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Try Café Pacifico when you’re in the Red Light District. Just watch out for any black-eyed waitresses.
Interesting that Hitchens is the representative of ‘science’ at the Sunday morning re-evolution talk, not being a scientist.
@John – there’s a much better place on the Kerkstraat, operated by a couple brothers from Mexico City. But if you live in the US, just don’t go for Mexican food in Europe. It’s not good. I gave up and brought a tortilladora back with me after the last trip.
@Fraser – Kantjil went downhill a few years after it opened. Tempo Doeloe on the Utrechtstraat is way better.
If there are other blog readers here in Mokum, maybe we should organize a few drinks?
How about this:
Marius
Barentszstraat 243
Amsterdam
020-4227880
I can’t remember any restaurant names in Venice, just some great meals there.
Actually, you can’t go too far wrong for food in Italy. Just follow the locals.
When in Venice, keep stopping at bake shops until you find one with little biscuit-sized rolls with green olives baked into them. This was over 10yrs ago, and I still have wistful memories of them. Calamata olive bread is fine, but these things are outstanding, particularly with a bottle of Soave, which turns out to be one of the wines of that region.
Restaurant in Amsterdam: The Blond Hollander
Address:
Leidsekruisstraat 28, Amsterdam, 1017 RJ
although everything there tastes good 😉
@dersk: Shame about Kantjil. But Rosie’s Cantina does great Mexican … although I may have been influenced by equally great margaritas.
Actually, my advice would be to get out of Amsterdam, and visit Utrecht.
Visiting Utrecht (and other places) is a good idea — but not for the food.
If Indonesian is the kitchen of choice, Tempo Doeloe and its neighbor Tujuh Maret are the right places in Amsterdam, and The Hague has even better ones. Other kitchens are well represented too: Incanto is a great Italian, Beddington’s is one of the good classic (i.e. French) ones; it also depends on the atmosphere you like.
How about those drinks? Would Jerry be interested in meeting a few of his readers?
I hope some video of this meeting pops up online at some point.
We just got into our hotel room in Amsterdam last night (visiting from Los Angeles). My wife pointed out the useful site dutchgrub.com.
Also, iens.nl and dinersite.nl are good restaurant guides to the BEST CITY ON THE PLANET.
Well, except for the torrential rain this morning.
Utrecht is a better place than Amsterdam anyway. Polmans Huis is good, especially for Saturday lunch when the nearby flowermarket is on.
Just wanted to let everyone here know that Jerry Coyne’s talk from the AAI 2009 conference is now online:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,4561,n,n
Josh
@Gerdien: You’re clearly high. (:
Beste Gerdien, please keep your voice down, otherwise everybody will be coming down here.