Restaurant Flore

The recently renovated restaurant Flore reflects the spirit and cooking style of chef Bas van Kranen. It is an extension of his culinary vision, where the use of local ingredients and sustainably sourced products is central...

Excellent cooking

Restaurant Flore is located in the stately L'Europe hotel and underwent a major transformation in early 2025. The chic ambiance, furnished with beautiful and natural materials, accommodates thirty-four guests. A kitchen table has also been created, where several guests can take a seat. Executive chef Bas van Kranen and his team operate here with a specific vision, 'conscious fine dining', a sustainable and pure approach to cooking. They utilize new (often Japanese) cooking techniques and pure flavor profiles achieved through the use of many plant-based ingredients. This is immediately apparent in the refined amuse of tofu and oak mushroom in coffee shoyu, enriched with beech nuts. Guests can choose between a seasonally rotating omnivore menu featuring sustainably caught fish, organically grown vegetables and fruit, and responsibly sourced meat, alongside a fully plant-based botanic menu. We start with a classic featuring twenty-six flowers and fruits in a single dish, surrounded by a delightful sauce based on yellow tomato, plum, and habanero. In our opinion, this should always remain on the menu. The sommelier team led by Antonello Nicastri and supported by Lars Kleverlaan, Freek Pongers, and Gabriel Bocchia was represented during our visit by the latter two. The poured blend of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, and Müller-Thurgau from the Austrian winery Von der Vogelweide harmoniously complements the vegetable and floral palette. Hostess and restaurant manager Roos Stevens then serves a piece of seven-day dry-aged beef tenderloin, briefly barbecued and garnished with various fresh yellow and red tomatoes, accompanied by a sauce of yellow zucchini, Dutch saffron, rosehip, and 'nduja. An eye-pleasing, clean dish, perfectly seasoned with the lightly spicy sauce. The accompanying wine, a juicy light ruby-red Cypriot Tsiakkas Mouklos-Mavro, surprises and enchants. The small cup of tea to conclude is rather petite, but the delicate pastries and confections, including a sunflower seed praline with sourdough bread ice cream, sour blackberry, red basil flower, and thyme, more than make up for it. It drops one place to a 9.

Flore is part of the stately Hotel De L’Europe. The classically furnished dining room, with its light flooring, snow-white table linen, and wine cabinets lining the walls, offers an oasis of tranquility. The tables are positioned to guarantee complete privacy. Executive Chef Bas van Kranen champions conscious fine dining, an extremely sustainable and original approach to working with nature. This philosophy is not heavily marketed to guests, but rather serves as an underlying working method embraced by Bas and his team. He cooks exclusively with Dutch produce and has banned dairy and beef from his kitchen. Flore features rotating menus, which can also be ordered entirely vegetarian. We choose the five-course omnivore menu and are treated to a wine and juice pairing curated by head sommelier Antonelli Nicastri—a walking wine encyclopedia—and first sommelier Lars Kleverlaan. With a glass of bubbles, we enjoy rich amuse-bouches, including a yellow tomato broth with Sichuan pepper and edible flowers, alongside a mix of oyster, sardine, and salami served in an oak bark sauce. Subtle, stimulating flavor surprises and striking first impressions. We are served the first course at the chef's table in the kitchen, which is an experience in itself; no fewer than 25 (!) different vegetables and fruits are presented in various preparations, accompanied by fig peel oil, roasted hazelnut foam, quince, white miso, and kamado-fermented potato. Minimal quantity, maximum sensation. In the glass, a matching white Gilvesy PIXU 2022, full of beautiful fresh notes and aged on Hungarian oak. Between courses, there is ample time for personal attention, and maître Roos Stevens provides delightful insights into the breathtaking yet minimalist creations on the plate. The razor clam with unripe blueberries, white beans, green asparagus, and parsley and nettle foam is elegantly composed and phenomenally flavorful. A Micaela Manzanilla white sherry completes the pairing. A fillet of dry-aged sea bass grilled on the skin is accompanied by yellow zucchini with Thai basil, goji berries, and a bouillabaisse sauce. For the raspberry-tomato sorbet with bee pollen in an elderflower sauce, Lars pours a light red, fresh-sweet, and sparkling Fosso della Rosa, along with a juice of jasmine, hibiscus, and blackberries. As if an angel... Drops two places to eighth position in this guide's Top 10.

