Venue provided complimentary food and drinks during Sherika’s visit for this feature. The Hague Online retained editorial control, and the views expressed are the writer’s own
Some restaurants feed you. The great ones transport you. La Bruschetta & Co, tucked along The Hague’s charming Denneweg, is in the second category. From the moment you walk in, something shifts. The walls are lined with photographs of Puglia — sun-bleached coastlines, dusty piazzas, the kind of images that make you want to book a flight immediately. Copper pots and pans hang overhead, a gift from the owner Francesca’s father, and the whole space carries the warmth of a family kitchen rather than a restaurant. Informal, cosy, and entirely unpretentious — this is exactly the kind of place you want to find on evening out.
Francesca opened La Bruschetta in 2018, leaving her home region of Puglia in search of new opportunities and a bigger life. She brought with her something that cannot be manufactured: a deep, lifelong relationship with food. Growing up in the south of Italy, cooking was not a skill you learned from a book — it was something absorbed at the kitchen table, passed down through generations, inseparable from family and memory. That upbringing is present in every dish that leaves her kitchen.
In the early days of La Bruschetta, Francesca’s mother would make fresh pasta by hand in front of the restaurant window — and locals along the Denneweg would stop to watch. It is one of those details that tells you everything you need to know about what this place is built on. Today, nearly 90% of the staff are from Puglia, which perhaps explains why the experience feels so cohesive and genuine.
The menu leans heavily into the traditions of Apulian cooking, and the pasta is where La Bruschetta really earns its reputation. It is, without question, the course most recommended by regulars — and having tried both the seafood pasta and the Tartufo truffle pasta on my visit, I understand why completely. The seafood pasta was rich and deeply flavoured. The truffle pasta was elegant and indulgent in equal measure and quite the theatrical watching it being prepped in the giant parmesan rind before being elegantly plated. Both felt entirely authentic — not the watered-down version of Italian cooking so often found elsewhere, but the real thing.
The grilled rib eye was equally impressive – well-rested, and treated with the respect good meat deserves. The mixed seafood platter was light, cooked well and included a good variety. And then there were the desserts, classics like tiramisu and sgroppino, which I will simply say should not be skipped under any circumstances. The wine list is well-considered and the mocktails are a thoughtful touch for those not drinking.
What strikes you most by the end of the meal is how rare it is to find a place that has held onto its identity so firmly. Eight years in, La Bruschetta still feels like a small, family-run restaurant in the south of Italy — the kind of place where the owner knows the regulars by name, the recipes haven’t changed because they don’t need to, and the food on your plate carries the weight of real tradition behind it.
The Denneweg is already one of The Hague’s most beloved streets. La Bruschetta & Co is one of the very good reasons why.
La Brushetta & Co is open for lunch and dinners Tuesday – Saturdays on Denneweg 57. Follow them on Instagram to stay updated
Photos: Sherika Rooplal-Clappers
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Sherika Rooplal-Clappers is a contributing writer for The Hague Online, covering culture, lifestyle, and local events. With a passion for storytelling and international perspectives, she highlights the people, places, and experiences that make The Hague a dynamic city.
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