These are the winners of the Gault&Millau Awards 2024
Today (5 February 2024), the top of the Dutch restaurant world gathered at the Gault&Millau Awards. Which chefs and restaurants won prizes, and which special gastronomic spots Gault&Millau believes are absolutely worth (re)discovering? You can read all about it here.
During the awards ceremony and guide launch, the changing restaurant landscape was also discussed. Some hospitality businesses were forced to close their doors, while others changed course and successfully implemented adjustments. Small kitchen teams and soloists are opting for set menus focused on local products; sustainability has found its way even more clearly into the restaurant world this year, with plant-based and seasonal products receiving increasing recognition.
Gault&Millau versus Michelin
Gault&Millau restaurant guide is Michelin Guide’s major competitor. Like Michelin, the guide contains restaurant reviews. Gault&Millau’s guide does not award stars, but symbolic chef’s hats, and gives restaurants a score on a scale of 20. The biggest difference between Michelin and Gault&Millau lies in the details. For example, Gault&Millau inspectors also take cuissons (the cooking of meat or fish), flavour and presentation, the welcome, wine advice, opening days and whether or not the chef is present into account in their assessment. They also consider attentiveness, timing, atmosphere and even the chairs. Michelin focuses more on the bigger picture.
Gault&Millau Netherlands is 100% independent in both its reviews and revenue generation. Reviews are always carried out by anonymous inspectors who do not identify themselves and always pay the bill themselves. The same applies to Michelin.
The new Gault&Millau guide 2024
The new Gault&Millau guide features almost 850 selected restaurants. It includes 72 restaurants with a score of 16 points or higher; the guide lists 11 climbers from 16 points upward, all of which have risen by 0.5 points. In the complete list, there are 83 climbers, including 13 restaurants that have risen by 1 point. This year’s highest-ranked climber is Restaurant 212 in Amsterdam, with 18.5. Establishments that have risen by 1 point and rank high on the list include Umeno, Rozario and Flavours. This year, Inter Scaldes in Kruiningen is the highest new entry, with 16.5.
The highest score this year, just like last year a 19.5, once again goes to De Librije. 19 points went to Ciel Bleu at the Okura Hotel Amsterdam and Tribeca in Heeze.
Ratings according to Gault&Millau
– 10, 11 and 12: Restaurant of a fair to interesting standard
– 13 and 14: Good, well-presented table, reliable and sometimes original
– 15 and 16: Restaurant or brasserie offering distinctive cuisine
– 17 and 18: Very grand table, memorable experiences
– 19 and 20: The undisputed top
Gault&Millau Terrace of the Year
Gault&Millau also presents various annual awards, including ‘Chef of the Year’, ‘Sommelier of the Year’ and ‘Terrace of the Year’. According to Gault&Millau, De Bloemenbeek* in De Lutte has the Terrace of the Year. De Bloemenbeek succeeds Vista in Willemstad.
Chef of the Year 2024
The Chef of the Year award goes to Emile van der Staak of De Nieuwe Winkel restaurant in Nijmegen. It is yet another award for the acclaimed vegetable chef; he previously won the award for the world’s second-best vegetarian restaurant (!) and already has a green Michelin star and two ‘regular’ Michelin stars. Take the exit onto the A1 on Amsterdam’s ring road, and you’ll be there in about an hour.
More Gault&Millau winners
Wouter Kik of Codium restaurant in Goes has been named Young Chef of the Year by Gault&Millau. He takes over from Guido Braeken of Julemont in Wittem. Marco Westra of Hemel & Aarde restaurant in Utrecht has been named Host of the Year. Noël Vanwittenbergh, sommelier at Ciel Bleu, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Job Seuren of Zoldering* in Amsterdam received the 2024 Sommelier of the Year award. Nino Willems, chef of Salty Seafood Bar in Zwolle, is Gault&Millau’s New Chef on the Block.
