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For the third year, Maria & Pepe opens its doors at the cultural hub OASE, above the Maas river in Rotterdam. 

From July 9th to August 2nd, you can spend your days at our terrace, licking your fingers after enjoying our entire food and drink menu and inspired by the colorful Mexican kitchen.

This year, a program is running every day we’re open. Doors open at 17:00 (on Saturdays at 09:00) and stay open until late. Throughout our program, our goal is simple: to connect, and get to know each other. Why? Because we believe that getting to know one another better opens the door to a more peaceful, joyful, and playful society.

Long summer evenings with delicious food, cocktails, dancing, storytelling, new friendships, good conversations, and good company. Doesn’t get any better than that. See you there! 

Who are Maria & Pepe?

Maria & Pepe is a result of love. Its co-founders, Maria and Pepe, met in 2020 during Covid at a park in Rotterdam. Their first encounters consisted of walking and walking again, occasionally cleaning up trash together and being home before curfew. Love is not only for each other but extends to all life on earth which we practice as best as possible at the pop-up. “You‘ll see this first in our menu, but just as much in our interactions with each other. The vibe within the team is special – you can see that when you are our guest,” says Pepe (aka Joost).

“Mexico has so many colors and flavours – there’s no end to it, it just keeps going. The pop-up is such a great opportunity to share everything it has to offer, while adding an extra layer of our take on environmental and social consciousness. Building the menu and the terrace has also been a good exercise of reflection, being self-critical and discovering our position and responsibility as citizens on the planet” – Maria

Values

 Since 2025 we continue as a ‘Stichting’ (NGO) with a special seasoning that shows that social entrepreneurship is possible based on mutual trust. Working from values is essential. We do this by:

  • We believe that people are naturally disposed to care, and need to have meaningful power in order to sustain that care (from the book Citizens by Jon Alexander, Food Citizenship)
  • We see people as citizens: good beings and willing to participate and take responsibility
  • As citizens, we care about the wellbeing of all life on this planet
  • We practice practice non-violent and kind communication with the team (and our guests, of course). This is important to not only maintain a good flow of service, but to build and create a positive and uplifting work environment for everyone. We are supported by Bisho for NVC.
  • Whoever joins the core team shares in the revenues! Everyone in the team shares depending on experience and number of shifts worked. This way everyone participates equally and act on responsibility and solidarity
  • We’d love to have volunteers on board. Want to join? Send us an email!
  • There is transparency about income and expenditure. The team is always informed about the financial outlook
  • We will run daily program with an aim to bring people together and build peace in the neighbourhood and city.

Support

Support us by joining us for dinner, spreading the word (download the poster), or making a donation to the project!