Restaurant Kasteel Heemstede * | Houten (NL)

What a glorious dinner and a beautiful showcase of perfection.
This dream team is ready to make it happen at this fairytale location!

Kasteel Heemstede (Kasteel is Dutch for Castle) was built in the Dutch Golden Age as a hunting lodge in classistic style. It was a pleasure resort in the time with a renaissance-style park with graceful walkways and baroque gardens.
However, the current building is brand new as the castle burnt down in 1987. Fortunately the castle was rebuilt from 1999 to 2002 in his old splendour and with it part of the gardens with coach houses and the orangery were reconstructed.

Together with the resurrection of the castle, Restaurant Kasteel Heemstede was opened in the basement of the castle by Head Chef André van Doorn. A year later the restaurant was awarded with a Michelin star, which it still holds. After 17 years, André van Doorn decided to sell the restaurant and since July 1st, the new owners are initiator Frans den Boer and Head Chef Ollie Schuiling.

IT entrepreneur and culinary art aficionado Frans den Boer jumped at the opportunity when his favourite restaurant came up for sale. He is currently transitioning his activities at his consultancy firm to be able to focus completely at his new career in hospitality.
He teamed up with Ollie Schuiling. Born in Olst (NL), Ollie started as a kitchen porter at Bökkers Molle and ‘t Veerhuys in his home village were they stimulated him to pursue a career as a chef. He was trained at the Cas Spijkers Academy by the man himself and gained his experience at a list of renowned restaurants like FG ** and De Leest *** in The Netherlands, La Vie *** in Germany and the last three years at Schloss Shauenstein *** in Switzerland were he worked under Andreas Caminada. Currently managing the kitchen from a distance and supporting Sous Chef Jeroen van Woudenberg who runs the kitchen onsite, Jeroen has been the Sous Chef at the restaurant for the last 10 years, so he knows his way. Ollie will move back to The Netherlands by the end of October.

Restaurant Kasteel Heemstede is open for lunch on Wednesday to Saturday and for dinner on Tuesday to Saturday. Besides an à la carte menu, they also offer a 7-course Menu Dégustation (at € 98.50) and a 5-course Menu “Kasteel Heemstede” (at € 75.00).

We had dinner on a Friday two weeks ago and had the 7-course Menu Dégustation.

We started off with a beautiful array of amuses bouches. A lovely thin, crispy cone filled with cucumber, crème fraîche and fresh mackerel. And on the right side, mint, peas, goat yoghurt and macadamia. Pure and fresh flavours to tantalise the taste buds.

Crunchy cup made of carrot, with a mousse of orange and lemon verbena. And a mind blowing merengue of coffee with foie gras. Didn’t expect those flavour combinations to work that well!

Herby sea bass tartare with chorizo oil. And in the bowl, watermelon with a foam of yoghurt, raspberry and herb oil. Again delicious combinations and tastes.
A very elegant display of amuse bouches. This is top level in finesse and flavours!

Warm, perfectly crusted, bread with cultured butter. Bread and butter correctly replaced by new ones when we finished the first lot.

Thin cannelloni of kohlrabi, filled with North Sea crab, apple and sweet and sour vegetables. Ice pearls of apple and lime on top and a ponzu vinaigrette. So delicate, yet such powerful flavours. What an absolute joy!

Joanne had perfectly seared scallops, instead of the North Sea crab (as she doesn’t eat cold fish or shellfish), with the same garnishes as my dish, with some butter lettuce. Beautiful!

Red mullet fillet, pan-fried on the skin, with artichokes, fennel puree, roasted fennel and a string bean foam and jus. Earthy, organic taste and flavour, with a nice level of anise from the fennel. Excellently balanced. yet keeping the mullet as the centre of attention throughout the dish.

Perfect cuisson of the pan-fried cod back fillet, silky courgette puree, salty salicornia (marsh samphire) and a bold, yet light, lobster coulis with olive oil. Dutch shrimps adding luxury in a gently manner. Next to the cod lay an aubergine ravioli, which was simply to die for! An honest presentation showing all the elements, yet so harmonious as a whole. Excellent showcase of skills and expertise in this dish!

A warm preparation of the Dutch shrimps for Joanne to go with her dish. Really appreciate the attention the detail and the lengths they go to accommodate the dietary requirements. Other kitchens would probably just have left the shrimp out, which wouldn’t have been a problem. But this shows dedication to perfection.

Quail first cooked on the bone, then the breast seared on the skin. Different preparations of corn: fresh, crispy and a smooth mousse. Confit of quail with a corn biscuit on top with black garlic and summer savory (bonenkruid in Dutch). Broad beans and a luxurious quail gravy. Great flaunt of textures, while still offering a comforting eating experience. Pure bliss!

Bold taste of the, perfectly seasoned, roasted back fillet of roebuck, sweet potato puree, chanterelle mushrooms, red and yellow beetroot and a velvety roebuck gravy with hibiscus. Traditional flavour combinations, excellently executed. Had great pleasure in dunking a piece of bread in the leftover gravy. I reckoned that licking the plate clean would have been too much….

Beautiful poached peach, intense almond granita almost tasting like marzipan, smooth white chocolate panna cotta, peach and elderflower jelly and some toasted almonds to provide crunch. Lovely combination of textures and mouth feels..

Sweet poached Goyse cherries, cherry sorbet, pastilles of frozen cherry and tonka bean, chocolate and a cherry broth. Delicious throughout and although most of the elements on the plate were cherry, it managed to deliver complexity and taste diversity. Grand celebration of the cherry enhanced with delicate chocolate!

And to finish a nice display of sweets. From left to right: Canelés with Custard, Apple Pie, Chocolate and Strawberry, Candied Orange and Chocolate, White Chocolate and Caramel.
Candied orange is called Sinaasappelsnipper in Dutch. Together with chocolate it makes a traditional Dutch sweet. Like the English have After Eight, we used to get this after dinner in the eighties!

What a glorious dinner and a beautiful showcase of perfection. Highlights of the menu were the red mullet and the extraordinary quail dish, but loved all dishes and couldn’t fault any of them. Our dinner exceeded the one Michelin star standard and I’m very curious to see what the Michelin ranking will be in the 2020 guide.

Like the food, the service is of an impeccable high standard. The front of house is lead by Maître-Sommelier Koen van der Plas, who joined this new venture in July after working seven years at Inter Scaldes *** in The Netherlands. Koen and his team breath experience and serve each dish with a natural ease, which totally contributes to this excellent dining experience.

Frans den Boer and Ollie Schuiling are clearly in it to win it and they have gathered a dream team who are ready to make it happen at this fairytale location! Frans den Boer is living the dream and I love his passion, which is quite contagious.
We had a great conversation with Frans after our dinner, when he explained the refurbishments and changes that are coming between now and early next year. We will keep an eye on this castle and we can’t wait to be back and see how it all pans out!