Delta Mityba
Dinners on 15, 16 and 17 May, 6.30–9pm
Hazenstraat 28
1016 SR, Amsterdam

When Gordon-Matta Clark approached Carol Goodden during her flower party in the spring of 1971 – where both the guests and the food came dressed in flowers – and suggested they start a restaurant she answered “OK” and FOOD was born. FOOD became famous not only because of the extremely good cuisine, introduced through its “Guest Chef Days”, it also became famous because it was the place where all the – now infamous – SOHO artists would meet and hang out.

Considering this, the similarities between FOOD and Delta Mityba aren’t too far apart. Like FOOD, Delta Mityba is a place where when you step in you are likely to run into a kindred spirit. Its founder, Robertas Narkus, fondly refers to the space as an “Artist Daycare Center.” The restaurant is located in a former Soviet canteen as a subset of the independent not-for-profit artspace Autarkia (also run by Narkus). As a space, it is an experiment of social engineering set up with the intention to create a model that would prove to be economically self-supporting, ringing true to its own name.

It’s a curious place where the practical constraints of nourishing bleed into artistic nurturing. Something that is not in the least absent from the many delicious dishes created by the chef Jonas Palenkas, who, among other things, serves Lithuanian interpretations of East Asian dishes – exclusively with seasonal products. The flavours this cheff curiously imagines come extremely close to the real thing and simultaneously are refreshing experimental reinventions of those cited flavours.

But Delta Mityba is more than a restaurant. It’s one of those places you normally only read about long after it has disappeared. It’s a social nook where there is time for new ideas to grow and take shape…made visible in the dishes, the handcrafted plates, the self-made and/or collected furniture, the designed lamps, the graphics and the artworks temporarily “stored” on their walls.

We will try to bring the essence of this fascinating corner of the earth a little bit closer and invite you to come to dinner on May 15, 16 or 17, daily from 6.30 until 9pm.

Reservations aren’t a necessity, but can be made by calling +31 657 92 76 81. For more information, prices and the menu please visit our website.

This marks the third episode in our attempt to occasionally turn into a restaurant and serve you both historical and contemporary delights (and dishes) by artists and collectives that have mediated their practices through the dinner, the restaurant, the produce. The first and second dinners in this series were, respectively, On a Ship by Grace Schwindt, and Riccetario Imaginato by Leone Contini.