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Hilversum · Netherlands

Bij de Tuinman

A vegetable-led vegetarian restaurant beside its own kitchen garden on the wooded De Hoorneboeg estate in Hilversum, where the harvest shapes a seasonal, mainly weekend menu.

The essentials, at a glance

◐
Impact score
4 - Recognised
→
Documented practices
Local sourcing
Seasonal cooking
Low waste
Sustainable meat/fish plant-based kitchen
Plant-forward menu

Style
Casual
Cosy
Cuisine
Dutch
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Private dining room

The delicious details

Bij de Tuinman is the vegetable restaurant of Buitenplaats De Hoorneboeg, set in a historic gardener's cottage on the edge of a kitchen garden that has been cultivated on this wooded estate since 1881. Vegetables take the leading role here, and the kitchen builds its dishes around whatever the garden and the surrounding land are yielding.

Much of what reaches the plate is grown a few steps from the terrace, alongside honey from the estate's own bees and apple cider from neighbouring producer Elegast. The garden is worked without synthetic pesticides and enriched with natural compost, so the menu shifts with each harvest and every visit brings a slightly different taste of the season.

The setting is small and relaxed, with tables in the old cottage and on a sunny terrace beside the beds of pumpkins, courgettes, beans and berries. Open mainly at weekends, it is a place built around fresh, seasonal, plant-forward cooking.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

The menu is entirely vegetarian with at least half fully plant-based, built around the garden's seasonal harvest. A three-course surprise menu (Het Tafeltje van de Tuinman) changes with each crop, with dedicated vegan substitutions and organic wines.

Cuisine
Dutch
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Vegan-friendly
Dairy-free options
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
4 - Recognised

Much of the produce is grown in the restaurant's own kitchen garden and gathered from the surrounding estate, including honey from its own bees and apple cider from neighbouring producer Elegast, giving it unusually short and direct sourcing. The menu follows the rhythm of the seasons closely, changing with each harvest so that dishes reflect what is ripe.

The garden is tended without synthetic pesticides and enriched with natural compost, and the kitchen deliberately keeps its choice small to limit food waste. Cooking is entirely vegetable-led: every dish is vegetarian and at least half are fully plant-based, putting vegetables at the centre of the plate.

Its plant-forward approach is recognised with LEKKER VEGA Gold certification from the Dutch vegetarian association.

The impact dimensions
Local & direct sourcing✓
Seasonal cooking✓
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products✓
n/a
Plant-forward menu✓

Strong local and direct sourcing from the restaurant's own kitchen garden, estate honey, and named neighbouring producers like Elegast.

The restaurant grows a meaningful share of its produce—pumpkins, courgettes, beans, potatoes and berries—in the De Hoorneboeg estate's kitchen garden, cultivated since 1881. Honey comes from the estate's own bees, and apple cider from named neighbouring producer Elegast. Beyond these direct sources, the kitchen sources from local growers on the surrounding land, creating a largely on-site and short-chain sourcing model.

This short-chain, direct-sourcing model is self-declared but corroborated by independent regional listings and the Dutch vegetarian association.

Strongest sourcevisitgooivecht.nl ↗

Cooking follows the garden's seasonal rhythm, with menus changing regularly in step with the harvest.

The menu shifts with each harvest, and the restaurant designs dishes around whatever the garden and surrounding land are yielding at any moment. The restaurant explicitly states that it uses seasonal vegetables as much as possible, tying the dining experience directly to the crop cycle.

Every visit brings slightly different flavours depending on what is ripe at the time. This harvest-driven approach is well evidenced across the restaurant's own material and independent listings from regional sources.

Strongest sourcevisitgooivecht.nl ↗

The restaurant enriches its garden with natural compost and deliberately keeps its menu small to limit food waste.

Two concrete circular practices support this score: the kitchen garden is enriched with natural compost, closing an organic loop between the kitchen's waste and the growing operation. The restaurant also deliberately keeps its menu choice small to reduce food surplus and waste.

Evidence is self-declared on the restaurant's website and corroborated only by the vegetarian association listing, with no independent audit or named waste-management partner.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

Not applicable—the restaurant is fully vegetarian and serves no meat, poultry, fish or seafood.

Dimension 4 does not apply to fully plant-based kitchens. This restaurant is 100% vegetarian with at least half the menu fully plant-based, confirmed by the LEKKER VEGA Gold certification from the Dutch vegetarian association and all menu materials.

Strongest sourcevegetariers.nl ↗

A fully vegetable-led restaurant: the entire menu is vegetarian with at least half the dishes fully plant-based, recognised with LEKKER VEGA Gold certification.

Vegetables are the conceptual and practical centre of every dish. The entire menu is vegetarian, with at least 50% of dishes fully plant-based. The kitchen offers extensive vegan accommodation through substitutions rather than simple omissions of meat or dairy.

The restaurant's plant-forward approach is formally recognised with LEKKER VEGA Gold certification from the Dutch vegetarian association, a credential specific to plant-forward dining. No We're Smart Green Guide listing was found; the score is based on the strongest available evidence from the vegetarian association and corroborated menu details.

Strongest sourcevegetariers.nl ↗
Sourcing signals
✓
Own-grown produce
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
✓
Low-impact beverage program

A meaningful share of the produce is grown in the restaurant's own kitchen garden on the De Hoorneboeg estate (cultivated since 1881), including pumpkins, courgettes, beans, potatoes and berries, plus honey from the estate's own bees. Dishes vary with the garden harvest.

Apple cider is sourced from named neighbouring producer Elegast; further produce comes from local growers in addition to the restaurant's own garden.

The drinks list features organic wines and locally sourced apple cider from neighbouring producer Elegast; house cocktails are also offered.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Hoorneboeg 4, 1213 RE Hilversum, Hilversum, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€
Format
Weekend service; seasonal tasting menu; tables in cottage and terrace. Reservations via website.
Hours
MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
ThursdayClosed
FridayClosed
Saturday09:00–21:00
Sunday09:00–21:00
Style
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Private dining room
Web
bijdetuinman.nl
Reserve a table
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 12 Jul 2026
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How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into a planet rating from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
This place
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Ratings of four or five planets require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
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How this dimension works
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How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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