Rijsttafel is Amsterdam's most distinctive meal — a procession of Indonesian dishes with deep colonial roots and a complicated relationship with gluten. Here's what to know before you sit down.

A dark wood bar worn smooth by centuries of elbows. A tulip glass of jenever filled to the brim. A room that has been doing the same thing since before your country existed. The bruine kroeg is not a tourist attraction — it is where Amsterdam actually lives.