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Utrecht · Netherlands

Restaurant De Watertoren

Modern European fine dining on the upper floors of a 1934 water tower in Utrecht, with chef Bram van der Bor cooking French inflected, vegetable rich seasonal menus above a panoramic city view.

The essentials, at a glance

◐
Impact score
3 - Endorsed
→
Documented practices
Local sourcing
Seasonal cooking
Low waste

Style
Fine dining
Cuisine
French
International
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room

The delicious details

Restaurant De Watertoren occupies the ninth and tenth floors of a 1934 water tower south of Utrecht Centraal. Diners on the ninth floor sit alongside the open kitchen, while the tenth floor offers a 360 degree panorama across the city. The elevated dining room is the establishment's distinctive identity.

Chef Bram van der Bor leads a kitchen built around four to six course tasting menus and an à la carte selection, with French technique applied to vegetable prominent dishes that follow the seasons. The restaurant's stated approach is to cook with as many local products as possible and to use organic ingredients where possible, drawing on a small group of named regional suppliers.

The kitchen makes a meaningful share of its components in house, including ferments, pickles, sauces, and breads. Service runs across dinner seven days a week and lunch from Friday to Sunday.

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

Dinner menus comprise four, five, and six course tasting options and à la carte starters, mains, and desserts. French technique anchors vegetable-prominent dishes that follow the seasons—spring brings morels and white asparagus, summer brings tomato and strawberry, autumn brings venison and sea buckthorn. A meaningful share of components is prepared in house: ferments, pickles, sauces, and breads. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan options are available on request.

Cuisine
French
International
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Vegan-friendly
Gluten-free options
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
3 - Endorsed

Menus at De Watertoren rotate with the seasons: spring dishes feature morels, white asparagus, and wild garlic; summer brings tomato and strawberry; autumn includes venison and sea buckthorn. The kitchen's seasonal approach runs across both the tasting menu and the à la carte selection.

The kitchen sources from a named group of regional suppliers, including Landzicht Biologisch, an organic farm cooperative, and Jan Veer Mvis, a Dutch fish supplier, alongside Landwinkel Ermelo, Taste Tree, and Vanilla Venture, supporting direct relationships for a meaningful share of its ingredients.

A significant proportion of components is prepared in house, including ferments such as kimchi and sauerkraut, pickles, sauces, and breads.

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

Restaurant sources from named regional suppliers and states a commitment to local and organic ingredients.

The restaurant states it cooks 'with as many local products as possible and where possible biological'. The website names several specific suppliers, including Landzicht Biologisch (organic farm cooperative), Jan Veer Mvis (fish supplier), and Landwinkel Ermelo.

Third-party reviews corroborate the emphasis on local sourcing. Lekker.nl describes the chef's cooking as 'French dishes with a nod to local products' and references 'lokale seizoeningrediënten'.

Evidence is largely self-declared and corroborated by partner listings. No certified short supply chain programme or audited share of regional spend is documented.

Strongest sourcewatertorenutrecht.nl ↗

Menus rotate through distinct seasonal ingredients across tasting menus and à la carte.

The current menu shows distinct seasonal ingredients. Spring dishes feature morels, white asparagus, wild garlic, and ramsons capers; summer brings tomato and strawberry; autumn includes venison and sea buckthorn.

Menu items refresh with the season across both the chef's tasting menus and the à la carte selection. Partner reviews corroborate this: Lekker.nl describes 'lokale seizoeningrediënten' as central to the experience, and independent reviews highlight seasonal pairings such as sea buckthorn, savoy cabbage, and fig.

Strongest sourcewatertorenutrecht.nl ↗

In-house fermentation and whole-ingredient cooking without a documented waste reduction programme.

The kitchen prepares ferments (kimchi, sauerkraut) and pickles in house, and uses whole ingredient cuts (chicken skin in dessert, bone marrow with short rib), consistent with whole-ingredient cooking principles.

No documented composting partner, waste reduction target, plastic-free policy, single-use cutoff, or certification is evidenced on this dimension.

Strongest sourcewatertorenutrecht.nl ↗

Fish sourced through a named supplier; European eel on menu without documented sustainable certification.

The restaurant sources fish through Jan Veer Mvis, a named Dutch fish supplier. The stated approach is a general 'organic where possible' sourcing intent.

The menu includes eel (paling) in savoury preparations; European eel is listed on the IUCN critically endangered list, and the restaurant does not document a sustainable source for this ingredient. Other fish species (cod, wolffish) are listed without catch method or MSC/ASC certification.

Strongest sourcewatertorenutrecht.nl ↗

À la carte offers vegetable-led options; tasting menus lead with vegetable courses but centre on protein mains.

Vegetables feature prominently across both menus. A vegetarian menu is available on request, and vegan and gluten-free options are accommodated. The à la carte selection includes three vegetable-led starters or entrées (cauliflower, white asparagus, morels) and one vegetable main (eggplant with girolle, basil, citrus) alongside three meat mains.

The tasting menu includes vegetable first courses (tomato with sweet potato, sorrel, jalapeño), but the main protein arc remains animal-led. Reviews note 'plenty of vegetables' as a signature of the chef's style, though the menu architecture is not plant-forward by design.

Strongest sourcewatertorenutrecht.nl ↗
Sourcing signals
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
✓
In-house preparation

Restaurant sources from named regional suppliers including Landzicht Biologisch, Jan Veer Mvis, Landwinkel Ermelo, Taste Tree, and Vanilla Venture, with no disclosed share of total ingredient spend.

Ferments (kimchi, sauerkraut, miso), pickles, sauces, breads, and brioche are prepared in house.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Heuveloord 25A, 3523 CK Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Tasting and à la carte; dinner daily, lunch Friday–Sunday
Hours
Monday17:30–00:00
Tuesday17:30–00:00
Wednesday17:30–00:00
Thursday17:30–00:00
Friday12:00–00:00
Saturday12:00–00:00
Sunday12:00–00:00
Style
Fine dining
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room
Web
watertorenutrecht.nl
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 11 May 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.
This place
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
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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