Saturday would be their very last day in cafeteria Koning, because Dineke Koning and Auke Ritsema sold the business on the Bedumerweg in Groningen on 1 August. But they don’t just leave their cafeteria behind.
Jan Grasdijk (60) steps in on slippers, holding a 20 euro bill. ,,One big raspatat war and two croquettes from our own kitchen”, he says. “Is it your last day? That takes getting used to.”
Dineke Koning (60) grins from behind the counter. ,,After Monday we will continue with the training of the new owners, a 36-year-old Chinese couple. We’ll do that all August and probably September too.”
Grasdijk nods. Everything is in Chinese hands. Smart people. I’ve been coming here for years, I still know Dineke’s father and mother. I find the way they process the orders here very special. No one can go faster, because they are perfectly attuned to each other. No one is going to do this to them.”
‘I don’t want it like this anymore’
It is late afternoon on Saturday and numerous regular customers enter cafeteria Koning on Bedumerweg in Groningen to order their trusted snacks while they still can. King sandwiches, a bowl of farmer’s fries, egg balls, hot thunder, you name it.
And they bring presents. Bunches of flowers, towels with an egg ball embroidered on them, handwritten cards with good wishes for Dineke Koning (60) and Auke Ritsema (63) who face a life without the daily trip to their cafeteria.
But is that really so? Will they ever break free from their small, famous snack bar where time seems to have stood still?
Dineke shakes her head resolutely. ,,But it has to be, Auke is up after being seriously ill. I don’t want it like this any longer. We spent three years working on staff, but everything that comes will go again because they think they have to work very hard. I think so too, but I’ve been doing it with love for 48 years.”
Last year in February they put their business up for sale, it was recently announced that everything has been sold with the promise that everything will remain as it is, including the taste of the past and the decoration.
“You can buy fries everywhere, but it’s not King”
But simply handing over their business to people who don’t know the trade, that’s not for Dineke and Auke. They worked them in last month and they will stick to it for another two months. Or even more. “We live across the street. I will continue to help them until things go well”, says Dineke.
,,I already miss you”, says Menno Helder (56) when he enters.
,,Menno!”, says Dineke.
Menno orders dinner and sits down at the bar. “As a child I used to scratch my name in the magazine. I have lived in Zuidhorn for a long time and I come here every Saturday. For me this is home. You can buy fries everywhere, but it’s not King. This business is unique, the people pure. This is not just fries, but here you will find what you are looking for as a person. Contact and involvement.”
Roely Loos (65) continues his praise. ,,I’ve been coming here since I was eight, I’m a child at home here.”
Dineke interrupts her. “Roely knows a lot about me, don’t you laiverd.”
‘They should use solid fat’
Roely continues: ,,I come here two or three times a week, I do. For the eierbal eh and for the egg ball croquette, delicious. I often order five and then eat them cold later. They will keep for two or three days. And I often take four scoops of salad in a bowl with me, for the next day on bread. Always the same recipe.”
She says: ,,I did ask whether the new owners use the same grease. No oil.”
Dineke hears everything in between her busy work. “I already told them. They must use solid fat.”
Roely: ,,We have shared joys and sorrows here. It is very social here, no imagination, very ordinary. From before.”
Dineke: ,,Why would you walk next to your shoes? We’re all equal.”
‘We are friendly. And I remember everything’
She takes a moment to tell about the business that her grandparents founded just after the Second World War, after which her parents took over. As a 12-year-old girl, she already helped a lot. ,,It’s about the products, of course, but now that we’ve sold everything, it turns out that it’s also about us.” What is that? She doesn’t know exactly. “I think we are friendly. And I remember everything.”
She met Auke in the snack bar, he was friends with her older brother. They have now been together for 41 years and even though they work under one roof all day, they never stop talking. What will they do if they ever really stop their cafeteria? Dineke doesn’t know. “I have never had free time. I will soon be a grandmother for the third time and Auke would prefer to drive a van, deliver car parts or something.”
For now, she only has one concern. “I hope people give the new owners a chance.”
2023-07-30 11:55:00
#Dineke #Auke #goodbye #famous #snack #bar #Groningen #Cafeteria #King #recipe #imagination
