About the lunch pop-up
Did you know that this is the most delicious time in Rotterdam’s history to be alive? From dumplings to spicy pastechi, the famous Dynamite sandwich, and Fernandes ice cream, Rotterdam has it all.
The city has never tasted so indulgent and diverse. At the Mooncake Lunch Pop-up at Plein, we celebrate just that. Every eight weeks, a different food culture from the city takes centre stage. Sometimes it’s a cuisine you simply can’t overlook in Rotterdam, like Chinese or Caribbean, and other times it’s rare flavours, such as Kazakh. Each chef brings a story, memories, and pride to your plate.
Irving's Dominican comfort food
This summer, Irving Eleonora brings Dominican comfort food to the Mooncake Lunch Pop-up.
His earliest food memories are of Sunday visits to his Dominican grandmother Marina on Curaçao. Whenever her daughter and grandchildren came over, she would fill the table with food and the smell of home cooking would spread through the house. Her menu often included arroz moro (rice with kidney beans), locrio (a Dominican-style paella) and, for dessert, arroz con dulce (creamy rice pudding with cinnamon).
For Marina, food was a way of bringing people together and showing her love for her grandchildren. After every meal, the aroma of coffee lingered in the house, a memory that stayed with Irving. It inspired him to start producing his own Dominican coffee using beans from the area around the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo. The coffee is named after his mother, Marina Hosefa, and features a portrait of his grandmother on the packaging.
Irving's restaurant La Bandera
For the past ten years, Irving has run his Dominican restaurant, La Bandera, on Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam. Together with his team, he wants guests to enjoy not only good food but also a holiday atmosphere. The restaurant brings together the things that matter most to him: community, music and food.
Irving. Photos: Renée de Laat
Dominican oregano
Irving learned the fundamentals of cooking at culinary school, where the training focused mainly on European cuisine. But he learned the heart of Dominican cooking in his mother's kitchen. By watching her cook, paying attention to aromas and tasting everything, he developed the flavours that define his food today.
One essential ingredient is Dominican oregano, which he buys from a specialist shop in The Hague. It has a deeper, earthier flavour than the oregano commonly found in supermarkets.
Asked what visitors should definitely try at the pop-up, Irving says:
"The Dominican Bowl. We've brought together the flavours that define Dominican cooking: habichuela guisada (stewed beans), salad, crispy chicken and plátano (fried plantain)."
Dominican cuisine
Dominican cuisine is all about comforting dishes that are best shared with others. Expect rice and beans, fried plantain and slow-cooked stews. Garlic, oregano, coriander, onion and peppers form the basis of many dishes in a sofrito.
While many Caribbean cuisines are known for their heat, Dominican cooking is generally milder, allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves. Influences from Spain, West Africa and the Indigenous Taíno people come together in a cuisine that may look simple but is full of character.
Table setting with freaky taki sandwich
Dominicans in the Netherlands
Around 19,000 people of Dominican heritage live in the Netherlands. The largest community is in Rotterdam, which is also home to the country's highest concentration of Dominican restaurants, caterers and food shops.
Rotterdam's large Caribbean community means Dominican restaurants attract a wide audience. Alongside Dominicans, many people with roots in other Caribbean countries recognise familiar ingredients such as rice, beans and plantain. From there, Dominican cuisine is increasingly finding its way to an even broader audience.
About Mooncake
Mooncake.nl is the platform of food journalist and writer Jonneke de Zeeuw. She celebrates the flavours of the street, the city and the world – and shines a light on food cultures and the stories behind them through videos, TV segments, books, essays and articles. Her work reveals just how rich, surprising and super-diverse the culinary landscape of the Netherlands has become.
Jonneke de Zeeuw. photo: Sophie van Hasselt
Previous editions
Every eight weeks, a Rotterdam-based chef brings a different culinary tradition to Plein. Explore the chefs Mooncake previously invited for the Lunch Pop-up:
- Until 7 June 2026 | Tessa | Vietnamese
- Until 12 April 2026 | Sabina | Slavic, Tatar and Ashkenazi
- Until 15 February 2026 | Yannic | Moluccan
- Until 4 January 2026 | Amel & Anwar | Ethiopian and Eritrean
- Until 23 November 2025 | Aleyna & Zhanna | Kazakh
- Until 4 October 2025 | Zuzuca Tavares | Cape Verdean
- Until 24 August 2025 | Maher Al Sabbagh | Syrian
- Until 13 July 2025 | Tim Kan | Aiyo Chinese