Opened in 2021 and now firmly among the finest establishments in Dutch gastronomy. Chef Bas van Kranen, originally from Limburg, is raking in (green) stars under the roof of Hotel De L’Europe in Amsterdam. Booking requires patience, as this small restaurant features just eleven tables and demand to dine here is through the roof. The best seats are by the window, offering views of the canal and the Munttoren. Bas practices conscious fine dining, representing an extremely sustainable and original approach to working with what Mother Nature has to offer. He avoids dairy and beef. Fish, crustaceans, and shellfish are served only in season. The menu lists some ingredients for each dish, but upon departure you receive an envelope containing the fully itemized menu, allowing you to calmly review it at home. Because quite a lot happens on the plate. We choose the Ocean menu, featuring fish, crustaceans, and shellfish, along with vegetables, fruits, flowers, young shoots, and nuts, and dive into the adventure. The signature dish, featuring over twenty-five varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers prepared in different ways (pickled, brined, cooked, raw, steamed), drizzled with a watercress oil dressing and quince sauce, plus roasted hazelnuts and white miso, is truly impressive. We are invited to enjoy this dish in the kitchen. Bas has his chefs provide a detailed explanation. Quite approachable, and it highlights his engagement and team spirit. All dishes are a feast for the taste buds, but the turbot stands out as truly memorable. The fish is dry-aged and wrapped in hoja santa leaves (Mexican pepper leaf). On the plate, a piece of fillet and a piece of wing that is fattier. The recommendation is to eat both combined. Served alongside is a golden-yellow puree made from various peppers: aji amarillo, aji mirasol, and aji panca from Mexican and Peruvian cuisine. Without any heat, but with a lovely floral flavor. In the center of the puree sits a flower salsa and a touch of caviar. Surrounding it is a jus made from roasted turbot heads. What a wealth of flavors on the plate. Accompanying it is a 'taco' made from Indian pepper leaf, filled with flowers, fresh apricot, and coriander. In the glass, a Merga Victa from Croatia made from Posip, a long-forgotten but light-bodied grape variety. The wine has undergone considerable oak aging, which brings it into excellent balance. In perfect harmony with the turbot. Simply world-class. Rises to a 6.

On the banks of the Amstel, in the renowned Hotel l’Europe, sits the small, intimate restaurant Flore. Here, chef Bas van Kranen cooks at an exceptionally high level. His concept of ‘conscious fine dining’, where sustainability, creativity, and seasonal local produce are key, is now receiving national acclaim. And rightly so, because the cooking here is absolutely exquisite. The amuses are partially prepared tableside, such as crayfish cooked on a small Japanese tabletop grill. For the starter comes the chef’s signature dish: a composition of at least twenty different vegetables prepared in various ways, drizzled with horseradish foam and lava oil. It blows us away. Pure, refined, and meticulously crafted down to the finest details. To accompany it, maître and sommelier Wouter Denessen pours a lovely organic Wild White wine from the Dassemus winery in Alphen-Chaam, Netherlands. The lightly pan-seared kingfish from a Dutch hatchery, topped with fig compote and a sauce featuring kingfish roe, also delights, being highly innovative and intensely flavorful. For the main course, lightly pan-seared Gascony pork neck with a salad of roasted white and green asparagus, served within a ring of lime blossom and hazelnut sauce. A distinctive combination where richness is certainly not shunned. Chamomile ice cream with green strawberries, finished with almond milk and accompanied by wild herb leaves, serves as the dessert and arrives on the plate like a miniature painting. Flore belongs to the finest tier in the hospitality landscape. Hats off! Rises to a 10.

The restaurant at Hotel de l’Europe has been renamed from Bord’Eau to Flore, derived from the word flora. Executive Chef Bas van Kranen and his team have developed a new concept: conscious fine dining that places sustainability, creativity, and seasonal local products at its core. Dairy is completely omitted and meat is rarely served. The menu changes weekly. In the restaurant’s cellar lies a fermentation lab where juices and vegetables are preserved. Maître Wouter Denessen radiates enthusiasm, as does sommelier Naduah Bronsveld, who hails from Lastage in Amsterdam. There is no need to choose; the menu offers no fewer than seventeen taste sensations. Following an array of creative amuse-bouches comes the signature dish, Vegetables of the Moment, consisting of twenty-five vegetables prepared in twenty-five different ways. It presents an enchanting white-and-green palette, bursting with fresh flavors. The bean dish with hazelnut sauce also scores highly, featuring white beans, miso beans, and a chef-created white bean variety that delivers a liquid flavor explosion. Simple in ingredients yet sublime in execution. A standout pairing is the Viré-Clessé wine with the cuttlefish, a noble rot wine, yet without any sweetness. All dishes are light, elegant, and refined in flavor. A dessert of poached apricots with champagne and rosehip oil brings the memorable dinner to a close. That certainly deserves recognition. Flore holds a firm spot in the Top 20 at number 16.