THE DINNER PARTY LIVE: JOHN WEST

Café in the City sits in the centre of Rotterdam and is run as a restaurant and event space rather than a conventional music club. Event listings describe it as an "un Dutch" restaurant concept, and that mix of dining room and stage shapes the kind of nights it puts on. It is also rented out for business events and private occasions, and it has held New Year's Eve parties, so the room is used for more than concerts alone. The music side of the programme leans toward intimate, seated formats. One documented example is a dinner concert with singer Emma Heesters, where tables were dressed with decorations and the performance was built around the meal. The venue has also advertised nights with artists on its own stage, such as the invitation to Trobi, which promoted a show under the line about turning up the volume. Together these suggest a place that can switch between a relaxed dinner setting and a louder, more standard live show depending on the booking. For visitors, the appeal is the combination of food, drink and live performance in a single central location, without the scale of a large concert hall. The sources say little about the building's history, its capacity or its exact room layout, so the clearest picture comes from how it presents itself: a city centre restaurant with a stage, open to ticketed shows, themed dinner concerts and hired events. It suits anyone who would rather catch an act over a table than stand in a packed club.