If you really want to be pampered for an evening, you really should go to restaurant de Kas. Do it! Saskia booked a table for two to celebrate her wedding day and fell from one surprise into the other. So delicious, so special, so tasteful. How come they don't have a Michelin star? A few days later, the stars were awarded, and yes, the Greenhouse was among them. And rightly so!
Restaurant de Kas: dining in a greenhouse
‘Harvested in the morning, on the plate in the afternoon.’ That has been the Greenhouse's promise since 2001. Unsurprisingly, this restaurant has been on my bucket list stood. In the gardens surrounding the greenhouse, some 300 varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruits are grown in the open ground. These are harvested at the very last moment and processed in the kitchen. The garden in Amsterdam and their second garden around the corner in the Beemster, form the soul of the restaurant and its set menu. ‘They signal the seasons and surprise guests time and again’. De Kas is a restaurant with sustainable ambitions, not to be confused with a plant-based restaurant. The six-course menu, which changes with the seasons, includes sustainable - not industrial - meat and fish. On request, a vegetarian or vegan menu can of course be served. That is no problem at all.
Atmospheric dining at the Greenhouse
If you know Park Frankendael in Amsterdam, then I don't need to explain to you what a special (green!) spot this glass greenhouse stands in. Not only do the (vegetable) gardens surrounding the restaurant turn green, the view is stunning. As soon as you take a seat in the beautifully decorated restaurant, you imagine yourself in a green wilderness and leave busy Amsterdam East behind for a while. We are lucky and get a spot at the back of the restaurant's conservatory and can enjoy the view of the park. That's also my tip: ask for a table in the conservatory and come (if possible given the time of year) just before sunset, so you can experience restaurant de Kas in daylight, and when you leave, admire the illuminated greenhouse in the moonlight.
Sustainable starred menu at the Greenhouse
On arrival, a nice waiter escorts us to our table. He congratulates us on our wedding anniversary, apparently I put that in the onlin reservation months back out of enthusiasm. We start the festive evening with an aperitif: bubbles. And from that moment on, we are over the moon. The friendliness with which you are helped, the explanations and calm between courses and the attention with which everything is prepared. In short, delectable. I ask whether it is a problem for us to take our time. ‘Well no, that is precisely the intention. That's also why we only do one sitting per evening.’
Sustainable wine list with surprising wines (also from the Netherlands)
The wine list is also sustainable with some special Dutch wines. We went for a delicious white wine from Maastricht and, as an aperitif, a sparkling wine from Groningen. I'm on a mission to discover as many Dutch wines as possible and a wine from Groningen I hadn't drunk before. A great opportunity to try that on our wedding day. Weird, the wine from Maastricht, is the waiter's personal favourite. Want to know more about Dutch wines? Then check out this list of greenlist favourites.
An evening of sustainable dining at De Kas restaurant is to be pampered. Weird wine from Maastricht. Middle left: strawberry, buttermilk, elderflower and berry tart aioli dessert. Bottom left: an intermediate dish with morel, aioli, fennel and pine nuts. Bottom right: sea bass, raspberry, rhubarb, kohlrabi and coriander. Watch the video of one of the many dinners at this fine restaurant here.
Restaurant De Kas is not to be missed: a large greenhouse in the middle of green park Frankendael. Address: Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3 in Amsterdam. See more about this special restaurant.
More sustainable in Amsterdam tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Two more sustainable gems in Amsterdam: Mana Mana restaurant and restaurant Choux.
- Also special and just outside Amsterdam: Discover Vineyard de Amsteltuin in Amstelveen.
- Day out in Amsterdam: Do the Green Light District Walk.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl.
