The White Room

Jacob Jan Boerma's starred name-restaurant in the old Krasnapolsky ballroom, cooked today by Tristan de Boer, while Boerma builds Blik across town.

De Witte Zaal opened in 1885 and is still the grandest room in the city to eat in, gold leaf ceilings, chandeliers, wall panels nobody has had the nerve to touch. Jacob Jan Boerma built The White Room here in 2016, on the reputation of three stars at De Leest, and won his own star within a couple of years. He handed the stove to Tristan de Boer in 2021, Amsterdam-born, and stayed on as signature chef rather than walking away outright. De Boer's cooking leans into the city's old trading routes: Indonesian, Japanese, Thai and Surinamese threads run through Dutch produce across two tasting menus, Gold and Green, both €185, both built around citrus, acid and flavour combinations a smaller room might not risk. Boerma, meanwhile, went back to actual cooking himself in 2025 at bistro-bar Blik, a looser, cheaper room across town. The two restaurants read like a set: one is the formal hall where his name still hangs on the door, the other is where he goes to loosen his tie.

Dinner Wed-Sat from 18:00 (last arrival 20:15), lunch Saturday only 12:00-16:00 (last arrival 13:15), closed Sun-Tue. Gold and Green menus both run €185; the classic pairing at €130 covers either one.

Photo: The White Room, via Stefan Gourmet