De Willem

Jef van den Hout's fine-dining half of the Haarlemmerpoort gate: French technique run through kombu, sake and laksa curry.

The Haarlemmerpoort gate holds two different restaurants under De Kopgroep's name: a café at number 66 for natural wine and raspatat, and, tucked in at number 58, the real kitchen. Chef Jef van den Hout, ex Conservatorium Hotel and Bord'Eau, runs a card that looks French on paper, Voor, Tussen, Hoofd, a Chef's Menu at four, five or six courses, and eats like something else entirely: a coquille pickled in kombu with citrus cream, koolrabi tartare with aguachile and lime leaf, a scallop in sake beurre blanc under a mushroom XO, monkfish in laksa curry with Thai basil. It is French-Asian fusion done with real technique rather than garnish, and it does not apologise for either half. Van den Hout also runs the kitchen at Roest, De Kopgroep's other big room out on Oostenburg, so this is where to find him in a tighter, quieter format: marble, wood, small round tables, a wine cellar underground. Reopened in 2024 after a permit hiccup closed the doors, it has settled back into being the more serious of the Haarlemmerpoort's two rooms.

Restaurant seating Wed-Thu from 18:00, Fri-Sat from 12:00, closed Sun-Tue (the café at no. 66 next door runs daily from 12:00 if you land on an off night). The Chef's Menu at €59/69/79 for four, five or six courses is the fastest route through the fusion range.

Photo: De Willem, via De Westkrant