White Label Zon

Francesco Grassotti, a physicist by training, and Elmer Oomkens, a forensic psychologist, met working together at Espressofabriek, one of Amsterdam's pioneering roasteries, and left in December 2013 to build something they had more control over. White Label has since grown from a single cafe on Jan Evertsenstraat into a proper roasting operation, moving through De School before landing at its own dedicated roastery. In 2019 the team collapsed their separate filter and espresso profiles into a single omni roast and won the inaugural Roast Masters competition at that year's Amsterdam Coffee Festival.

This Zonneplein outpost opened in May 2020 on a quiet square in Tuindorp Oostzaan, a corner of Amsterdam Noord built around 1920s and 1930s garden village architecture, sharing its building with the evening restaurant Spaanders while running as its own coffee only daytime operation. Filter methods get as much attention as espresso here, V60 and batch brew alongside AeroPress, with single origin lots sold both by the cup and in bags to take home. A play corner with books and toys makes it an easy stop with kids in tow.