If you go to Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy, you should go there for the wine. The name “enoteca” is already a big hint that this is the case, because it is an Italian word that means “wine library”. And not just any wine library, but one that is unique in the world and perhaps even the … Continue reading
Librije’s Zusje is the “little sister” of Librije in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Amsterdam, with two Michelin stars. Two years ago we had dinner there for the first time, and I concluded back then it was the best restaurant in Amsterdam. So now we were curious to try it again to see if it had evolved. … Continue reading
Every year we celebrate our anniversary at Librije, our favorite restaurant in the Netherlands and one of our favorite restaurants in the world. The restaurant run by chef Jonnie Boer (no relation) and his wife and sommelier/maitre Thérèse is located in Zwolle, about an hour from Amsterdam, in a historic building (a former prison for … Continue reading
We have two restaurants with three Michelin stars in the Netherlands, the Librije and De Leest. This was our third visit and the second that I am writing about on the blog; click here to read about my previous experience in 2014. De Leest is the restaurant of chef Jacob Jan Boerma and host and … Continue reading
El Celler de Can Roca is the restaurant in Girona (Spain) of three Catalan brothers: Joan (chef and inventor of sous-vide cooking), Jordi (pastry chef), and Josep (sommelier). It is difficult to get a reservation. You can only make a reservation online. On October 1st at midnight (Spanish time) the month of September next year will … Continue reading
Azurmendi is a restaurant in a futuristic building by the freeway near Bilbao in the Basque country in Spain. The restaurant of chef Eneko Atxa has three Michelin stars and ranks highly on the World’s 50 best restaurants and Opinionated about dining. As we were visiting the Basque country, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity … Continue reading
Frantzén in the old town of Stockholm is a small restaurant that seats only about 20. It has two Michelin stars and ranks 31 on the World’s 50 best restaurants or 16 on Opiniated About Dining. There are a few tables and there is seating at the bar with full few of the tiny kitchen. … Continue reading
De Librije is our favorite restaurant in the Netherlands and we go there every year for our anniversary. We celebrate two anniversaries each year, and after 10 years of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the Librije in June, we decided to switch to our first date anniversary (which happens to coincide with Christmas eve) for … Continue reading
Almost two years have passed since our last visit to Bord’eau, the two-star restaurant in Hotel de l’Europe, and so it was time to check the new developments on our home turf. Also because I was curious to compare it with our recent dinner at Librije’s Zusje. We opted for the 6-course degustation menu (118 … Continue reading
Le Calandre of chef Massimiliano Alajmo is one of Italy’s most famous restaurants, has three Michelin stars and is listed as number 34 on the World’s 50 best restaurants. It is located just outside of Padova. There are three tasting menus (11 courses) for 225 euros each: Classico (with classic dishes from the restaurant), Max, and … Continue reading
Agli Amici is a two-star restaurant in the village of Godia, just outside of Udine in the Italian region Friuli. It is run by a brother a sister: he is the chef, she is the sommelier and maitre. When we arrived, the annual Festa delle Patate (potato harvest party) was going on in a big … Continue reading
Restaurant Aqua of chef Sven Elverfeld is the 3 Michelin star restaurant located in the Ritz-Carlton in Autostadt, the Volkswagen theme park in Wolfsburg, in the middle of Germany near Hannover. It is listed as #33 on the World’s 50 best restaurants, and as it is ‘only’ a 4-hour drive due east from Amsterdam, it … Continue reading
One of our favorite restaurants is the Librije, three Michelin star restaurant in Zwolle (Netherlands) of Jonnie and Térèse Boer (no relation). Less than a year ago, sister restaurant Librije’s Zusje (“zusje” means little sister) opened in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Amsterdam. Chef Sidney Schutte is a former sous-chef of Librije and chef of … Continue reading
Inter Scaldes is a restaurant with manoir (hotel) that has had two Michelin stars since 1984. The current chef Jannis Brevet has been the chef since 2001. The name refers to its location between the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde near the village of Kruiningen in the province of Zeeland in the South-West of the Netherlands. Each year for … Continue reading
The Basque city of San Sebastián boasts one of the highest densities of Michelin stars in the world. We went there for a few days to try the local cuisine, and one of the highlights of our trip was our dinner at Martín Berasategui’s restaurant in Lasarte-Oria, a suburb of San Sebastián. That suburb is … Continue reading
