The Harbour Club

A little less than three years ago, early February 2014, I got the idea for Breakfast at the Beach, which later became Our Monday Brunches. It was a bit of a miserable day. First, I went to have lunch with Rihanna Gaga, then we went for a walk in the dune area to the south of Scheveningen. The day before, I had applied for the position of head of the department that I was working for at the time. Had it worked out, it would have been a big career move, but just after we'd finished lunch I got a call and was told I did not get the position. In retrospect, that was probably for the better - but isn't everything? At the time, I was quite anxious as this meant I would be without a job pretty soon.

Anyway, there is a picture of that lunch, taken by the waiter on my phone. My phone camera was bad, so it's a grainy picture, but it's one of my most cherished portraits of the two of us. We look decidedly decadent. I'm wearing a Tommy Hilfiger cricket sweater, Rihanna Gaga is wearing a woollen knitted sweater. There's a mint tea and a glass of prosecco on the table and I'm looking at the camera with exactly the mix of pensivity and arrogance that you'd expect from somebody who's just applied for the position of department head and is waiting for an answer. Rihanna Gaga is sitting in front of me, upright in her stroller, but she's just turned around to look at the photographer and looks equally arrogant and pensive. Looking at the picture laterr on, I thought: wouldn't it be nice to do this every week? And thus, when the beach clubs returned a month later, Breakfast at the Beach was born. At the time, however, we were eating out at The Harbour Club, a posh place at the Scheveningen harbour where a crowd of old and new riches spend their time lounging in yachting clothes.

Fittingly, we're back here on the day before I have another important interview. Not a job interview - I'm fine where I am, but unfortunately, the department where I work has come in financially bad weather and we need to find a good project for me. Tomorrow, I'll meet with a department that might be willing to have me lead a big project for them.  The place hasn't changed much. Good design in which the old butcher store look (white tiles, bare tubes) has partly been retained and blended in with the much more upscale furniture and decoration in black and brown leather. A striking feature is that the wine collection is part of the decoration, exhibited in large glass cabinets throughout the place.  And one thing that has changed is that the tiles and bare tubes are now covered in graffiti, both colourful and black and white.

Rihanna Gaga and I are welcomed by the hostess. I ask her for a table for 'one and a half person', but she protests that my daughter is a big girl. Rihanna Gaga immediately likes her. For old times sake, I sit down at the same table that we sat at three years ago, next to a window that overlooks the harbour. I brough colouring pencils for Rihanna Gaga, as well as some toys and she is very relaxed. We eat out so often that she's gotten used to the situation and behaves very well for a girl of her age. We chat a little bit while she draws and when our drinks are brought, I notice with amusement that her apple juice is served in a large whiskey glass. The waitress has made the effect even more dramatic by only pouring a little apple juice in the glass, so that my daughter looks like a young alcoholic. The waitress tells me she's beautiful - Rihanna Gaga gazes arrogantly, as if to say 'I know, you don't need to tell him that'. We order the lunch of the day (€25), which consists of a starter with sushi and a main course with two types of fish with mashed pumpkins and a truffel sauce. I propose a toast, but Rihanna Gaga tells me she hasn't finished drawing yet. When she's done, she raises her glass, says 'proost' (Dutch for cheers), and we toast. She returns to her drawing and I read a little.

A little later, Rihanna Gaga is playing with her dolls, two gnomes that her grandmother made for her and a teddy bear that used to belong to me when I was a child. She tells me she's hungry and I answer that she has to wait for just a little bit. Two people dressed very well sit down at the table next to us: an older man and a young woman (the latter remarks, looking at Rihanna Gaga, that the little one must be the most charming girl in the house). Because of the decadent feel of the place, I almost automatically suspect they are illegit lovers, but I am quickly proven wrong when she starts talking about her upcoming wedding. The older man has a lot of wisdom of age to dispense and talks in a very upper class accent, while the younger woman talks about her relationship and children in a slightly less upper class accent with the occasional strong word thrown in that fits a bit jarringly with the posher accent she tries to speak. A little while later, it becomes clear they're colleagues, as they commence gossiping about others at their office.

The first course is brought: two sushi rolls, two pieces of raw salmon and two pieces of raw tuna, together with some wassabi, salad, ginger and soy sauce. We share equally and Rihanna Gaga quickly eats her bit. The hostess stops by to inform if Rihanna Gaga wants some stickers and crayons and tells me I should enjoy the company of my little one, because soon she'll go to school and I won't be able to do this anymore (indeed, this has been worrying me. Less and less schools have lunchbreaks these days, so our Monday Brunches will have to come to an end by the end of the coming summer). She's also impressed by Rihanna Gaga's appetite and willingness to even eat the sushi, seaweed and all.When the waitress comes to collect the plates, she expresses surprise as well, while Rihanna Gaga munches on the last bit of tuna. Rihanna Gaga looks at me with a jaded gaze, as if to say: 'of course I like this -  who doesn't like tuna?'

Then, she tells me she's tired. I look suspiciously at her - I don't think she's really tired, but rather that this is an attempt to get her dummy. We've been trying to cut back on her dummy use, basically only allowing her to have it only when she sleeps. When she sees me looking sternly at her, she laughs - caught! But when I offer her to sit on my lap, she happily accepts. She's slightly bored. When she sits on my lap, she inspects the graffiti on the wall behind us, looks at the boats in the harbour for a while and then cuddles with me. We chat a little until the main course arrives, which we share again. She loves the fish, happily eats the small cube of fried potato and even has a go at the roasted endive and Chinese cabbage (the first she gives up on after a few bits, the second she likes a lot, calling it 'funny lettuce'). After some pushing, she also eats some of the mashed pumpkin, but the asparagus she won't eat. Between us, we also almost completely finish a bottle of water.

When we're done, we visit the toilet for a second time. Everybody in the place - personal and patrons - is extremely friendly, smiling at us, clearly enjoying the presence of such a young child. And, it must be said, Rihanna Gaga is most charming today, even if she's not really dressed for the occasion in plain brown trousers and a green sweater with a crocodile print. I pay and we leave after a friendly goodbye from the hostess.