The Dutch went for a walk during the Christmas weekend when everything was locked. Collection points and food trucks offered warmth and togetherness. “In this bizarre time, people are looking for peace.”
One walks with three dogs who all want to go in different directions, the other with a crying toddler, a third with a runny nose, but everyone in the Amelisweerd estate in Bunnik is packed tightly. In the freezing cold, the food truck that restaurant De Veldkeuken has set up is eagerly used, with Kirsten Boers behind the counter – she has a chance to tell more about six chocolate milks.
Looking for nature was the only possible outing during this lockdown and many Dutch people chose to go for a walk. Yet Christmas often didn’t feel so different to them than it did before corona. “We often walk,” says Koen van Driel, who is frolicking and blue-faced with his nephew Mats (6) in line at the food truck of De Veldkeuken. “It’s a fairly normal Christmas for us, with family.”
togetherness
Even for the entrepreneurs it is starting to become normal. In Oranjewoud, Thom van der Heide says that visitors asked Hotel Tjaarda themselves whether they would get their food truck out of the stable again when the lockdown was announced. ,,Last year it was also a great success, it offers a bit of togetherness, such a place to get together. The weather this weekend is lovely, it is cold, but people can dress for that. We like to walk in our wooded area now, people are also looking for peace in these bizarre times.”
It also helps to keep busy, says Patricia Iriks of Brasserie T-Huis in Roosendaal, where there is a pick-up point for a drink and a snack – ice cream is sold here in summer. ,,You keep the relationship with customers, but the team also stays together. We were supposed to close this Christmas, but we asked the girls if they wanted to work after the lockdown came. They wanted to, because there is nothing else to do.” Of course it is also sad that the case cannot really be open. “But because it has been quieter due to corona, we also got to know each other better at the brasserie. There was now time to play a game in between. That way it also has advantages.”
Whipped cream
In Bunnik, you can now feel how much customers appreciate that De Veldkeuken, which normally resides in the coach house of Amelisweerd, is still open, says Boers, who has already given the six chocolates. “I can tell they are happy with it. Everyone is friendly, but of course it is also Christmas.” The food truck in which she is located was actually intended as an outdoor bar by the terrace, but can be converted so that it can also be used in winter. “We are actually back at the beginning. De Veldkeuken started with a bicycle trailer, from which walkers were supplied with food.” Just like now. And that makes for happy faces. Even though nephew Mats is disappointed. He had ordered no whipped cream on his chocolate and changed his mind when Kirsten had just served the drink.
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