Bites: Restaurant Report: &Samhoud Places in Amsterdam

&Samhoud Inspirations

On the new summer menu, horse mackerel "mangrove style."

It's been a busy last 12 months or so for Amsterdam: a royal coronation, the reopening of the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, the 400th anniversary of the city's emblematic canals. So it's not surprising that a delicious development has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle: the opening of a serious and strikingly original restaurant. The curiously named &Samhoud Places made its debut last August in the modern and redeveloping Oosterdokseiland district, and was awarded two Michelin stars in November.

The molecular cooking of the Israeli-born chef Moshik Roth has alternately delighted adventurous locals and ruffled the feathers of those accustomed to the old-school formality of the Gallic-style dining that has long dominated the city's high-end culinary scene.

Mr. Roth's witty and almost antically inventive modern cooking evokes the proudly cosmopolitan character of his adopted hometown and his own eclectic background. He attended hotel school in Israel, where he met his future Dutch wife. Following her back to the Netherlands, he ultimately opened a restaurant, 't Brouwerskolkje, in Overveen, which eventually held two Michelin stars until it closed so that he and his business partner, Salem Samhoud, could open &Samhoud Places.

Though it's possible to order à la carte, the best way to experience Mr. Roth's cooking is with one of the tasting menus that change with the seasons. All begin with four hors d'oeuvres, which constitute a teasing preview.

At a recent meal, these two intricately nuanced starters followed: a slow-cooked egg with Spanish prawns, Oscietra caviar and 16-year-old Lagavulin whisky, and a scallop garnished with sea buckthorn, sesame, pear and lime, accompanied by a tiny crab-filled buckwheat crepe.

Given many of those ingredients, it will come as no surprise that Mr. Roth's talent shimmers with seafood, as in the lyrically labeled "Garden in the Sea," a brilliant composition of oysters and various sea vegetables in a citrus-chamomile broth, all under a little cloud of sea urchin foam. (A vegetarian tasting menu is spectacular, too.)

Desserts are less exhilarating — Mr. Roth's wizardry seems to work better with the savory than the sweet.

&Samhoud Places, Oosterdokskade 5, Amsterdam; 31-20-260-2094; samhoudplaces.com. Six-course tasting menu, 169.50 euros ($226 at $1.34 to the euro); three courses, 129.50 euros; average à la carte, about 300 euros for two people.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Bites: Restaurant Report: &Samhoud Places in Amsterdam

Dengan url

http://travelwisatawan.blogspot.com/2013/08/bites-restaurant-report-places-in.html

Travel Wisata