Five Dutch pure plant top chefs serve their view on sustainable gastronomy

The Seminar  

Starter: Roasted rutabaga | lovage vinaigrette | preserved figs | Marloeskes | chicken liver pâté

The Seminar works with organically grown vegetables and herbs from its own garden and keeps its own animals, with a strong focus on animal welfare. Daniel Schutte: "Our view of sustainable gastronomy goes beyond organic. It is also about how the ingredients are processed; we process cows and pigs from head to tail, so that our ecological footprint remains limited.
The vegetables form the core of the dish. This is accompanied by roasted rutabaga, dressed with fig compote and coarse mustard. We make a vinaigrette and a cream from lovage, to which we also add carrot tops. We cook the Marloeskes (small onions, ed.) sous-vide and sear them for a roasted flavor. Lastly, we made chicken liver pâté from farm-raised chicken, the rest of the chicken was processed into chicken broth, and we made crispy chips from the skin.

Photocredits : Jesaja Hizkia

Bolenius  

Starter: Kohlrabi | hazelnut | sea lettuce

Luc Kusters: "Kohlrabi grows very well in our soil, so I like to work with it. But I also have a true passion for seaweed, the production needs to be scaled up. The first ‘field’ in the North Sea is now in production. If we all start eating more seaweed, it will be good for our health (plant-based source of protein), but also good for the environment (low carbon footprint). I have used four types of seaweed in this starter: dulse, sea lettuce, kelp, and nori, that all play a distinctive role in texture and taste."

Photocredits : Jesaja Hizkia

Restaurant One  

Intermediate course: Red cabbage | beetroot | black garlic gnocchi | Tomasu soy sauce

Edwin Soumang: "At restaurant One radical sustainability means working with locally sourced ingredients, fresh from nature and without unnecessary additives. We let the pure flavors speak for themselves. The red cabbage and beetroot in this dish come from our own vegetable garden. After cooking, we dried the beets and then soaked them again in beet juice, giving them a special licorice-like texture. We serve the gnocchi with fermented black garlic, also from our own garden. In the sauce, we use Tomasu soy sauce: a wonderful Dutch artisanal product, rich in umami. The fresh, elegant Telmont Blanc de Noirs champagne is a perfect counterpart to the earthy notes and umami in the dish, enhancing each other.

Photocredits : Jesaja Hizkia

Flore  

Main course: Turbot | rosehip 'nduja | peppers | squid

Bas van Kranen: “It is often thought that sustainable gastronomy automatically means that you can only serve vegetables. I disagree. For me, it is especially important to know where my products come from and how they are made. We are particularly selective in all the parties we work with.” Take fish, for example. Van Kranen: "The main course is based on the entire catch of Hendrik Kramer, a sustainable North Sea fisherman from Wild 'n Zilt. The boat Kramer uses for fishing is hybrid and therefore consumes only 10% of the diesel that a normal fishing boat uses. He has had special nets developed, with a large and small size, which has halved the amount of bycatch. This dish is made entirely from his catch. The ‘target species’ was squid, but he also caught langoustines and turbot as bycatch. We lightly brined and grilled the turbot. The grill is an essential component of Flore's kitchen. We serve it with a rosehip 'nduja and a bolognese with leftover octopus."

Photocredits : Jesaja Hizkia

Mearkas  

Snack: Tiger squid with kohlrabi | spices and stokâlde Fryske

Dessert: Buckwheat pancakes with apple | cranberry | hazelnut | chestnut and Madeira sorbet

Kees Meinderts: "Mearkas is located in the more conservative north of the country. When it comes to sustainability, we focus primarily on the region in which we are located. What's on the plate is what you'll find in nature when you take a walk here. We want to get people on board and enthuse them about sustainable gastronomy. Our restaurant is surrounded by nature, and I see more and more opportunities and things we can do even better. We are gradually working towards that. 

The Telmont Réserve Rosé, has flavors of red fruit—cherries, raspberries—brioche notes, slightly fatty. Hence the buckwheat pancakes. Buckwheat is a poor man's grain from the declining region where we live. It is grown in our greenhouse. The apples from our yard are cooked in caramel syrup. Cranberries and hazelnuts also come from the northern Netherlands, and we picked the chestnuts ourselves. The Madeira sorbet ultimately brings everything together. That's the only ingredient that comes from further afield."

Photocredits : Jesaja Hizkia