Dutch chef Richard Ekkebus will be returning to cook in the Netherlands at Rijks Restaurant on 26 and 27 January with Joris Bijdendijk. The restaurant is housed in the Rijks Museum.
Ekkebus is chef of the world acclaimed Hong Kong restaurant Amber which is housed in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
The Dutch chef from Vlissingen has trained with some of the greatest three- star chefs in France including Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Passard and Guy Savoy.
After an impressive career he became executive chef of Amber. The restaurant, which ranked 56th in the World’s 50 Best restaurants list 2018 and 7th in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 list is currently closed for refurbishment.
At Amber, Ekkebus strives to use the best and freshest ingredients that mainly come from Japan and Europe.
For the last weekend of January, chef Ekkebus and Bijdendijk will create a special four-hands menu for lunch and dinner. Richard said that it was inspiring for him and his team to cook in the restaurant of one of the most iconic museums in the world. “It is a location with so much history of my homeland. It will enable us to come into contact with the rich Dutch history and in particular the Golden Age where Dutch roamed the work in search of exotic spices. I am a true culinary gypsy and this tour through Europe, Africa and Asia is a true journey in the search for inspiration for Amber 2.0.
Amber is currently closed for refurbishment. In an interview with Food and Wine Gazette Ekkebus had said that for him and his team it is going to be like reopening.
Amber was once called the ‘Da Vinci code menu restaurant’ because of the avant garde approach he took to Hong Kong traditions, Ekkebus said that he felt that ‘we are coming to a point where everybody loves us and we need to find something new to push a little bit further and to get clients a bit outside their comfort zone.”
The Dutch chef said a number of important changes will be made. “We are asking ourselves whether we should have a menu or not, whether we should serve food a la carte and so forth. We are at the stage where we are questioning a lot of things. For me, it is not just about the food but also about the service, about what our customers expect and about creating wow moments.”
The collaboration takes place on Saturday and Sunday 26 and 27 January. Bijdendijk and Ekkebus will prepare a special menu during the weekend. The lunch and dinner menu consists of 8 courses. The price is EUR 180 per person. Reservations can be made on the following link.
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