Haarlemerstraat 64

Shades of Studio 54! Blue Velvet has retained its now-classic 1980s disco decor, including the pink and gray theme, mirrored walls and neon lights. But look closer and see that there is a different vibe. This is a totally international shop-starting with the owners, Yvaat and Claudio. They are a married couple-she's Israeli and he's German-and the staff includes workers from Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Holland and Israel. The music here is what Yvaat calls "music for lovers-a mix of everything [jungle, hip-hop, mellow house] except world music, Pink Floyd and definitely no 'Hotel California.' " There are two pool tables and other games, a full bar (including Corona and Budweiser!), tostis and snacks. By Cup time there ought to be four or five Internet-access computers, and a suggestion box. "People must let us know what they don't find correct here," says Yvaat. "Otherwise we can never improve." The real boss in this shop is "Triple"-the pure white kitty you see in the shop logo. "He's stoned all day and he does nothing but sleep and eat-he must be in charge," smiles Yvaat. So while Triple doesn't sell the weed, he keeps an eye on the preweighed bags of White Widow (at a great price) and the unique "Ice," which went underappreciated at last year's Cup-Blue Velvet didn't join in time to get into the Guide, so many judges didn't know about it. The shop isn't hard to find and they are definitely in the competition this year, so dance on in and check it out.