Next-level bar food at 212
The day has finally arrived. The restaurant by Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot, former chefs at Bord’Eau**, is open. Away from all the fancy fuss. Here, you eat high-end food, simply at the bar. FavorFlav stopped by to taste.
Who: chefs Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot (both formerly of Bord’Eau**)
Where: On the Amstel, Amsterdam
When: January 2018
Bye-bye rules
Richard and Thomas worked together for years at two-Michelin-starred restaurant Bord’Eau, but wanted to get away from all the etiquette that usually comes with high-end dining. Richard: “I don’t want any you-and-whatnot nonsense. We don’t follow rules.” For anyone who likes a peek behind the scenes, this is the ultimate restaurant. You take a seat at the bar built around the kitchen. An opportunity we gladly seize with both hands to fire all our questions at the kitchen brigade.
Relaxed chic
The atmosphere is relaxed, but the food is impressive and chic. It’s still high-end. We come for lunch and go for the five-course menu. We start with no fewer than four amuse-bouches, of which the smoked potato ice cream with ‘caviar’ made from thonburi akita (a Japanese seed) surprises us the most. The oyster with kale, candied lemon and hazelnut fusilli is also impressive. The clear number one is the North Sea crab with lemongrass, crab XO sauce and onion and sweetbread sauce. The sauce is sublime, and the flavor of sweetbread comes through beautifully.
Bar food 2.0
This is bar food 2.0. The bar is deep, giving you plenty of room to eat. Each seat at the bar even has its own built-in cutlery drawer. You sit directly next to other guests, so you might end up leaning around your neighbor for a few glasses of wine. Or they might lean around you. But everything is laid out spaciously enough, so if that’s not your thing, you can still enjoy plenty of privacy.
212
Amstel 212 (haha)
Amsterdam
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