The first time Linda Ellis ordered the Dutch pancakes pannenkoeken, she asked for the bacon on the side. The waiter in the tiny Amsterdam cafe Le Soleil looked puzzled. He asked her to wait a moment, then went to the kitchen to consult the elderly proprietress.
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A native Chicagoan, Ellis fell in love with Holland on that first trip in 2001–the bikes, the easy pace, the friendly people, grumpy chefs notwithstanding. And she got hooked on the large, thin, crispy-edged pancakes eaten at all times of the day. Popular varieties of pannenkoeken come topped with apples and cinnamon, bananas, chocolate, and whipped cream, or, as in the case of Ellis’s faux pas, bacon and cheese. But they can be served with any number of ingredients: Stroganoff, curry, salami, pineapple. “Sometimes it gets a little ridiculous,” she says. “You can put anything on–sardines if you want.”
“Let me get my nerve up,” she thought. “Let me just ask. All she can do is say no.” She offered to pay Nel (she never did learn to pronounce her last name) for training and to buy her recipes at $500 apiece. Nel accepted, and over several subsequent trips–“I stopped counting at six,” she says–Ellis trained in her kitchen, learning the elements of the pannenkoeken trade. Her sister videotaped her so she could study and refine her technique back home.
In July, when Ellis’s lime green awning went up along with signs announcing the impending opening, the neighborhood and food bloggers took note of the novelty. The weekend after the opening on September 4, they were crushed, with some diners waiting up to an hour to squeeze in. Though they’re still packed on the weekends, Salgado’s hired more waitstaff, including her 16-year-old sister, and things have started going more smoothly–enough for Ellis to consider offering a few more pannenkoeken within the month. She’s thinking of sliced pear, chocolate, and nuts and a version topped with ice cream that her old teacher serves.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Gina Salgado and Linda Ellis with chocolate-banana and apple-cinnamon pannekoeken photo by Paul L. Meredith.
