Journal

Walvis Book

Last year I had the good fortune of working on a project close to my heart. I was asked to do the styling for a book commemorating the birthday of restaurant Hoop Op D’ Swarte Walvis. The Zaanse Schans, dare I say- a world famous a tourist spot, is home to this lovely beautiful, 50 year old restaurant.

Hoop Op D’ Swarte Walvis translated, means -“we hope to catch a black whale”. There are various tales on the exact origins and meaning of the name but in essence, it has to do with whaling, and the good fortune it brought.

Why close to my heart? The restaurant is situated is in the area where I live; and before me it was my moms stomping ground- her primary school was in the area. She spent many an hour playing and wandering about the area with her school friends. We shot the all the food photographs in the restaurant itself and used a lot of the element there in the pictures- obviously the food- which chef Rick van Diepen prepared with his team, also a lot of the restaurants’ tableware, linen ware and decorations were used in the styling.

My colleagues on the project were all locals’ too- writer Bas Husselage , photographerJeroen Niezen (my brother) and graphic designer Stephan Kuiper A fabulous team to work with, as you can see in the resulting layouts. There are still a few copies of the book up for grabs- they are available at local bookshops, but also at the restaurant itself- a good reason to pop over for a meal or drink on their sunny terrace on the Zaan river this summer. Hoop Op D’ Swarte Walvis