Restaurant d' Vijff Vlieghen

An Amsterdam institution, started in 1939 by Nickolaas Kroese, who converted five houses into an atmospheric food establishment that has entertained the likes of Orson Welles, Walt Disney, Esther Williams, Danny Kaye, Marcel Marceau, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Goldie Hawn and Mikhail Gorbachev. Since 1980 the restaurant has been under the domain of various hotels, from the Krasnapolsky to current owners the NH chain, and has subsumed seven more adjacent houses in its expansion. Spread across three floors, the nine rooms are all themed, from the cartographic to the bridal and including, most popularly, a Rembrandt room with four original etchings. Exposed brickwork, oak beams, tiled floors and warm lighting round out the museum-like atmosphere. And the food is stylish and modern-thinking. The name translates as 'The Five Flies Restaurant', with 'fly' referring to the nickname of the stick-figure-thin man who first lived here in 1627 and 'five' denoting the original number of houses taken up by the restaurant. Closes when the last guest leaves.