Please note that since writing this blog post, Odessa has closed down
It was a bitterly cold night in January 2006; I was 26 years old and had lived in Amsterdam for precisely two weeks. Some friends from London were spending the weekend in the city, and had invited me to join them at Odessa – a restaurant on a boat that didn’t even make it onto the tourist map that was my constant companion at the time. I rode my newly purchased second-hand bike as far east as I’d ever been. I got so lost that I spent half an hour frozen-fingered on the phone to my friends, just trying to locate them. And I arrived so grateful to see them after a fortnight of knowing no one but my neurotic landlady that I immediately broke down in tears.
That was nine-and-a-half years ago, and I’d venture to say that Odessa has changed as much as I have during that time. I don’t remember much about the food that night – I don’t think it was anything special, but then again a) I wasn’t writing a food blog, and b) I was hungry more for company than for anything else. I feel like I recall dark wood, burgundy furnishings and low lighting – a 90s take on sophistication. But it was dark and wintry and I felt homesick for one of only a handful of times in my life – so don’t trust me on this one.
The interior of boat-restaurant Odessa
On the eve of my 35th birthday, I returned to Odessa and found a very different place from my memories. First of all, the head chef is now a guy I know who used to work at Brasserie Bark. It was total coincidence, as I’d had no idea he’d moved jobs, but I was happy to see him at such a tranquil, friendly restaurant. It’s an old boat, but the interior breathes a cool, contemporary feel that’s neither cold nor stiff, and it looks out over the calm of the IJ river. I liked the atmosphere immediately.
Odessa’s white pizza came topped with mascarpone, courgette, artichoke and lemon
After a pre-birthday celebratory G&T, we kicked off with a loosely Italian set of starters to share: a simple plate of prosciutto followed by a white pizza topped with mascarpone, courgette, artichoke and preserved lemon. Possibly not one for the purists, but if you love lemon as much as I do, you can’t go wrong here.
Next, I ordered a simple steak with chimichurri, potatoes and salad. Odessa now calls itself a “pizza and grill” restaurant, so this makes more sense than it sounds like it would as a follow-up to the Italian starters. The steak was tender, flavoursome and perfectly cooked, and the chimichurri had a good hit of garlic. The salad was an interesting mix of tomatoes, watermelon and feta – I liked the flavour combination a lot, but the mixture was getting a little watery from sitting out for a while. I skipped dessert in favour of another glass of wine, but my chocoholic friend Nicola had only good things to say about her chocolate sundae.
Steak with chimichurri was next on the menu
The bill came to just over €50 each, which I was happy to pay for the quality of the food we ate and the service we enjoyed. But more than the food, I was happy to be back in this same spot – nearly a decade later – and this time with two of my best friends in the world, and another friend in the kitchen. All people I’ve met during my time in this gorgeous city I’m proud to call home. I know it’s a cliché, but times really have changed…
