Artisanal pastries and chocolate Behind the scenes at PartyVlaai Pastry Shop in Waalwijk

I’m allowed to walk all the way to the back, into the bakery. It’s here that it really becomes clear why so many people find their way to PartyVlaai Pastry Shop. Several pastry chefs are hard at work. On one workbench, sausage rolls are being folded, while further down an impressive strawberry cake is taking shape.

In the back of the bakery, I meet Abdel, owner of the artisanal pastry shop PartyVlaai. As he concentrates on making pie crusts, our conversation begins.

"PartyVlaai started thirty years ago as a traditional vlaai shop," says Abdel as he places a new pie crust on the workbench. "Back then, the focus was mainly on vlaai."

That changed seven years ago, when Abdel took over the business. Thanks to his training at the Wageningen Vocational School and his experience as a pastry chef, he began experimenting with new products. “We’ve gradually grown from a flan shop into a full-fledged pastry shop. We’ve started making more and more: chocolate products, sausage rolls, cookies, cakes, and much more.”

According to him, what many visitors don’t know is that everything here is made entirely in-house. “People often think we’re part of a chain, but that’s not the case. We only have one store. Everything you see here, we make ourselves—from the dough to the chocolate products and even the handmade sausage rolls.”

During our conversation, we also discuss a true regional specialty: the Halve Zoolkoek. When I ask how it came about, Abdel explains: “When I had just taken over the business, I was attending a networking event organized by the municipality.”

"I knew the Halve Zoolkoek had existed in the past but had disappeared. So I thought: it needs to make a comeback. It’s a cookie that tells the story of Waalwijk. A local product that brings people together and that we can be proud of."

When I ask Abdel what makes PartyVlaai’s artisanal character so special, he doesn’t have to think long. “It starts with the ingredients. We work with the best products every day, preferably local and FairTrade.” He explains that all the chocolate used in the bakery is FairTrade. “Waalwijk has the first FairTrade street in the Netherlands, and we’re part of that.”

But good ingredients alone aren’t enough. “Our team consists of professionals who have completed training as pastry chefs. We are also a certified apprenticeship partner. We believe it’s important to pass on our craft to new generations.”

You can see that craftsmanship everywhere. Real butter, fresh whipped cream from Dutch cows, and—above all—a lot of handwork. “Everything here is made the way it should be. No shortcuts, just a focus on quality.”

In a bakery that’s constantly innovating, new ideas come up regularly. Abdel enthusiastically explains how that process works. “We’re always looking ahead. What’s on the calendar, and what’s still missing from our product line?” Right now, for example, they’re working on artisanal speculaas. “When we do something, we want to do it right. For the speculaas, we even had the opportunity to acquire a special machine and the recipe from a patisserie that’s closing down.”

Even the now-popular croissants started out as a new idea. “We make our croissants entirely from scratch. To do so, we sought advice from Friesland Campina, because they simply have the best butter for croissants.”

He smiles. “And by now, I’d dare say we make the best croissants in De Langstraat.”

As if a full-fledged pastry shop weren’t enough, PartyVlaai also has its own chocolate workshop. “It’s been around for almost two years now,” Abdel says proudly. Here, they make bonbons, chocolate letters, and personalized chocolate products.

"For example, we make chocolates featuring company logos or unique promotional gifts. Recently, we developed a special gift for a local real estate agent to give to new homeowners."

Here, too, everything revolves around quality. “We provide specialized training for our employees to become chocolatiers. In addition, we work with high-quality machines from Italy and use only FairTrade Callebaut chocolate.” The result? Chocolate creations you won’t easily find anywhere else.