De Kas

Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3
Amsterdam

I confess that I can’t go too long without a trip to de Kas. Every some odd months, I whisper to Joppe over the phone as the workday winds to a close “Meet me at the train station. I made a reservation at de Kas”.

I love the conservative yet relaxed atmosphere they’ve imbued in the dining area (an eight meter high glass conservatory) and their commitment to using only locally sourced, organic ingredients. De Kas means ‘the greenhouse’ in English; the restaurant was previously a municipal nursery and today many of the vegetables are grown in the gardens adjacent to the restaurant or on their own plot of land just outside of the city. After asking what you don’t eat, they serve a five-course set menu – everyday different and always including something memorable. We took Elsie, Dawn and my mother this past July and experienced an egg cooked for 30+ hours in a low temperature oven, which brought it to a consistency gorgeous enough to satisfy the hard and soft cook demands of everyone at the table. Every plate exemplifies the freshest and earthiest vegetables and greens of the season. I hope that May will be warm so you can do something we’ve yet to try — dine (or lunch!) on the terrace amidst their herb garden.