Sweet Ima - Gorinchem

Sweet Ima Gorinchem

Sweet Ima Gorinchem

Sweet Ima Gorinchem

Sweet Ima Gorinchem

I like open doors. Why look for difficult entries if the most relevant one is right in front of you. That’s why I want to pick another local favourite for this week’s recommendation. Sad as it is, it might take a while before you’ll actually get the chance to visit, but who doesn’t like a good story anyway, to start off light on this Monday morning?

The house I moved into when I was about 10 years old is surrounded by a very fine park and a typically Dutch ‘dyke’. Those days I spend at my parental home, I like to make a little walk upward the dyke towards the city centre. Indeed you pass some cows and goats grazing on flatter-than-flat green fields and if you look closely you may spot the two Dutch mills where you can buy local products. When you reach the end, you see a little harbour. Cross the canal, go left and there you find Gorinchem’s (G-town’s) most adorable street called Langendijk (‘the long Dyck’).

One of the early birds you can find here daily, is an Israeli woman called Duffy. After falling for her current Dutch husband when he was crossing through town on his bike, together they started the G-town beloved bakery Sweet Ima (Ima is Hebrew for mother). The story goes, that Duffy practised the art of patisserie in the small streets of Paris after successfully finishing her education at the famous school ‘Le Cordon Bleu’ in the French Capital. For sure, the refined pastries and glossy slices of cake reveal her background story as they stare at you like Sirens from the big glass windows. I can also recommend the freshly baked muesli, any home-made bread and not to forget: the hazelnut cookies. They taste like a British shortbread kissing a French merengue and the greatest part is - you get a cookie or tasting piece of pastry with every stay-in hot beverage you order. Told you the snack on the side is important in Holland. Take a seat at the high bar seats facing the pedestrian street or hide in the back close to the kitchen where it all happens. The interior is rough and sweet at the same time with russet brick walls, black cords with lightbulbs and tones of light woods.

On the wall are some wise words we should all say out loud every once in a while: a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand. The sad fact is, that I caught a little cold which lead to the horrendous phenomenon of no smell and zero taste. But, as soon as I get my five senses back, I’ll honour the saying by buying a balanced two cookies in each hand.

Joe for now,