4 - Recognised
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The kitchen has strong, documented practice across four areas of responsible cooking.
Sourcing is the clearest of these: all the vegetables, fruit and herbs come from the restaurant's own garden, roughly the size of three football pitches, and the fish and shellfish are bought from nearby Yerseke, including Zeeland bottom culture mussels. That garden also sets the calendar, since the chef picks each morning and the menus are rewritten as the beds change through the year. Vegetables lead the cooking rather than accompany it, and a full vegetarian menu is composed from the day's harvest.
Vegetables and herbs the kitchen cannot use are sold at the deli counter across the road rather than discarded. The restaurant is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the international guide to vegetable led kitchens.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products
All vegetables, fruit and herbs are grown by the restaurant itself and picked daily; fish and shellfish come from nearby Yerseke.
All vegetables, fruit, herbs and edible flowers are grown by the restaurant itself on a plot described as the size of three football pitches, which the chef harvests each morning. This is corroborated by the We're Smart Green Guide listing, by the Gault&Millau review and by a Belgian vegetarian guide, so it is not a self-declared claim alone. Fish and shellfish are bought from nearby Yerseke, and the restaurant names Zeeland bodemcultuur mussels on its carte. Two key categories, produce and shellfish, are therefore demonstrably local and direct, with complete traceability on produce since the restaurant is its own grower.
Producer proximity is maximal on produce, with no intermediary at all, which supports level 4 within the geographically determined band. Level 5 is not supported: meat and dairy carry no named supplier, region or certification, and the generic 'ingrediënten van topkwaliteit' framing does not narrow them.
Menus are rewritten monthly and follow the garden's cycle; the vegetarian menu is composed from each day's harvest.
The kitchen's calendar is set by its own garden. The chef picks vegetables, herbs and flowers each morning and composes dishes from what the beds are giving, confirmed by the We're Smart Green Guide listing, which records that vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers are cultivated seasonally and that the restaurant follows the rhythm of the seasons. Regional editorial coverage states the same: 'de menu's volgen het ritme van de seizoenen'.
Menus are published monthly in three to six course formats, and the vegetarian menu is explicitly composed according to the garden's offer. Seasonal produce is structural rather than decorative, and the chef is publicly associated with the practice, which places this at level 4. Level 5 is not supported: there is no evidence of weekly or daily menu rewriting, and the carte carries year-round commodity items such as lobster and truffle alongside the garden produce.
Surplus vegetables and herbs are sold at a deli counter across the road; chips, mayonnaise and two spirits are made on premises.
One concrete circular practice is documented: surplus vegetables and herbs the kitchen cannot use are sold at a deli counter opposite the restaurant rather than discarded, recorded on the We're Smart Green Guide listing. Growing the entire produce range on site also removes supplier transport and packaging for that category, and chips, mayonnaise and two house gins are prepared on the premises rather than bought in.
That is a named, specific practice in the food waste sub-area, which supports level 3. Nothing was found on the other two sub-areas: no composting scheme, waste reduction partner, packaging policy or energy measure appears on the restaurant's own channels, in guide listings or in press coverage, which is what holds this below level 4.
Zeeland bottom culture mussels are named as a source; other animal products carry no named supplier or welfare certification.
The restaurant names a species and a production method for one category, Zeeland bodemcultuur mussels (an extensive cultivation method), and sources fish and shellfish from Yerseke, a named regional landing point rather than a named supplier. The remaining animal products reported (suckling pig, cured ham, smoked duck breast, lobster, scallops, skrei) are named by species or cut without a traceable producer, a welfare label, or MSC, ASC or organic certification.
A named region and species without a verifiable producer is level 2 on its own terms. Named suppliers and welfare or fishery certification for meat, dairy and fish would be the route to a higher level. Foie gras is on the menu (goose liver terrine and foam), which caps this dimension at level 2 under the eligibility rule.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
A dedicated vegetarian menu of three or four courses is composed daily from the garden harvest; vegetables, herbs and flowers are core to the carte.
Vegetables are the acknowledged driver of this kitchen. The restaurant grows its entire produce range itself, the chef picks each morning and generously uses the harvest in his dishes according to the We're Smart Green Guide listing. Gault&Millau leads its review on the garden vegetables, herbs and flowers. A dedicated vegetarian menu is offered in three course (45 euro) and four course (55 euro) formats, composed 'volgens het aanbod van onze tuin'.
Vegetable-led compositions appear on the carte, for example skrei with sea cabbage, spaghetti of leek and chips of salsify. Against that, the carte itself remains animal protein led: a separate shellfish list, bouillabaisse, fruits de mer, lobster, suckling pig Rossini and a goose liver terrine. No vegan menu or vegan dish is documented on any channel. Plant-forward intent is clearly acknowledged and structurally real while animal proteins remain equally or more prominent, which is level 3.
Sourcing signals
The restaurant grows its entire produce range itself on a three-pitch garden, corroborated by We're Smart, Gault&Millau and a Belgian vegetarian guide.
