Do you love meat? Then you have to go to RAUW!
RAUW isn’t for everyone, they say at restaurant RAUW themselves. “Because there are already enough ordinary restaurants.” So who is RAUW for? Meat lovers, for sure. Because oh man, I’ve rarely eaten so well!
This story takes place on an unfamiliar, dark-looking industrial estate. It’s a miserable Monday, and the rain is pouring down. I park the car in the sparsely lit parking lot, right next to a square block that, according to my navigation, should contain restaurant RAUW.
The navigation is right. Above the large windows, to the left of the equally imposing glass door, RAUW is carved into the facade. The door bears stickers from, among others, Gault&Millau and Michelin. That sounds promising.
Industrial with a disco ball
Once inside the block, the weather conditions are quickly forgotten. A lovely young woman says I can choose a table on this quiet Monday – although there are still about twenty people inside. The decor is what you would expect from a name like this: industrial. Yet it is atmospheric thanks to subtle lighting, cheerful details, red plastic chairs, crisp white linen tablecloths and an oversized disco ball.
They have beer from just across the road, says the young woman, referring to Rock City Brewing, located in another square block on this Amersfoort industrial estate dotted with square blocks, where apparently quite a lot is going on. It contains a touch of balsamic, she says cheerfully. I tell her it’ll have to wait for another time, because they also have La Trappe Isid’or, which I’m rather fond of.
Dual-purpose cattle
On to what really matters at RAUW: meat. At the back right of the restaurant is the substantial ageing room. Beautifully lit and packed with meat aged for exactly 28 days – for the connoisseurs: at 2 to 5 degrees and 70 percent humidity. The meat comes from Zagt in Amsterdam. Zagt specializes in dual-purpose cattle; they first produce milk and are then fattened. According to Zagt, this results in beautifully marbled and responsibly produced beef.
A refined meat platter
The people at Zagt are right. What is served tonight on robust wooden boards from the open kitchen ranks among the best meat dishes I’ve experienced in a long time. It starts with the RAUW PLATTER. They can leave out the capital letters from now on, because they only put you on the wrong track: I’ve rarely seen such a refined meat platter. Steak tartare (perhaps cut too finely for some, but perfect for me), Peking duck pancakes, carpaccio rolls, a heavenly potato and celeriac soup and a few classic, perfectly executed crisp pastry cases filled with a soothing ragout based on flour, cream, French chicken legs and lemon juice. If I were an influencer, I would have shouted OH MY GOD very loudly. No filter, but in capital letters, because it was that good.
Amazing sauces
The same goes for the main course, a combination of ribeye, côte de boeuf and chateaubriand. Royal meat, all three cooked perfectly and each with exactly the right amount of fat. Served with fries in a comical snack-bar bag, creamy mayonnaise and no fewer than four excellent sauces: béarnaise, chimichurri, pepper sauce and veal jus. The chef and owner, Maarten van der Heide, tells me later that the last one takes him two days to make, but: ‘then you really have something’. You certainly do, Maarten.
A vegetable stew
I almost forget the vegetables, often the neglected child in these meat-focused establishments. Not here. A perfectly cooked stew of various vegetables in an equally flavourful tomato sauce. Not a scrap was left.
Next time I’ll come by public transport. Because of the equally tempting wine list and that odd balsamic beer. But also because of the disco ball, which surely isn’t hanging there for nothing.
Photo: Jasper van Staveren
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