MaMa Kelly's dining room is covered in wall to wall pink, the kind of blush pink that is popping up prettily and purposefully on social media these days. You may be thinking, when is this pink obsession going to be over? A quick look at the way Mama Kelly's covered itself in this popular color may have you falling in love with the color all over again, especially with it's 'Pink isn't just a color. It's an attitude' mantra.
MaMa’s is reminiscent of the sweet strains of Louis Armstrong’s “La Vie En Rose,” particularly, “When you press me to your heart/I’m in a world apart/A world where roses bloom.” The literal meaning is “life in pink,” but, better translates to “life in rosy (pink) glasses,” or a state where everything seems colorful and joyous. We’d go so far as to say, even for mere moments, your life blooms inside this restaurant of rosy colors, resplendent in it’s risk-taking interiors and mouth-watering menu, lingering with you long after you leave. Spend this Valentine’s Day worlds away from your everyday life, at the prettiest, most pink place, where you’ll pop on those rose-colored glasses and gather with your best Galentines.
Photography by MaMa Kelly
MaMa Kelly Amsterdam is so much like the city in which it resides; bold and unapologetic in it’s choices. The 230-seat eatery serves only chicken and lobster and is certainly as pink as heralded. It’s located at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam’s outskirts and helmed by Rein Rambaldo, founder of The Hague-based restaurant design firm De Horecafabriek. Rambaldo and his wife, Willemien, joined forces with experienced local restaurateurs, Singha Witteman and Bas Bloemink, and created the first MaMa Kelly in The Hague in 2010. It’s smaller than the Amsterdam outpost, located in an old cigarette factory and “like ink on a pin, underneath the skin,” it’s awash in shade of blue. The reason for the pink? It’s simply Willemien’s favorite color.
For you and your glamorous Galentines, Mama Kelly is four levels, each space with it’s own style. The prevalent pink is punctuated by brass, leather, oak wood and a sense of whimsical purpose. But, there is one place in the restaurant that isn’t pink: the secret bar, available only for groups, giving off a real seductive “we shouldn’t be doing this” vibe. Which of course, is the baseline for the best stories. 
Start your glamorous night with your Galentines bellied up to the most beautiful of secret bars, bathed in a rosy glow. Elbow to elbow, your heads thrown back, peals of laughter punctuating the lively atmosphere as you imbibe hand-crafted cocktails of the restaurant’s favorite hue. For dinner, you’ll settle into a grand, plush, pink, velvet booth, set with gold-tinged finery and accented with perfect pops of greenery. You’ll open an embossed pink menu, sparkling with sophistication and the promise of simplicity (chicken or lobster), but for Valentine’s Day, a special, four-course menu will be served; refined and perfect for sharing. 
As beautiful and bold as the interiors are, the food is what always brings people back. It’s sophisticated, yet without pretense. You know when the main, sharing course translates to “Good Woman’s Chicken” you’re off to a tongue-in-cheek good time for your tastebuds. It’s combined with Homard Thermidor, typically a mouth-watering, creamy lobster dish with cheese. Just trust us.
It’s moments like these looking around such a sweetly set table, surrounded by so much over-the-top rosy loveliness, you’ll live it over and over again for the rest of your Valentine’s Days to come.