All the winners of the year at a glance:
| Title | Name | Restaurant & location |
| Chef of the Year | Emile van der Staak | De Nieuwe Winkel, Nijmegen |
| Young Chef of the Year | Wouter Kik | Codium, Goes |
| Host of the Year | Marco Westra | Hemel & Aarde, Utrecht |
| Sommelier of the Year | Job Seuren | Zoldering, Amsterdam |
| Wine List of the Year | Vineum | Vineum, Rotterdam |
| Value for Money of the Year | Café de Klepel | Café de Klepel, Amsterdam |
| Terrace of the Year | De Bloemenbeek | De Bloemenbeek, De Lutte |
| Craftsman of the Year | Michel van der Kroft | ’t Nonnetje, Harderwijk |
| Asian Restaurant of the Year | Morikawa | Morikawa, The Hague |
| Vegetable Restaurant of the Year | Flore | Flore, Amsterdam |
| Bistronomer of the Year | Troef | Troef, Amsterdam |
| Discovery of the Year | Holsterhof | Holsterhof, Posterholt |
| Cocktail Bar of the Year | The Rumah | The Rumah, Rotterdam |
| Highest New Entry of the Year | Inter Scaldes | Inter Scaldes, Kruiningen |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Noël Vanwittenbergh | Ciel Bleu, Okura Amsterdam |
| Dessert of the Year | Rodrigo Silva | ARCA, Amsterdam |
| New Chef On The Block | Nino Willems | Salty Seafood Bar, Zwolle |
| Best Dutch Chef Abroad | Marco Prins | The Chef’s Table at the Brooklyn Fare in New York |
List of highest-rated restaurants
According to Gault&Millau, these restaurants belong to the absolute top in the Netherlands:
| NAME | LOCATION | POINTS 2024 | POINTS 2023 |
| De Librije | Zwolle | 19,5 | 19,5 |
| Ciel Bleu | Amsterdam | 19 | 19 |
| Tribeca | Heeze | 19 | 19 |
| 212 | Amsterdam | 18,5 (+0,5) | 18 |
| Spectrum | Amsterdam | 18,5 | 18,5 |
| Brut 172 | Reijmerstok | 18,5 | 18,5 |
| Vermeer | Amsterdam | 18 | 18 |
| De Lindenhof | Giethoorn | 18 | 18 |
| ’t Nonnetje | Harderwijk | 18 | 18 |
| De Lindehof | Nuenen | 18 | 18 |
| De Groene Lantaarn | Staphorst | 18 | 18 |
| Aan de Poel | Amstelveen | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Flore | Amsterdam | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Vinkeles | Amsterdam | 17,5 (+0,5) | 17 |
| De Kromme Watergang | Hoofdplaat | 17,5 | 18 |
| Kasteel Heemstede | Houten | 17,5 (+0,5) | 17 |
| Sabero | Leende | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| De Bokkedoorns | Overveen | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| François Geurds Restaurant | Rotterdam | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Fred | Rotterdam | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Parkheuvel | Rotterdam | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| De Treeswijkhoeve | Waalre | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Meliefste | Wolphaartsdijk | 17,5 | 17,5 |
| Rijks | Amsterdam | 17 | 17 |
| Taiko | Amsterdam | 17 | 17 |
| La Provence | Driebergen-Rijsenburg | 17 | 17 |
| Zarzo | Eindhoven | 17 | 17 |
| De Nieuwe Winkel | Nijmegen | 17 (+0,5) | 16,5 |
| Bij Jef | Texel | 17 | 17 |
| Julemont | Wittem | 17 | 17 |
| Spetters | Breskens | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Perceel | Capelle a/d IJssel | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Rijnzicht | Doornenburg | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Wiesen | Eindhoven | 16,5 (+0,5) | 16 |
| Codium | Goes | 16,5 (+0,5) | 16 |
| Noor | Groningen | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Atelier | Gulpen | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Ratatouille Food & Wine | Haarlem | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Inter Scaldes | Kruiningen | 16,5 | – |
| ’t Amsterdammertje | Loenen a/d Vecht | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Da Vinci | Maasbracht | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| One | Roermond | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| FG Food Labs | Rotterdam | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Aan de Zweth | Schipluiden | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Vigor | Vught | 16,5 (+0,5) | 16 |
| Smink | Wolvega | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| De Vlindertuin | Zuidlaren | 16,5 | 16,5 |
| Herberg Onder de Linden | Aduard | 16 | 16 |
| BAK | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| Bolenius | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| Bridges | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| Choux | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| De Kas | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| Graphite by Peter Gast | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| Mos Amsterdam | Amsterdam | 16 | 16 |
| De Heeren van Harinxma | Beetsterzwaag | 16 | 16 |
| Het Koetshuis | Bennekom | 16 | 16 |
| Wolfslaar | Breda | 16 | 16 |
| De Bloemenbeek | De Lutte | 16 (+0,5) | 15,5 |
| Orangerie de Pol | Doetinchem | 16 (+0,5) | 15,5 |
| De Burgemeester | Linschoten | 16 | 15,5 |
| Orangerie de Pol | Doetinchem | 16 | 15,5 |
| Château Neercanne | Maastricht | 16 | 15,5 |
| Rantrée | Maastricht | 16 | 16 |
| Tout à Fait | Maastricht | 16 | 16 |
| Latour | Noordwijk aan Zee | 16 | 16 |
| Damainz | Roermond | 16 (+0,5) | 15,5 |
| Tres | Rotterdam | 16 (+0,5) | 15,5 |
| Karel 5 | Utrecht | 16 | 16 |
| PUUR ZEE by Imko’s | Wijk aan Zee | 16 | 16 |
| Katseveer | Wilheminadorp | 16 | 16 |
Read also:
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- Restaurant Vermeer review: bizarre that they no longer have a star
- Know before you go: 12 French dishes you might want to avoid
Source: Misset Horeca
