A brasserie where you can go early in the morning for a cup of coffee and something tasty, when you have just dropped your children off at school. But also a brasserie where you can enjoy a drink or how about just a good plate of food during dinner. That is Brasserie Harkema in the city-Groningen district of Helpman. According to residents, this was exactly what the neighborhood needed when it opened years ago.
Meeting place
Brasserie Harkema is run by Lisanne Harkema and Jeroen Timmermans. The two met each other at The Stadtlander. Of which aunt Teddy Harkema was the owner for a long time. In Helpman they soon noticed that there was a demand for some kind of meeting place for the neighborhood. For a very broad audience.
"I think about eighty percent of the guests come from our own neighborhood," says Lisanne. 'Parents who have taken their children to school, elderly people who use the brasserie for their daily 'get together' with friends, but also people who cycle to the city from Haren regularly make a pit stop at Harkema. We also fulfill a kind of social function here,” she adds. 'We even have such regular guests that if they don't come by for a day, they call to let us know.'
Early birds
The first guests are often at the door before nine. 'In principle we don't open until 9 o'clock, but that's absolutely fine.' A small breakfast to go with coffee? There is a choice of home-baked fresh cake or monchou cake. You can also satisfy your first craving with fresh croissants or yoghurt with granola. 'And if you have other breakfast wishes, there is always something to discuss,' says Lisanne.
Cafe and steak
The intention was to set up a kind of cafe that would fill all the gaps in Helpman. 'People really needed a nice café here, where they could sit at the bar and have a nice drink. That all worked out.' What they had not anticipated was that the dinner would also do very well, but it has now become an indispensable event.
'We are very small so we always have three dishes: fish, meat and vegetarian. The steak is something that really keeps guests coming back for.”
Terrace
Another big plus that Lisanne mentions is the terrace. 'That is something that Jeroen and I always wanted. That terrace is really fantastic. You can use the entire corner and when the weather is nice it is so buzzing here, really something to be proud of.'
Brasserie Harkema is open from Tuesday to Saturday. For more information, go to www.brasserieharkema.nl.
