Lars Amsterdam is the restaurant of chef Lars Scharp, located in same building as the Residence Inn by Marriott Amsterdam Houthavens, with a sunset view of the Amsterdam harbor (Houthavens). Lars opened in 2018 and has held a Michelin star … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Lars Amsterdam*
After the great meal at 212 last year, I couldn’t wait to go back again and decided to take my friend Melvin there for his birthday dinner. I hadn’t checked the menu when I made the reservation, so I only … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: 212** (2024)
MOS restaurant in Amsterdam has one Michelin star and offers a beautiful view of the river and Central Station from the large windows. The restaurant by chef Egon van Hoof and maître Henry Pattiwael opened in 2015 and has held … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: MOS*
Restaurant Aan de Poel is located in Amstelveen, the wealthy suburb of Amsterdam. It is situated and named after a small lake called “De Poel”. The terrace offers a beautiful view of the lake, but the weather wasn’t The restaurant … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Aan de Poel**
Zoldering is one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam. This was my 5th dinner there, but strangely enough this is the first blog I’m writing about it. Zoldering was established in 2019 by Tomas Bron (chef), Job Seuren (sommelier), Wout … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Zoldering*
In the Netherlands we have a saying: a good neighbor is worth more than a friend far away. We have the best of both worlds, as our neighbors are also very good friends. One of the things we share with … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Flore**
Spectrum is the restaurant of chef Sidney Schutte and maître-sommelier Cas Kratz, located inside the Waldorf Astoria hotel in the historic center of Amsterdam. The restaurant, formerly known as Librije’s Zusje, has held two Michelin stars since 2015. Since it … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Spectrum** (2024)
To celebrate my friend Anja’s birthday, I took her to dinner at Restaurant 212. This is the main restaurant of chef Richard van Oostenbrugge, who first held two Michelin stars at Bord’eau (I had the pleasure of dining there in … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: 212** (2023)
Coulisse has been awarded its first Michelin star in 2023, and so I was curious to check it out. It is located in a historic building, a former theater. The Dutch word “coulisse”, usually used as plural “coulissen”, refers to … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Coulisse*
Bistro de la Mer on Utrechtestraat 57 in Amsterdam is the sister restaurant of De Juwelier, just a few doors down on Utrechtsestraat at number 51. It is also owned by Richard van Oostenbrugge, chef of Restaurant 212 (just around … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Bistro de la Mer*
After our dinner at Aqua we were spending the weekend in Berlin before going home. It was my going to be my first time in the city, so I did some research online to decide where to eat. The highest … Continue reading Dining in Germany: Nobelhart & Schmutzig*
For our 21st wedding anniversary we returned to Aqua, the three Michelin star restaurant by chef Sven Elverfeld in the Ritz Carlton in Wolfsburg, Germany. We’ve been here before in 2015 and 2019. We opted for the all-inclusive “Grand Culinary … Continue reading Dining in Germany: Aqua*** (2023)
To treat my friend Martijn for his birthday, I took him to dinner at De Juwelier. Chef Richard van Oostenbrugge of two-Michelin star restaurant 212 has opened up two new restaurants around the corner: De Juwelier and Bistro De La … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: De Juwelier*
I wanted to treat my friend Sebas for his birthday and allow him to experience a two-start Michelin restaurant for the first time in his life. Since I had not been to Ciel Bleu in a long time (the last … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Ciel Bleu** (2023)
Bussia is one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam. I had not been for a while, due to Covid and because it is so popular that you usually need to make a reservation a few weeks in advance. The restaurant … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Bussia (2022)
Geranium in Copenhagen by chef Rasmus Kofoed has held 3 Michelin stars since 2016 and is ranked 6th on the World’s 50 best restaurants. A perfect location to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. The restaurant is located on the top floor of Copenhagen’s soccer stadium and offers wonderful sunset views. There is a set menu of 18 courses for DKK 3200. The wine pairing is offered at four price points: DKK 2000, 4000, 6000, or a whopping 18,000. We opted for the DKK 4000 pairing. It is very difficult to get a reservation, as the number of tables is limited. … Continue reading Dining in Denmark: Geranium***
“Høst” means harvest, to make it clear that this Nordic restaurant in Copenhagen bases its dishes on the best seasonal ingredients. It is part of Cofoco, the Copenhagen Food Collective. Reservations are accepted for two shifts: you can either start … Continue reading Dining in Denmark: Høst
D’O is the restaurant of chef Davide Oldani in the town of San Pietro all’Olmo, just outside of Milano. The restaurant does not only hold two regular Michelin stars, but also one green star for sustainability. There are three degustation … Continue reading Dining in Italy: D’O**
Trattoria La Madia is located in the small town of Brione, near Lago d’Iseo in the North of Italy. It has been awarded tre gamberi by the Gambero Rosso guide for being one of the best trattorie in Italy. It … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Madia
Our annual dinner at the Librije in December of last year had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Now that most of us our vaccinated, restaurants are back in business and we could catch up our dinner. As usual … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2021)
Chef Roeland Klein of Avenida suggested we go eat at Florian in Quinta do Lago, which also has a Dutch chef and according to him serves top quality ingredients. When we arrived at Florian, the host and wife of the chef let us know that a tasting menu of different dishes on the menu with wine pairing had been arranged for us by the chef. Would that be okay with us? Yes of course. Usually the restaurant works à la carte with starters around 15 euros, mains around 30 euros and desserts around 10 euros. We started off with pata … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Florian
Casa Velha is located in the middle of the Quinta do Lago resort with manicured landscaping and golf courses. Not a place we’d usually go for our vacation, but we went there for the restaurant. Due to the pandemic the … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Casa Velha
The name of the restaurant A Ver Tavira literally means “to see Tavira”, which makes sense, because the restaurant offers a view on the town of Tavira in the eastern Algarve. There are three tasting menus starting at 50 euros. … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: A Ver Tavira I
It was an unexpected pleasure to dine at Avenida in Lagos, a beach town in the Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. Most restaurants in Lagos are aimed at tourists and we did not expect to find a restaurant here … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Avenida
We’ve been on a last-minute vacation to the Mediterranean island of Malta for a week, which we concluded with a dinner at Noni. This trip was so last-minute that I had not done any research and I wasn’t even aware … Continue reading Dining in Malta: Noni*
There are two restaurants holding three Michelin stars in the Netherlands: Librije and Inter Scaldes. Librije has held the 3 stars since 2004 and we have eaten there every year since (click here for the review of our latest visit). … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Inter Scaldes*** (2020)
Every year we celebrate our wedding anniversary with a dinner at a special restaurant. Due to the virus, the plans I had made well in advance for our 18th anniversary had to be cancelled. Luckily there are some good restaurants … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Tribeca**
I’ve been following chef Richard van Oostenbrugge since he started as the chef of Bord’eau in Hotel de l’Europe in Amsterdam. After gaining two Michelin stars, he started his own restaurant 212 and this is our second visit. 212 has been open for 2 years and now has one Michelin star. The restaurant is different from most other Michelin-starred restaurants as the seating is at a bar around the kitchen where you can see the dishes being finished. (The actual kitchen is downstairs.) We opted for the six course tasting menu (138 euros) with premium wine pairing (118 euros). The … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: 212* (2020)
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