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Cronesteyn · Leiden · Netherlands

De Tuin van de Smid

A relaxed organic teahouse and almost fully vegetarian kitchen set among the meadows, farm animals and willow huts of Leiden's Polderpark Cronesteyn.

The essentials, at a glance

◐
Impact score
4 - Endorsed
→
Documented practices
Local sourcing
Low waste
Sustainable meat/fish plant-based kitchen
Social impact
Plant-forward menu

Style
Café
Casual
Cosy
Cuisine
Dutch
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Bar
Private dining room
Wheelchair accessible
Child-friendly
Laptop-friendly

The delicious details

De Tuin van de Smid sits in the middle of Polderpark Cronesteyn, a green polder on the edge of Leiden, where a teahouse and event spaces share three hectares of grass terraces with sheep, chickens and a children's farm. The kitchen works exclusively with organic ingredients and keeps the menu almost entirely vegetarian, with vegan dishes throughout.

Beyond the plate, it works as a slow morning coffee stop, a family afternoon by the play field, or a place for a workshop such as a blacksmith demonstration or a guided nature walk. The animals are cared for by volunteers, and the mood stays quiet and unhurried.

Solar panels power the building, and organic, regional sourcing shapes what reaches the table.

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

Almost entirely vegetarian, built on organic ingredients with vegan options across breakfast, lunch and dinner. Homemade cakes, pastries, gluten-free and dairy-free dishes are regular offerings. The team handles coeliac requirements carefully. A small shop sells local products to take home; the drinks list includes organic coffee, tea, beer, wine and cocktails.

Cuisine
Dutch
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Vegan-friendly
Gluten-free options
Dairy-free options
Allergies handling

The kitchen takes dietary accommodations seriously. Gluten-free and dairy-free dishes are part of the regular offering, and the team is familiar with serving guests with coeliac disease. Notify the restaurant at booking if you have specific dietary requirements.

What the restaurant explicitly accommodates
Milk (on request)
Gluten (on request)
Coeliac diet: The team is experienced in serving guests with coeliac disease and handles gluten-free requirements carefully.
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
4 - Endorsed

The kitchen has built up steady practice across several areas of responsible cooking. Its menu is almost entirely vegetarian and organic, so meat and fish are largely kept off the plate and vegetables and plant based dishes lead the offering.

The building runs on solar power, and the wider operation, from the organic sourcing to the volunteer run children's farm, points to a low impact way of working. Ingredients are chosen from organic and, where possible, regional suppliers, and a small shop passes local products on to guests.

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

Kitchen positions itself around organic, regional sourcing and sells local products in an on-site shop.

The kitchen works exclusively with organic ingredients and states a commitment to regional suppliers and small local businesses. Local sourcing appears as a guiding principle, and the venue operates a small shop selling local products to guests.

No named, traceable suppliers (farms, growers, producers) are identified in available sources, which prevents the dimension from reaching score 3 despite the clear positioning.

Strongest sourcethegreenlist.nl ↗

Editorial listings reference seasonal soup and a refreshed menu, indicating some seasonal engagement.

An editorial source mentions soup made with seasonal ingredients and notes that the menu has been refreshed, signalling at least some seasonal awareness. The venue's position in a polder landscape with farm operations suggests a potential for seasonal produce availability.

There is no evidence of a structured, regularly rotating seasonal menu that would indicate seasonality as a guiding principle. The dimension therefore sits at 2, reflecting occasional rather than systematic engagement.

Strongest sourcethegreenlist.nl ↗

Solar panels power the building; the operation includes an on-site shop reselling local products; organic and plant-based menu reduces food waste.

The restaurant names a specific energy practice: solar panels power the building, visible on its own website. The operation is described as organic, vegetarian and socially responsible. An on-site shop resells local products, reducing the need for packaged goods.

Food-waste and packaging practices are not detailed across other sub-areas, and the dimension sits at 3 on the evidence of the named solar-power practice and the broader sustainable operation. An independent award (Gaia Green Awards 2023) is noted for confirmation but could not be verified in available sources.

Strongest sourcedetuinvandesmid.nl ↗

The restaurant is almost entirely vegetarian with vegan options throughout.

The venue is consistently described as vegetarian with vegan dishes throughout across its own channels and multiple vegetarian and vegan directories. No meat or fish dishes appear on menus consulted, and the kitchen's commitment to vegetables and plant-based cooking is central to its identity.

The dimension is scored not applicable on the basis that animal products are not offered. One source references '98% vegetarian', suggesting a very small non-vegetarian element may exist; this is noted for confirmation should the specifics be clarified.

Strongest sourcethegreenlist.nl ↗

The venue runs a volunteer-supported children's farm and community workshops, and is welcoming to diverse guests including LGBTQ+ and transgender visitors.

The venue is described as socially responsible and explicitly welcoming. It runs a volunteer-supported children's farm and community workshops including blacksmith demonstrations and guided nature walks. The setting is noted as LGBTQ+ friendly and provides a safe environment for transgender guests.

No named partner organisation, employment initiative, or formal fair-employment practice is documented in available sources, which places the dimension at 2. Social commitment is often under-evidenced online and may be richer than public sources show.

Strongest sourceleontebbens.eu ↗

The menu is almost entirely vegetarian with vegan dishes throughout, and the restaurant appears on vegetarian and vegan directories.

The menu is almost entirely vegetarian and built on organic ingredients, with vegan options across breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plant-based dishes are clearly the kitchen's priority rather than an add-on, and the venue is listed in dedicated vegetarian and vegan directories.

The dimension reaches 4 rather than 5 because the offering centres on teahouse and lunch fare rather than a vegetable-led fine-dining identity, and no specialist plant-forward guide has formally recognised the restaurant.

Strongest sourcethegreenlist.nl ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Polderpad 8, 2322 LB Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€
Format
Garden teahouse, grass terraces, almost fully vegetarian menu with gluten-free and vegan options, card payment only
Hours
Monday09:30–17:00
Tuesday09:30–17:00
Wednesday09:30–17:00
Thursday09:30–17:00
Friday09:30–20:00
Saturday09:30–20:00
Sunday09:30–17:00
Style
Café
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Bar
Private dining room
Wheelchair accessible
Child-friendly
Laptop-friendly
Web
detuinvandesmid.nl
Reserve a table
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 12 Jul 2026
Link copied
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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