Cocktail Delivery in Rotterdam with The Rumah & By Jarmusch

In May 2020, every bar in the Netherlands was closed. The hospitality industry — which runs on presence, on atmosphere, on the energy of people in a room together — had gone completely quiet. And yet Rotterdam's cocktail community found a way. The Rumah and By Jarmusch partnered on a cocktail delivery service, bringing the bar experience directly to people's doors. I was there to document it.

The Rumah has been one of Rotterdam's standout cocktail destinations since it opened — a bar that takes its craft seriously without taking itself too seriously. By Jarmusch brought their own creative voice to the collaboration, and together they created a delivery concept that went beyond just bottled drinks. What they were selling was an experience: carefully packaged cocktail kits, the instructions and the ingredients, the ritual of the thing. In a time when everything felt stripped back, this was a reminder that creativity doesn't stop just because the doors are closed.

Photographing the food and hospitality industry during 2020 felt different. There was a weight to it — the knowledge that the images I was making were documenting something fragile and resilient at the same time. The Rumah and Jarmusch weren't giving up. They were adapting, finding new ways to connect with the city that had supported them. The photographs capture that spirit: the care that goes into the packaging, the precision of the product, the personality of the people behind it.

I'm Rachel Ross, a Rotterdam-based HORECA and lifestyle photographer. I've been documenting the city's cocktail and food scene since 2018 — the venues, the events, the people behind the craft. If you're a bar, restaurant, or food business in the Netherlands and you need photography that captures the real energy of what you do, let's talk.