Achter de Koekoek

Achter de Koekoek is a café and bar located at Willem van Noortstraat 1 in Utrecht. The venue sits on the border between the Tuinwijk and Vogelenbuurt neighborhoods. The business opened in February 2024. Public information lists Domien Verschuuren, Bas Louissen, and Chris Bergström as the founders and operators. Their background is not in the coffee sector, but in radio and podcasting. They met on a BNN radio program and later co-created “Man man man, de podcast.”

The origin of Achter de Koekoek is tied to the sale of Tapperij Thijs. In local reporting, Chris Bergström recounts that Bas Louissen spotted the building and suggested buying it during their podcast. According to the same account, the three partners signed the deal within two weeks. This gave an existing hospitality venue a new purpose.

The concept is publicly described as a light-brown café. This term refers to a broad café profile, not a business built solely around coffee. The offering includes coffee, beer, wine, gin-tonics, and bar snacks. A game cabinet is also mentioned. Achter de Koekoek thus fits a form of neighborhood-focused hospitality, where drinks, socializing, and a low-threshold stay come together.

Coffee is part of the offering. Available information names Giraffe Coffee Roasters from Rotterdam as the bean supplier. This roaster publicly positions itself as a specialty coffee roastery. Thus, the coffee component is linked to a Dutch roaster outside Utrecht. No further public information is available in the provided material regarding the specific coffees, blends, or changing origins.

The documented beverages are coffee in a general sense, cappuccino, and espresso. This information is derived, among other things, from descriptions of custom-made tableware for the venue. These descriptions mention coffee cups, cappuccino cups, and espresso cups. A third-party list also lists coffee as a frequently mentioned item. Specific brewing methods, such as filter coffee, pour-over, batch brew, or cold brew, are not publicly documented in the available research.

For the tableware, Achter de Koekoek collaborated with Studio K Creative. This partner created handmade ceramics for the venue, including cups, vases, and plates. The description of this work refers to a desire for a sustainable aesthetic. This pertains to the presentation and material use of the tableware. The available research does not provide a basis for broader claims about measurable sustainability practices.

In addition to coffee, the venue's own public information mentions several beer-related names. These include vandeStreek, De Kromme Haring, and Walhalla. The snack board is also described as featuring local products. The specific suppliers of these food items are not named. As a result, insight into procurement and origin is limited to the parties that are publicly documented.

The venue also plays a role in local activities. Public information mentions a recurring pub quiz, notably on Mondays at 8:00 PM. Additionally, a jam session is mentioned on the last Monday of the month. These activities place the café within a broader neighborhood program, alongside regular hospitality activities.

Achter de Koekoek also appears in seasonal and local events. For Koningsnacht and Koningsdag 2026 in Tuinwijk, the venue is listed as an organizer of entertainment. Badhuis and Sumventure are mentioned for food and drink. Furthermore, involvement in local Christmas activities is documented, including glühwein during a neighborhood event. A public LinkedIn post by Bas Louissen also describes a crowdfunding campaign for marquetry on the exterior facade. According to that post, the idea for it came from a guest.

The opening received attention in local news in February 2024. Bas, Chris, and Domien were mentioned as those involved. Later, an interview-style article also appeared about the origin story, the neighborhood bond, and the opening phase. In 2025, Achter de Koekoek was also mentioned in an article about Dutch public figures with hospitality businesses.

Third-party platforms also register the venue. Restaurant Guru lists Google-derived location data and shows a score of 4.9 out of 5 based on 159 votes, as presented in the researched material. Untappd lists Achter de Koekoek as a verified bar location at Willem van Noortstraat 1. It also features a menu entry for “Achter De Koekoek Blond” from vandeStreek beer. No publicly documented price or award recognition was found in the provided research.

For coffee enthusiasts, Achter de Koekoek is primarily relevant as an example of a café where specialty coffee is part of a broader hospitality offering. The available data show a connection to a Rotterdam coffee roastery and a basic offering of espresso and cappuccino. At the same time, public information on brewing methods, coffee profiles, and origin per bean is lacking. As a result, based on this material, the venue is better described as a neighborhood café with a coffee component than as a distinctly specialized coffee bar.