Graham's Kitchen

Fine-dining precision in a side street off the Van Woustraat, minus the starch.

Just off the Van Woustraat, in a street most people only use as a shortcut to the Amstel, British chef Graham Mee runs the most quietly ambitious kitchen in this end of De Pijp. His CV winds through Michelin-starred kitchens, and it shows in the plating, precise, seasonal, occasionally showing off, but the room itself refuses the fine-dining costume drama: no tablecloth theatre, no hushed voices, just very good cooking served by people who seem pleased you came. Menus run from three courses up to a full tasting parade, built around whatever the season is doing, with vegetables treated as headliners rather than garnish. It's where you take someone you want to impress without pretending to be someone you're not. Tuesday to Saturday, evenings only, which tells you everything about how seriously the kitchen takes its prep days.

Go for the longer tasting menu with wine pairings, the mid-course vegetable dishes are where Mee shows off.

Photo: Graham's Kitchen