Michelin stars are coming, insiders predict the results
Oh dear, tensions are running high in the Dutch culinary world. On Monday, May 30, it will be announced which restaurants will receive Michelin stars and who will have to hand theirs in. Naturally, there are experts who think they know which way the stars will fall. Online magazine Kokswereld spills the beans: ‘Vermeer definitely stands a chance of earning a second star.’
The experts at Kokswereld are not just making random guesses: they study the ratings in the restaurant guides Gault&Millau and Lekker. Moreover, they know the people involved inside out; they know exactly what Michelin’s inspectors look for and how they deal with, for example, chefs who move away and restaurants that suffer terrible bad luck through no fault of their own. Like Treeswijkhoeve in Waalre, which was hit by a major fire. They reopened after three months, and Kokswereld believes they have a good chance of Michelin looking favourably upon them.
Wine cellar smoke-damaged
It’s a precarious situation for restaurant 212 in Amsterdam, the culinary love child of top chefs Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot and sommelier Daphne Oudshoorn. The chairs floated through the restaurant after a major fire, just as at Treeswijkhoeve. The wine cellar’s stock was also severely damaged by smoke and water. But the men are taking their time to restore everything properly, and it remains to be seen whether Michelin will be just as patient. Perhaps they will lose their two stars…
Prove themselves again
The same applies to De Basiliek, the top restaurant in Harderwijk. Owners Rik and Tabitha will hand the restaurant over to employee Yornie van Dijk next month. He can cook up a storm too; he has already worked behind the stove at other top establishments and has now been chef at De Basiliek for more than three years. Will the star remain on the façade, or will Yornie have to prove himself all over again?
A new chef has also taken over in the kitchens of other restaurants with a star on the façade, such as Oonivoo in Uden and The White Room in Amsterdam. For Lekker and Gault&Millau, that was no reason to adjust their ratings, but perhaps Michelin is a little stricter – you never know.
Out of the blue
Are the experts at Kokswereld tipping any new stars in the culinary firmament? Absolutely: restaurant Flore does not have a star yet, but both Lekker and Gault&Millau were hugely enthusiastic about the new restaurant. A star would be well deserved here, but it would not exactly come out of the blue: this is the new name and new concept for restaurant Bord’ Eau, which already had a star.
Tips
Other insider tips from Kokswereld: Pikaar in Hilvarenbeek, Studio in Maastricht, Julemont in Wittem and Lizz in Gouda. If they earn a star, we’ll give Kokswereld a thumbs-up. Contenders for a second star: Vermeer and Vinkeles in Amsterdam, Bij Jef in Den Hoorn (Texel), Merlet in Schoorl and De Leuf in Ubachsberg.
For those keeping track of the statistics: the Netherlands currently has two restaurants with three Michelin stars, 18 restaurants with two stars and 93 restaurants with one star. That is, until Monday, May 30; after that, everything could look completely different.
