Eating, drinking and storytelling in La Caponnière

The Gorcum fortress is alive. La Caponnière is one of the city's finest examples of modern use of the old fortifications. The former gun emplacement has become an atmospheric wine and tasting room full of history. Ronald Verduijn serves delicious wines, delicacies and Gorcum history in La Caponnière.

Hi Ronald, where are we here?

This caponnière - it is the French word for casemate - is one of the last defence works constructed in the Gorcum fortress. This happened around 1893 during the construction of the Merwede Canal. From here, attackers coming from the water could be fired upon. You can see the brackets near the embrasures. That's where the machine guns hung. As far as I know, no shot was ever fired. World War II was the first war since it was built in which we had to defend ourselves. Then the enemy stopped coming across the canal.

Fortunately, the caponnière has a different function these days.

After the Kanjerproject, the restoration of the fortress, Wijnhandel Van Ouwerkerk turned it into a tasting room. Steffie van Ouwerkerk then opened La Caponnière to a wider public. I myself was already in talks with her brother Jan Peter van Ouwerkerk about a tasting room at the wine shop in Arkel. Then Steffie announced that she was going to emigrate. This place also attracted me a lot. I got the keys in August 2017 and took over La Caponnière .

What is your background?

I ran a shop in Italian delicacies in Arkel, Trentanove, for many years. I no longer have the shop, but Trentanove still exists. I import wine, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and other Italian products. Together with a partner, I also have a tasting room in Haarlem. Also in an old fortress: Casa Fortezza. I also serve Trentanove's products - meat and cheese and other delicacies - at La Caponnière. With the ports and wines from Van Ouwerkerk and the Italian wines I import myself.

What are you going to do in La Caponnière?

I continue Steffie's concept. La Caponnière is open every Saturday and Sunday from 13.00 to 19.00 for visitors. For a nice drink and a bite to eat. I would like to extend the opening hours. With Thursday evenings or a weekend aperitif on Friday afternoons, for example.

With drinks, you can order small tastings on opening days. For a larger tasting, you can make separate reservations on other days. Outside regular opening hours, you can also come here for receptions, birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions. La Caponnière is an ideal location for parties of 30 to 35 people.

What attracted you to this place?

The setting. I know a lot about Italian cuisine. It is so good because people take their time for their food and use good produce and seasonal products. I want to do the same here. Tomatoes will never be as tasty in the Netherlands as they are in Italy, but you have fantastic tubers and cabbages here and wonderful cheeses from the farmers in the region. And on the ramparts you can pick fresh herbs. With that, I want to hold sit-down dinners: dishes from simple peasant cuisine served at long tables. I've done that more in the past. People were very enthusiastic about that. It would also be nice to occasionally put a simple terrace outside and echt involve the ramparts in La Caponnière . Roasting sweet chestnuts, for example. That would be wonderful in this location, wouldn't it?

Any other plans?

I want to hold olive oil and balsamic workshops and learn to taste the differences between the products you find here in the shops and the real, beautiful Italian products. We also serve the Gorcum beers of Dukes and the Three Pikes. That was part of the old soldier's life. I want to give that history a nice place with pictures of the old days. It's part of the storytelling, to show people what it was once like here.

You can find news and activities about La Caponnière on petitcafelacaponniere.nl and on Facebook.