For a pure, seasonal food experience in Amsterdam, there is no better place than Restaurant & Nursery De Kas. Located in a set of enormous green houses, dating back to 1926, you can indulge in homegrown and local produce. The menu changes weekly and consists of high quality, fresh products that need little seasoning, and are therefore served in its most purest forms. They grow their own herbs and vegetables in the greenhouses and gardens at the restaurant and on their farmland in the Beemster area.
Restaurant De Kas is a culinary experience like no other. When you step inside you instantly see where they grow their produce. You can walk in and observe the nursery. The restaurant is dispersed over 4 spaces. In the main space the light streams in from all directions, making it a perfect place for lunch. I was told that at night it has a whole other atmosphere with lit candles and the star-filled sky above. In the back there is a bar and fire place with one communal table.
In the garden view room of Restaurant De Kas there are more lounge seats and a spectacular view on the garden and Frankendael park. When the weather permits you can also sit on the outside terrace. This part of the reastaurant is ideal for groups or to have a cup of coffee or tea.
Our lunch consisted of 4 courses and 5 dishes. We started with white asparagus soup with lightly smoked Nordic salmon, Dutch shrimp, potato and lavas oil. I think this was the best asparagus soup I will ever have. The flavours were so rich and pure.
Then we were treated to 2 small dishes: a chicory sous-vide baked with a chutney of chicory, mustardseeds, dukkah, blood orange, and creme fraiche with pickles. The second dish was Cannelloni of white cabbage filled with raw kohlrabi, fennel and goatcheese, beside fermented rhubarb, rucola pesto and a salad of fennel with roasted fennel seeds. I loved the cannelloni! The different flavours and textures enhanced each other so well.
As a main we had sea bass withred beet, pickled yellow beet and baked little gem and topped with a citrus dressing. Heavenly! And as a dessert we had Coffee merengue, with roasted pecan nuts Doyenne du Comice pears, puree of barbecued pear, salted caramel sauce, and lemon-thyme ice-cream.
Restaurant & Nursery De Kas stands for simplicity and purity. The presentation is, as you can see beautiful, but the chef cook let’s the food and flavours most of all speak for itself. Naturally there is also an outstanding wine menu. For more info and reservations: www.restaurantdekas.nl
