Hotspot Vigor is the reason you want to go to Vught

Yes! Restaurants are open again! So we’re taking you along the newest (corona-proof!) hotspots. The newest culinary hotspot can be found in … Vught! Yes, really: Vught! The brand-new restaurant Vigor was opened by a chef and sommelier (a golden combination, by the way!) who previously worked in Michelin-starred restaurants. So you’re guaranteed great food and exceptionally delicious wines here!

First, the location: a gem!

The restaurant with its attached conservatory can be found in Villa Bleijenburg, a listed national monument dating from the seventeenth century, next to the imposing Saint Peter’s Church. The building was renovated from top to bottom, and the result is stunning. The real eye-catcher is the large round bar surrounding the open kitchen. You can enjoy a drink here, but also savour all the delicious food the chefs prepare right in front of you! Prefer something a little more intimate? Then sitting at one of the beautiful tables is no problem either.

And then there’s the menu

According to the chef, it has one mission: what is good is never complicated. He calls his style ‘casual fine dining’ and works with pure, recognisable ingredients. What can you expect? Think octopus with burrata and olives, or sweetbreads with mushrooms and fermented garlic. Also special: portobello with apricot and cashew nuts, and butter lettuce with water mint and apple. Vigor’s menu consists of a lunch menu (from € 38 for 2 courses), a 4- to 8-course menu (€ 52 for 4 courses, € 89 for 8 courses), a vegetarian menu and à la carte dishes. The lunch menu changes regularly; the other two menus are fixed, set menus.

What are we drinking with all these beautiful dishes?

No need to worry about that either: the wine list features 500 different wines! Naturally, the classics, but also wines from as-yet-unknown wineries and wines with a unique terroir. To give you an idea: the white wine and rosé list runs to 38 pages, while the red wine list has 18 pages.

The owners (and they’re no small names)

Chef Lars Albers and sommelier Randy Bouwer previously worked together at Michelin-starred restaurants FG* in Rotterdam and Noble* in Den Bosch. Randy also worked at Zarzo in Eindhoven as maître-sommelier, where Proefschrift Restaurants named him Host of the Year 2019. At this restaurant, Randy and Lars literally join forces, which is also where the restaurant’s name comes from: Vigor is the English word for strength.

Restaurant Vigor, Raadhuisstraat 1, Vught
Wednesday through Sunday: lunch and dinner.

Iris Kranenburg is editor-in-chief of hospitality trade magazine Entree Magazine and chair of the jury for the annual Entree Awards (industry awards for the best new bars, restaurants and hotels in the Netherlands).

Image: Bo Blitz

Also read: 

• Bigger, better & bolder: The Harbour Club in The Hague (go!)
• Amsterdam Noord has a new hotspot: Sammie Sangria (psssstt… on a boat!)
• Hotspot: no-table restaurant Tres in Rotterdam