Midas Dekkers wrote an impressive and impressive book about the importance and history of the brown café in the Netherlands under the title Full Permit. It is striking how much attention he paid to these traditional catering companies in Stad en Ommeland. Originally a biologist and pleasant storyteller, Dekkers did not take it overnight. The bibliography at the back of the book lists more than 200 publications that have been published about the Dutch brown café in recent decades. In addition to the descriptions of the interiors, Dekkers pays a remarkable amount of attention to the unwritten laws that apply in these special bars.
It should come as no surprise that the bulky memorial book about cafe Wolthoorn & Co† (1988) was a special guideline for him to delve into the brown café. But also the booklets The temptation of Groningen by Remco in 't Hof (1996), The winged Café about The Bald Jonker (1997) and the Groningen pub book by publisher Joris van Berkel (2013) served him well when compiling his book Full Permit. The writing of the Company for the Preservation of Bruine Cafés and Tapperries should not be left unmentioned.
This company, founded in 1973, a group of gentlemen who liked to visit the brown café, was then concerned about the future of these special establishments. Not entirely wrong, because in the following years thousands of small and cozy cafes and pubs in villages and neighborhoods disappeared in the Netherlands. Dekkers attributes this not only to the changed consumer behaviour, but also to the government, which prevented many operators from enabling healthy exploitation with rigid regulations about toilets and dimensions and prohibitions.
Brown Cafe
The biologist Dekkers cannot resist describing in a popular scientific way what the effect of alcohol is on the human brain and what physical consequences excessive drinking can cause. But all this with a wink and certainly not with the intention of discouraging a visit to a brown cafe. His latest book also describes many anecdotes about the cafes and its regular guests and the special events that took place. At the presentation of the book in the television program De Wereld Draait Door, an experience of the Groningen former politician Roel Vos in the Amsterdam café Welling was discussed.
It should come as no surprise that the biologist Midas Dekkers ventured into a pleasant description of the brown café in the Netherlands. His biological father was a bartender in Haarlem and when his mother later found love in Amsterdam, this new partner also turned out to be running a café. Kleine Dekkers grew up behind the tap, as it were, and was raised largely by the regulars of his stepfather's café De Munttoren. In addition to the praise of the brown café, the writer also notes a critical remark. This applies to the Groningen catering magnate Sjoerd Kooistra, who died in 2010, who holds Dekkers responsible for the demolition of many original cafes in the Netherlands. He does note that large Dutch breweries are partly to blame for this clear-cutting by keeping Kooistra in the saddle for a long time.
Anecdote
The book Full Permit is a must for innkeepers, bar staff and regulars. Dekkers talks about life in the cafes in a very pleasant way and considers it of great importance that in the current digital age people meet each other in a cozy atmosphere and with a drink. An anecdote that did not make the book should not go unmentioned.
It must have been at the end of the eighties of the last century that Dekkers sought a seat at the round table in café Wolthoorn & Co. His eye immediately fell on the attractive barmaid Marijke. He was delighted when she enthusiastically asked if he was indeed Midas Dekkers. Hoping for a more than fleeting contact, the answer was loud and clear, Yes! Whereupon Marijke reported supercooled that there was still an open account from him.
Full License, Midas Dekkers, Publisher Bas Lubberhuizen, 19,99 euro.
