Little Miss Dutch Has Just Opened In Buxton
- Jen Bell I Editor I Good Life List Peak District
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 10
If you've ever wandered around Amsterdam with a warm stroopwafel in one hand, or demolished a plate of poffertjes at a Christmas market, you'll know Dutch comfort food is one of those things that becomes a core foodie memory. Done well it is one of the tastiest, loveliest things on the planet.
Until now, though, it wasn't something you could find in the Peak District.
That changed this week with the opening of Little Miss Dutch inside Buxton's Cavendish Arcade. It's a tiny, utterly gorgeous café dedicated to fresh Dutch food, family recipes and the traditions owner Charlotte Claessens grew up with. As far as we're aware, there's nowhere else quite like it in the Peak District.
Spend five minutes chatting to Charlotte and you realise this isn't somewhere buying frozen products from a wholesaler.
The batter for the poffertjes is made from scratch every morning, sometimes starting at 4am. The Dutch apple cake is baked the night before or before dawn so it's ready for opening, because, as Charlotte puts it, "it just doesn't taste the same otherwise."
It's how her dad and grandparents always did things.
Growing up, her Dutch father would walk to school via his grandparents' house knowing there'd always be something homemade waiting for him. Those recipes eventually made their way to Derbyshire, although Charlotte admits it took years before she found the confidence to turn the dream into a business.
When the little shop became available in Buxton, she finally decided to go for it.
What warmed our hearts the most wasn't the food. It was the story behind the café itself.
Little Miss Dutch was created in memory of Charlotte's late Dutch father and brother. Hanging on the wall is her dad's treasured Dutch clock, which hadn't been displayed for around 15 years after he developed dementia. Every time Charlotte visited, he would proudly unwrap it and show it to her as though she were seeing it for the first time, and every time she would pretend it was a brand-new discovery.
The clock had never worked after being moved into storage. Yet as Charlotte finished setting up the café the day before opening, the pendulum suddenly began ticking.
Whether you believe it was coincidence or something else is entirely up to you.
Charlotte knows exactly who she thinks was saying hello.
There's another lovely detail too. Since opening, Dutch visitors have already started calling in, curious to see what a Dutch café is doing in the middle of Buxton. At the same time, plenty of local people have been discovering foods they've never tried before.
It's become a meeting point between cultures, with Derbyshire on one side of the counter and the Netherlands on the other.
Buxton has no shortage of brilliant cafés. Little Miss Dutch isn't trying to compete with them. It's bringing something completely different to the town, built on family memories, fresh food and recipes that have travelled hundreds of miles before finding a new home in the Peak District.
We popped in during opening week to try a few things and they were simply delicious. We'd recommend the poffertjes - we had them the traditional way, served up with melted butter and icing sugar. However, you can also choose from hot Dutch chocolate sauce and seasonal fruit as well.
We also had a fresh stroopwafel, which had everything going on. Perfectly thin crispy waffle edges with warm, gooey, caramel-toffee syrup and a wonderful hit of cinnamon. We'll be heading back soon for the apple cake and to sample some of the incredible sounding savoury options...
Little Miss Dutch is now open Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm-6pm, inside Cavendish Arcade, Buxton.
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