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Hulst · Netherlands

State

A seasonal fine dining restaurant in Hulst where chef Michiel van Laere builds a changing menu around vegetables he harvests himself, regional organic meat and North Sea fish.

The essentials, at a glance

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

Style
Fine dining
Cosy
Cuisine
Dutch

The delicious details

Restaurant State sits on the Vismarkt in Hulst, where chef Michiel van Laere and Joyce Oexeman moved the kitchen in 2021 into a redesigned space on the town's Bierkaai. The open kitchen is part of the dining room, and a small team cooks a changing lunch menu and a seasonal menu of three to seven courses from Wednesday to Saturday.

Vegetables lead the plate here. Van Laere picks produce each week from a nearby grower, and the menu follows what the season offers, from young fennel in summer onward. Regional organic meat and North Sea fish complete the table, prepared whole so that little is set aside.

The room is calm and natural, with the kitchen in plain view, and the pace is unhurried.

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

A seasonal kitchen rebuilding its three to seven course menu and lunch offerings as produce comes into season. Vegetables from a local grower lead the plate, with regional organic meat and North Sea fish completing the table. Whole fish and whole cuts are used nose to tail, and the full menu is available in a vegetarian version.

Cuisine
Dutch
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Allergies handling
Notice At booking

Notify the restaurant at booking; the kitchen accommodates allergies and intolerances on a per-booking basis.

Impact score
How this restaurant rates
3 - Engaged

The kitchen at Restaurant State is built around the seasons. The menu changes through the year as produce becomes available, and chef Michiel van Laere harvests vegetables each week from a nearby grower, so the plate reflects what is in season rather than a fixed year round card.

The kitchen also works to reduce waste. State follows a nose to tail approach, using whole fish and whole cuts, including parts such as fish heads and cheeks that are often set aside, so that as little as possible is thrown away.

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

Chef Michiel van Laere harvests vegetables weekly from a nearby grower; organic meat comes from the surrounding polder, fish from the North Sea via a local fisherman.

Chef Michiel van Laere harvests vegetables each week from a nearby grower, organic meat is sourced from the surrounding polder, and fish comes from the North Sea via a local fisherman. This direct sourcing practice is independently reported by Omroep Zeeland.

Regional Zeeuws-Vlaanderen products are described as central to the kitchen's sourcing strategy.

Strongest sourceOmroep Zeeland ↗

The menu changes through the year as produce comes into season; the chef harvests seasonal vegetables weekly from a local grower.

Seasonality is a guiding principle at State. The dinner menu changes through the year as produce comes into season (three to seven courses), a changing market menu runs at lunch, and the chef selects produce by season, for example very young fennel in summer.

Regional journalism independently reports that he harvests seasonal vegetables himself each week, confirming the practice beyond self-declaration.

Strongest sourceOmroep Zeeland ↗

The kitchen works nose to tail, using whole fish and whole cuts including heads and cheeks, with the principle that waste does not exist.

The kitchen at State works nose to tail, using whole fish and whole cuts, including parts often discarded such as fish heads (made into zult) and cod cheeks. The stated principle is that waste does not exist in the kitchen's vocabulary.

This whole-animal and whole-fish approach is described in detail by regional journalism (Omroep Zeeland). The 2021 renovation was done with a lower CO2 footprint in mind, though specific measures are not detailed.

Strongest sourceOmroep Zeeland ↗

The restaurant sources organic meat from the polder and sustainably caught fish from the North Sea via a local fisherman.

The restaurant states it uses organic meat from the polder and non-overfished, sustainably caught fish from the North Sea, kept fresh by a local fisherman. The nose to tail use of whole fish is independently corroborated.

Strongest sourcerestaurantstate.nl ↗

Staff work a 38-hour week, described as unusual at this level of cooking; the restaurant is owner-run.

Omroep Zeeland reports that staff work a 38-hour week, which the chef frames as unusual at this level of cooking. State is a small owner-run business operated by Michiel van Laere and Joyce Oexeman.

Strongest sourceOmroep Zeeland ↗

Vegetable-led dishes feature on the seasonal menu; the full menu is available in a vegetarian version.

Vegetables are given real prominence at State. The chef harvests his own vegetables weekly, and the menu includes vegetable-led dishes such as celeriac in a salt crust with grain risotto. The full menu is available in a vegetarian version.

Strongest sourcerestaurantstate.nl ↗
Sourcing signals
✓
In-house preparation

Nose to tail preparation uses whole fish and whole cuts, including items such as zult from fish trim and cod cheeks, independently reported by Omroep Zeeland.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Vismarkt 5, 4561 AZ Hulst, Hulst, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Seasonal tasting, 3–7 courses; lunch; Wednesday–Saturday; book ahead
Style
Fine dining
Cosy
Web
restaurantstate.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.
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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