Lunch in Amsterdam

A few days ago, I had a lovely lunch at Amsterdam restaurant made possible by a colleague here, Markha. Since I had told her I was keen on food, she went into a lot of trouble to find a place in the Netherlands ‘which takes cooking seriously,’ – as she put it. There are good restaurants here, but also, its true a lot of mediocre ones. De Kas, founded by a Michelin star chef, is an exceptional place, which grows the many vegetables and greens, used in its dishes in an in a old municipal green house, right in the city. In every dish I had there, the greens were so fresh you could smell each one, just would if you were walking in a green house. That was remarkable sensation.

We had the fixed menu, there is only one -- for lunch a least, but it did not leave one wanting more.

there were three starters -- with the roasted fennel bulb, wrapped in ham, and the succulent roasted lobster claws, with the faint bitter after taste with a fleshy sweet sour beetroot accompaniments being quite exceptional its the subtle balance of their flavors. I'm resolved to try this, wrapping and roasting, with banddakka or green beens.

The main course was baked plaice, with a saffron cream sauce that highlighted the deep, mellow taste of the carefully cooked fish.

Marinated Strawberries were central to the trifle inspired dessert, that was topped with a yoghurt ice cream.

If you've been following my blog, you know I've been a little strawberry obsessed, recently. What I got from this De Kas dessert is how well delicate strawberries took to a subtle marinate. I'm going to try that at home.
But it didn't beat what I think of as two of my specials, strawberry curd and strawberry orgasm.