YUSU takes its name from “seryusu”, the Surinamese word for serious, a word that also runs through Dutch hip-hop and slang. Kick van Doorn and Nicole Lieuw met as baristas and opened YUSU in Oost as a family business, building the interior themselves with the help of Kick’s father-in-law. Kick also runs a branding agency, Skandl.

The coffee is imported, selected and roasted in collaboration with Back to Black and sold under the YUSU label, with each lot roasted for espresso or for filter. The matcha comes from By Trinitea and is grown in the Uji district of Japan.

All the food is made in-house, and YUSU bakes in its own bakery in the city centre. Nicole developed the cake recipes with Kick. The savoury snacks, among them a traditional Surinamese pastry and a Brazilian cheese ball, were created with Nicole’s mother, Millie, and Kick’s mother-in-law, Vania. Whole loaves, pies and bags of matcha cookies can be ordered. The second café, YUSU City Centre, serves a lunch menu of sandwiches on homemade buns by chef Maxence.

YUSU wants everyone to feel welcome, and it gives a platform to artists. The art on the walls changes every few months, each time with a visual artist from Amsterdam and the surrounding area. Collaborations run from ceramics by Milou Broersen to New Balance, Ace & Tate and a Permanent Clothing T-shirt dyed with walnut husks and YUSU’s own coffee grounds. YUSU also has its own DJ team, the YUSU Selectors.

At the end of December 2026 the Oost café closes for foundation repairs to its building, for a year and a half to two years.

Coffee on the shelf

  • Back to Black imports, selects and roasts YUSU's coffees with YUSU

Photograph: YUSU