In 2010 we ‘discovered’ Piazza Duomo of chef Enrico Crippa in Alba, at that time still relatively unknown (although it already had two Michelin stars), thanks to the Gambero Rosso guide, in which it already had tre forchette. We liked it a lot, and went back the next year when we were travelling in the same … Continue reading
The next stop with tre forchette in our culinary tour is Casa Vissani, by lake Colbara on the road between Orvieto and Todi in Umbria. Because the restaurant is located outside a town, it is very convenient that it also has some luxurious guest rooms. The hotel and restaurant are very different from Reale, where … Continue reading
Reale is the restaurant of chef Niko Romito and his sister Cristiana in the mountain town of Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo. I had been curious about this restaurant with tre forchette from Gambero Rosso for a while, but it was always too far from where we were in Italy. When Reale got its third Michelin star, … Continue reading
Enrico Bartolini is one of the rising stars in the Italian restaurant scene. For his restaurant, located in the Devero hotel by the autostrada just outside of Milano, he recently received his second Michelin star and his third fork (forchetta) of the Gambero Rosso restaurant guide. So it was time we paid the restaurant a … Continue reading
This is the third review of Librije on my blog, which is not a surprise as it has become a tradition for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary there every year (starting with our 3rd anniversary). We started this tradition in 2005, and so this was our tenth visit. There is not a single restaurant … Continue reading
There are only two restaurants in the Netherlands with three Michelin stars. De Librije has had its third star since 2004, De Leest acquired it recently. De Leest is situated in the village of Vaassen, near the town of Apeldoorn in the Veluwe forest. We had already visited De Leest some years ago when it … Continue reading
Vendôme is the restaurant of chef Joachim Wissler, with 3 Michelin stars, awarded best restaurant in Germany and #10 on the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The restaurant is located in Schloss Bensberg, a very stylish hotel that is close to Cologne and less than three hours from Amsterdam. For us … Continue reading
There are not many female chefs with Michelin stars. Probably the best known in the Netherlands is Margo Reuten. Together with maître and sommelier Petro Kools she runs Da Vinci in Maasbracht in the south of the Netherlands in the province of Limburg. I’ve been curious about this restaurant for a while, and last night … Continue reading
After eating at Bord’eau in July I wrote “I wonder when chef Richard van Oostenbrugge will get his well-deserved second star. We’ll be back!” in my blog post about that wonderful dinner. I didn’t have to wonder for long, as Bord’eau has indeed just received its second Michelin star. Van Oostenbrugge was also announced by Gault Millau as … Continue reading
Hotel de l’Europe is one of the best known luxury hotels in Amsterdam, located by the Amstel river. Since a few years a new restaurant has opened in the hotel, called Bord’Eau with a nice wordplay on the location as well as the famous wine region. We’ve had dinner there when it had recently opened … Continue reading
Every year since De Librije has been awarded its third star (in late 2004) we have celebrated our wedding anniversary on June 15th with a dinner at De Librije. The first time in 2005 was very special, as it was our first dinner at a three-star restaurant and we were completely blown away by both … Continue reading
The final stop in our Sicilian food tour was La Gazza Ladra, a restaurant with one Michelin star located in the hotel Palazzo Failla in the Baroque town of Modica. The hotel and the restaurant are situated in a historic building. On the Tuesday night when we visited there were only two other tables occupied … Continue reading
Licata is a port town in southern Sicily near Agrigento that doesn’t have much going for it except for the fact that Pino Cuttaia was born here and opened up a restaurant, La Madia. On a Monday night in April the restaurant was full, and I am pretty sure that most of those people came … Continue reading
Chef Moshik used to be the chef of restaurant ‘t Brouwerskolkje in Overveen, half an hour west of Amsterdam. He has recently moved to Amsterdam under a new name: &Samhoud Places and immediately received two stars from Michelin (the same as at Brouwerskolkje). We were curious and so went to pay a visit. We had the … Continue reading
Each year for the anniversary of our first date we go out to dinner on December 23 or 24 (the official date is December 24, but it’s not always possible to dine on that date due to restaurants preparing for Christmas). Last year we went to La Torre del Saracino near Naples, but this year … Continue reading
