Despite running the blog for many years now, I’ve held off writing about one of our favourite restaurants.
I’m aware this sounds slightly perverse but in part its the fact that the food is Italian and I typically think of the blog as recommending places that have a really Dutch feel. On top of that, it’s just slightly out of the tourist centre and has a real local family vibe so I wasn’t quite sure it would be.a place to recommend to visitors who are in the city for just a few nights.
But I’ve had a bit of a rethink. On two occasions now I’ve been asked by visitors to recommend Italian restaurants in Amsterdam. One was looking for accessible family friendly food and the other needed somewhere near Museumplein on New Years Eve. On both occasions I’ve recommended Le 4 Stagioni and both times I’ve had effusive emails afterwards telling me how fantastic it was and a real highlight of their trip.
So, I guess its time to give it the Amsterdam Wonderland treatment and tell you about this ‘secret’ hotspot.
I was first introduced to Le 4 Stagioni by my fabulous sister-in-law who lives round the corner. This is kind of appropriate because one of the things we really love about it is the very local family vibe. Whenever we go (which is quite often) there are always large tables of families and a kind of humming atmosphere that very few places manage to maintain over the years.
But there are other things that make us really love it too. For me, it’s the dreamy corner spot in a local square just behind the Concertgebouw (by the Museumplein). This is a quite well-to-do local area (think Hampstead or Chelsea) packed with beautiful Dutch parents and their even more beautiful Dutch children. With tables outside; kids playing in the square in Summer and young Dutch families pulling up on bikes, it the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that you wish you had in your own neck of the woods.
Even better is the interior which is quite simply, beautiful, Based in a former butcher’s shop they have preserved the incredible antique tiles depicting the four seasons (4 stagioni) and, coupled with the art deco lighting, the restaurant (which is the oldest pizzeria in Amsterdam) is perfection. 
For some reason, I’ve never been able to photograph it successfully and show it off in its full glory – many of the pictures here are from their Instagram. Its hard to explain why, but trust me when I say it truly is better in real life than in the photos.
But its a restaurant, so what of the food? Well that’s the icing on the cake because this place does all the crowd-pleasers really, really well.
I’m talking crispy thin Romano pizzas and huge steaming bowls of pasta. Plates of Vitello Tonnato and Carpaccio, soups, salads, risottos and my favourite the Bella Pizza with buffalo mozzarella, ham and tiny chopped bruschetta-tomato sprinkled liberally all over it.
For dessert, I can’t promise its always the case at busy times, but my insider tip is that usually when children order the kids’ gelato for dessert they get invited into the kitchen to decorate their cones with sprinkles and marshmallows.
The food might be Italian rather than Dutch but Le 4 Stagioni oozes Amsterdam-Zuid vibes and its definitely worth considering if you are looking to experience the real Amsterdam rather than the tired-old places that pop up repeatedly on social media.
In fact, as I write about Le 4 Stagioni on a dark Winter day in London I’m reminded how much I want to return. With its cosy ‘gezelligeid’ in Winter (there’s something absolutely magical about the way the soft light bounces off the tiles) or the long Summer nights on the terrace, this is a local place that non-locals with insider information might just want to know about.
Be sure to book, but don’t tell everyone. This spot is as Dutch as they come.
