Amsterdam restaurant owner admits serving horse meat - already 63 years

The owner of restaurant Piet de Leeuw, now admits the restaurant serves horse meat, not cow meat. And they have been doing this from the beginning, in 1949.

Yesterday, news came out that steak restaurant Piet de Leeuw served horse meat, and not cow meat, which apparently everyone thought.

Yesterday, the owner, Mr Loek van Thiel, denied all allegations, but today he admits everything. His grandfather Piet de Leeuw, who started the restaurant in 1949, was a horse butcher. So, the horse meat was a family tradition, right from the start.

It didn't feel like lying, because on the menu it says 'biefstuk' (= steak), without being explicit about what kind of animal it is from.
Restaurant staff has to sign a contract they will not say anything about it to clients.

And apparently, clients never asked. The steak at Piet de Leeuw's restaurant has always had a good reputation.
When the restaurant started to experiment with cow meat, they received complaints - so they kept on serving horse meat.

Reactions on the news have been mixed. Some people complain they have been cheated or misinformed, others say they always liked what they got there, and have no problem with the meat being horse meat.