Delivery review: Marie’s delivery meal
In this crazy coronavirus era, restaurants are closed, so we’re going out to eat at home. Fortunately, many new and special delivery and takeaway restaurants are joining in. And we’re going to test them for you. That way, we can keep eating well and help the hospitality industry. Today: Marie in Amsterdam.
Marie used to be the Hoofdstad Brasserie, in the five-star De L’Europe hotel. Marie is the French brasserie named after owner Heineken’s wife, where you can enjoy the Côte d’Azur. Here you can eat a good boudin noir, foie gras de canard or a firm homard with a fine glass of wine. In summer, Sur l’eau, on the delightful terrace overlooking the Amstel, you can imagine yourself on the Riviera. Now that Marie is required to close and is being renovated, you can pick up food on Saturdays at Marie chez vous. Choose from an asparagus menu or a bouillabaisse menu.
The pickup
1.5-metre markings have been applied on the pavement outside hotel bar Freddy’s. I briefly recoil, but the concierge elegantly swings the door open. Inside, the house pianist is playing as if nothing has happened. For a moment, I think of the Titanic. Behind the bar is a familiar face. ‘A beer, please,’ I say automatically, but I receive a paper bag. ‘Voilà! There’s a description of what you need to do. It’s very simple, really,’ he says reassuringly. ‘Come on, we have a routing. I’ll show you out here, because then you can immediately see that we’re renovating the lobby.
The asparagus
The bag is packed full of boxes with neatly printed labels stating what they contain. The two-course menu consists of Asparagus à la Flamande, or À la Flamande, as it is called at De L’Europe, and, for le dessert, a cold sabayon with red fruit. Clear, bite-sized instructions explain how to bring the precooked asparagus and La Ratte potatoes up to temperature and how to melt the Lindenhoff butter to create a butter sauce with egg and parsley. There’s even a clear set of directions for plating the dish.
Le dessert
The sabayon instructions seem even simpler, until I read that the sabayon has to be poured over the red fruit. The box labelled sabayon contains a substance more reminiscent of slightly over-whipped cream. I spoon out a generous dollop and let it plop onto the strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.
Time to enjoy?
Mais, oui! À la Flamande in this case means ‘with butter sauce’, and there isn’t a French word in sight. The potatoes fried in a generous amount of butter and the butter sauce with egg and parsley ensure that everything is deliciously swimming in melted farm butter, making it all slide down easily. Everything tastes so rich and creamy that I immediately decide that after my death I don’t want to be cremated, but fried in Lindenhoff farm cream butter. Simmering my way to heaven. The ham from the Baambrugge piglet, the fresh asparagus with the butter sauce…. who would have thought that a combination of a few fine ingredients could be so fine. Despite its stiffness, the sabayon and red fruit also taste fantastic.
Can Marie join us more often?
Absolutely! As far as I’m concerned, asparagus season couldn’t have opened any better than with this delicious menu. The price is also more than tasty. The menus can be ordered for a friendly neighbours’ price of €19.95. This can be done via the website, and they can be picked up from Freddy’s on Saturday within the reserved timeslot, so that every guest can be welcomed with the utmost courtesy.
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