Scandinavian Embassy

Created by Nicolas Castagno, Sweden's 2013 Brewers Cup Champion, who came up through Stockholm's Drop Coffee scene before moving to Amsterdam, Scandinavian Embassy treats coffee as a culinary ingredient integrated into set menus rather than a standalone drink on its own. Co founder Rikard Andersson, a trained chef and former lawyer, built the food side around that same pairing philosophy, and all of the shop's coffee grounds are composted rather than thrown out.

The counter sources exclusively from a short list of Nordic roasters: Tim Wendelboe, Coffee Collective, Drop Coffee, and Koppi, rather than roasting anything itself. A small, intimate storefront on De Pijp's Sarphatipark, closer in spirit to a food forward tasting counter than a walk up cafe, with a newer bakery outpost since opened near the RAI convention center in Amsterdam-Zuid.