Choux

The deep-red former factory behind Central Station where vegetables earned a Michelin star and the natural wine comes in through the house's own importer.

The red-painted factory building on the quay behind Central Station has been quietly outcooking half the city since 2015. Choux began as pop-up kids with natural wine convictions and grew up into a Michelin star, collected in 2025 without changing the plan: ninety percent vegetables and fruit, ten percent mostly game and shellfish, everything fermented, pickled or smoked somewhere on the premises, including a house condiment line called 621 Ferments. Merijn van Berlo still oversees the kitchen and there are more ideas per plate here than at tasting menus twice the price. Five courses run 82.50 euros, and the Theatre Menu gets you three for 52.50 if you hand the table back by 8pm. The wine is the other half of the story: owner Figo van Onna is a sommelier first, imports through sister company Zuiver Wijnen, and runs a bottle shop with wine bar a few doors down at number 143. He will tell you the Michelin star matters less to him than the team, and after years of stubborn filter-only coffee the espresso machine is back, which counts as growth. Card only, and vegetarians are the default rather than an accommodation.

Take the 18:00 Theatre Menu seat: same kitchen, 52.50 euros, table until 20:00. Then walk to the Zuiver Wijnen bar at De Ruijterkade 143 for another glass. Book by phone or email, no online widget, and nothing over 8 people.

Photo: The Greenlist