Why ordering a Michelin-starred meal for home is a very good idea

It is one of the few pleasant side effects of the coronavirus crisis: Michelin-starred chefs delivering. Since the restaurant lockdown, it has become possible to order a complete takeaway menu online from an increasing number of Michelin-starred restaurants. For many chefs, an initiative born out of financial necessity, but sometimes simply because a chef cannot help doing what they love most: cooking. It is causing a small revolution in the world of delivery & take-away, where pizza, poké bowls and hamburgers ruled the roost until recently. And this fine dining take-away trend is, in my opinion, a wonderful development.

The photo of Michelin-starred chef Joris Bijdendijk of RIJKS*, in a turquoise Deliveroo outfit on his bicycle, in an almost deserted Museumplein, the day after the restaurant lockdown was announced, with a box on his back, will undoubtedly be regarded by culinary historians as a historic milestone in the post-corona era. Since then, more and more Michelin-starred chefs have come around. Even the better (takeaway) Chinese restaurant, or rather high-level Asian fusion, is joining in.

Michelin-starred food at home

The takeaway Michelin-starred menu for home works. It is a winning formula, as I conclude after sampling a series of Michelin-starred meals for home over the past few weeks. Okay, you do not get the experience you have when you are pampered for an evening in the restaurant, but you also pay considerably less for a menu that turns out not to be inferior to what you would get in the restaurant. An evening of fine dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant will quickly cost you 150 euros per person, including an aperitif, one not-too-hysterically priced bottle of wine or wine pairing, and coffee afterwards. An average takeaway menu worthy of a star is considerably more affordable. For 35 to 40 euros – the usual takeaway price range in the Michelin-starred segment – you get a full-fledged multi-course menu, including extras such as an amuse-bouche and friandises with your coffee.

Perhaps still a substantial amount in times of crisis, but hey, just think about how much you are saving each month during corona on the restaurant expenses you incurred before corona. With a homemade cocktail or glass of bubbles beforehand, and one (or, go on, why not two) good bottle(s) of wine from your favourite local wine shop – which does not charge the usual four to five times the purchase price as a restaurant does – you can organise your own delicious Michelin-starred dinner for two at home in no time. Great deal, right?

Bags and packets

The takeaway Michelin-starred meal turns out to be ‘cooking’ with packets and bags, but on the next level. With separate components that you can easily combine yourself and usually only need to heat up. Minimal effort, maximum effect. The anticipation begins when you receive the bag full of boxes, bags and packets of deliciousness. Because of the sky-high commission charged by delivery platforms, restaurants usually limit themselves to takeout or their own local delivery service. And that is fine. An expectant trip to the restaurant is part of the fun. A perfect opportunity for a meet & greet with your favourite chef (an autograph? A selfie?). Once home, it is time for the big unboxing moment: a cheerful puzzle in which the numbered and/or colour-coded packets and bags have to be matched up. A pipette of vinaigrette for the asparagus starter or a container of nut crumble for the dessert (whoops, no, oh yes, shit, I told you: don’t put the crumble over the asparagus!).

No stress

Anyone who might get stressed by so many packets and bags on the kitchen counter can turn to the menu instructions provided. Or, also frequently seen: a barcode-activated link to a YouTube video in which the chef in question once again explains to the camera how to assemble each dish. A kind of cooking class for dummies (‘put a small saucepan of water on the stove, heat the bag of veal jus for five minutes, pour the warm sauce over the heated veal entrecôte’). Your biggest—and also your only—challenge is to arrange everything on the plate in a vaguely Michelin-worthy way and set the table in style. Although some chefs also make a video for that, under the motto ‘the art of plating’.

Charm

The charm of fine-dining takeaway food is that all the preparation has already been done by the chef. So you do not have to spend two days in the kitchen reducing a stock to a fond as the basis for a powerful sauce to pour over sweetbreads. And Michelin-starred chefs simply cook better than anyone. Better than you—or okay, at least better than I—will ever be able to. That is what they do. Years of daily training in maximising flavour, textures and flavour combinations in every dish they prepare. All coming together in a wow feeling with every bite you take.

And precisely when visiting a restaurant, the taste experience is sometimes overshadowed by dazzling presentations (think: tweezers, flowers, meticulous geometric shapes) and embellishments that require a great deal of (costly) time and a great many helping hands in the kitchen. Fun, and sometimes downright impressive, of course, and part of the Michelin-star experience. But it often distracts an awful lot from what it is really about: the flavours on the plate. And that taste sensation can apparently be conjured just as well from a recyclable cardboard box.

Elderflower vinegar

The subtle intensity of a sweet-and-sour tomato pickled in elderflower vinegar (Bas van Kranen, Bord’eau) cannot be matched by any experienced home cook. Nor can the fresh, tart flavours of, say, the white asparagus ceviche I tasted from three-Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerma, who had to close his new pizza restaurant No Rules before its official opening and consequently began delivering star-worthy menus. Or a deceptively simple amuse-bouche consisting of a raw radish that you dip in piccalilli and seaweed crumble (from the weekly menu of RIJKSatHome). Or the langoustine-prawn ravioli that left FavorFlav’s Vincent speechless. Try getting that from the average home cook. And to complete the restaurant experience at home, put on the restaurant’s accompanying Spotify playlist.

Here to stay

Michelin-starred food at home is here to stay, as far as I am concerned. Even after the restaurant lockdown is lifted. The takeaway phenomenon is not limited to the major cities in the Randstad. Think of To Go De Rozario from chef Jermain de Rozario* in Helmond. And Merlet* in Schoorl. Or brothers Mike and Jim Cornelissen of Rijnzicht* in Doornenburg and Hoefslag* in Bosch en Duin. And don’t forget: by ordering such a wonderful menu, you support your favourite Michelin-starred chef in your own region.

More Michelin-starred restaurants with takeaway meals

Stenen Tafel, Arnhem
‘t Koetshuis, Bennekom
De Hoefslag, Bosch en Duin
Wolfslaar, Breda
Karpendonksehoeve, Eindhoven
Cheval Blanc, Heemstede
Rozario, Helmond
Rijnzicht*, Doornenburg
Olivijn*, Haarlem

The restaurant guide GaultMillau has a dedicated page featuring top restaurants with takeaway menus, including not only Michelin-starred restaurants but also excellent restaurants without a star.

Read also:

• Delivery review: RIJKS*’s takeaway meal
• Delivery review: the takeaway meal from three-Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerma’s new restaurant No Rules
• Happy Easter! You can now order a Michelin-starred breakfast from RIJKS*

Header image: RIJKS, De Rozario, No Rules