By Gabrielle Kennedy / 15-07-2010

It was a lamb-burger in New Zealand that got the ball rolling.  Realizing that nothing like it existed in Amsterdam, Justus de Nijs along with two Dutch mates decided to act  - and Burgermeester was born.  

Now in three locations, the boutique chain boasts a design that connects food to its origins.  Life-sized photographs of cows hover over the open-kitchen with smaller images of healthy and happy bovines lining the walls.  It takes a bit of getting used to at first – chomping into a beef burger under the gaze of a cow whose big, bright and hopeful eyes sadly belie their fate.

“We get a few complaints a month,” says De Nijs, “but mostly I think people like it.”

The design of the restaurants simply supports the owners' broader concept. “We didn’t just call up Concrete,” De Nijs says.  “We wanted restaurants that felt open, honest, ecological, and sustainable and the design had to support that without looking hippie.”  The trio of owners also wanted to be involved – creatively and physically.

An open kitchen, classic diner-style booths upholstered in red, white walls and an abundance of untreated wood.  But when the construction was complete the team (who were mostly building everything themselves) decided it looked too bare.

“That’s when we started talking about the cows,” De Nijs says.  "We expected people to get mad about it, but if you knew us and the way we think, then you'd see how it was just a logical thing to do.  A picture says one thousand words and depicting cows was most honest way to communicate our ideas.”

When famed food critic Johannes van Dam walked into the inaugural Burgermeester on the Albert Cuypstraat in Amsterdam’s 'de Pijp'  neighbourhood his first comment was “Blondes d'aquitaine!”

“He knew the breed of cow we were using because of the photographs,” De Nijs says.  “I think we would be hypocrites to say we like to eat burgers but don’t want to see cows.   We are Dutch so we like to be direct, but we also all grew up with images of cows grazing.  It’s just so normal for us ... and for Burgermeester it worked best as an in-your-face symbol of openness.”

Cow imagery is also used in the original graphics designed for the menus.  “Our designer Menno Endt comes up with something new every month,” De Nijs says.  “Again I think the flat fields dotted with cows is just something Dutch people feel very comfortable with.”

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