Rabarber

Rabarber is a hospitality venue located at Zadelstraat 20 in the heart of Utrecht. In public mentions, the establishment is associated with breakfast, lunch, cake, coffee, drinks, and evening service. The name appears in local hospitality articles, city platforms, and lists of vegetarian dining addresses. For readers following the Utrecht coffee scene, the most relevant aspect is how Rabarber combines coffee with a broader vegetarian and partially vegan concept.

Rabarber was founded by Pauline Polak and Else Nugteren. According to local media, the venue opened in 2015, with an opening around August of that year. Polak and Nugteren met while studying journalism. Both also had prior experience in the hospitality industry. This background is reflected in how the venue is described to the public: as a place offering food, drinks, coffee, cake, and space for cultural activities.

The concept is not solely focused on coffee. Official information lists breakfast, lunch, drinks, cake, and coffee available seven days a week. Additionally, from Wednesday through Saturday, there is an evening offering featuring dinner, snacks, cocktails, and drinks. This allows Rabarber to function as both a daytime venue and an evening location. The kitchen is fully vegetarian and largely vegan, with seasonal vegetables playing a prominent role.

The owners have previously described the concept as a place where they themselves would want to visit. This phrasing provides context for the choices regarding products and dishes. For a journalistic profile, it is particularly important that Rabarber publicly positions itself through vegetarian food, plant-based options, local partnerships, and an informal cultural role in the city.

According to public information, the coffee at Rabarber comes from Nordkapp Coffee. Nordkapp is a Utrecht-based coffee roastery, founded by Jasper Overdevest in 2015. This means Rabarber uses a supplier from the same city. This aligns with the broader mention that the venue works with local suppliers wherever possible.

A publicly available menu from 2023 lists various coffee drinks. These include espresso, double espresso, americano, cortado, cappuccino, flat white, Dutch coffee, latte macchiato, and iced coffee. Chai latte and dirty chai are also mentioned. The same menu lists decaf as an option. For milk, there is a choice between ROA oat milk and organic cow’s milk.

Less information is available regarding specific brewing methods. The public lunch menu for spring 2026 does not document methods such as pour-over, batch brew, AeroPress, V60, or Moccamaster. Therefore, based on the available material, it cannot be stated that Rabarber offers these methods. The documented coffee information focuses primarily on espresso preparations, milk-based drinks, and the origin of the coffee beans.

The vegetarian and largely vegan kitchen forms a significant part of the profile. Regarding cake, it is noted that organic ingredients are used wherever possible. Specifically, butter, flour, sugar, and eggs are indicated to be fully organic. The procurement process is also partially described. Groceries are sourced from the organic wholesaler BD-Totaal. A large portion of the vegetables and fruit comes from BD-Totaal or from the local greengrocer De Goey-Koot. Nuts are sourced from the Utrecht-based partner De Notenfabriek.

In addition to Nordkapp for coffee, Broei Bakkerij for bread and Utrecht specialty beers are also mentioned. This information points to a network of suppliers in and around Utrecht. Nordkapp itself states that it roasts in Utrecht at least twice a week. The roastery also mentions emission-free delivery where possible and provides information about producers and the value chain for a large part of its assortment.

Rabarber also serves as a venue for small-scale cultural events. In October 2015, the establishment was one of the Utrecht locations featured during Popronde. The act Postcards from Mars performed there at the time. An article from the same period also mentioned games, pub quizzes, art exhibitions, and live performances by singer-songwriters as part of the venue’s offerings.

Art remained a visible part of the profile in later years as well. There is a rotating exhibition on the wall. Artists approach the venue for this purpose, or are approached by Rabarber. Additionally, the official contact information lists catering services. This applies to private vegetarian and vegan dinners on Zadelstraat, as well as lunches, dinners, cakes, festivals, and external events. Workshops and coffee tastings at Rabarber are not publicly documented in the available materials.

Rabarber has been described by various local and national platforms. In 2025, a profile was published about the owners, the tenth anniversary, the concept, the exhibitions, and the vegetarian kitchen. As early as 2015, the venue was mentioned in reporting on Popronde Utrecht. Furthermore, Rabarber appears in Utrecht location directories and in publications about coffee and hospitality businesses in the city.

RestauPlant lists Rabarber with vegan and vegetarian menu options. The venue also appears in directories of vegetarian restaurants in Utrecht and the Netherlands. Publicly documented prices or awards are not mentioned in the provided materials. The available picture is thus that of a Utrecht hospitality venue where coffee, a vegetarian kitchen, local suppliers, and cultural activities intersect.