2 - Engaged
i
The kitchen has confirmed practice in two areas of responsible cooking.
Seasonal cooking is the clearest of the two. The menu is rebuilt as suppliers and organic growers change what is available, so the plates follow the calendar: cucumber gazpacho and broad beans in summer, romanesco, girolles and pumpkin in autumn, red cabbage and chestnut in winter.
Plants also carry structural weight. Herbs from the garden behind the terrace run through the cooking, vegetables lead the starters, the desserts are built on parsnip or carrot, and a vegetarian choice sits beside the meat and the fish at each course. Kruidtuin is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the editorial guide to vegetable led cooking.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products
Local sourcing is the stated kitchen basis, with garden herbs in-house and North Sea fish named, but no farm, grower or butcher is identified.
Local sourcing is the stated basis of the kitchen: the restaurant describes a light cuisine built on fresh products from local growing, and says the menu is rebuilt as its suppliers and organic growers change what they have. The We're Smart Green Guide listing attributes the seasonal vegetables to the chef's own garden, and independent guide coverage confirms that the garden herbs are grown, dried and used in house.
The current lunch menu carries one regional origin, Zeeland mussel, and the fish are North Sea species including hake, blue ling and mackerel. What is missing is naming: no farm, grower, butcher or fishmonger appears in any channel, so the sourcing picture stays unverifiable at supplier level.
The menu is rebuilt regularly as suppliers change what they have, with documented seasonal rotation across summer, autumn and winter dishes.
Seasonality is communicated as the guiding principle and is visible in practice. The chef's own statement, repeated across independent listings, is that the kitchen cooks according to season with a small, fast changing menu, and the restaurant states that both the lunch and dinner menus change regularly in line with what its suppliers and organic growers have available.
The We're Smart Green Guide listing describes him cooking always seasonally with vegetables from his own garden. Published menus and reviews across different periods show real rotation rather than seasonal language on a static card: cucumber gazpacho with broad beans in summer, fennel with summer purslane followed by hake with romanesco and beef cheek with girolles and pumpkin in autumn, red cabbage with smoked sour cream and a chestnut and pear dessert in winter, with no obviously out of season ingredients.
Fermentation, in-house bread and stock, and herbs dried from the garden reduce material waste; no waste reduction policy or environmental partnership is named.
A few practices with a circular effect are visible, but none is described as a waste or resource measure. Preservation runs through the cooking: fermented vegetables accompany mains, fermented blueberries with rabbit, and herbs from the garden dried and kept for later use. Bread, stocks and non-alcoholic drinks are made on the premises, and remaining cellar bottles are offered by the glass outside the formal wine list, which keeps open stock moving.
None of the three sub areas is addressed directly anywhere: no waste reduction policy or partner, no statement on plastic or packaging, and no energy measure.
Animal products include named North Sea fish species and Zeeland mussel; no butcher, fishmonger, farm, welfare label or seafood certification is named.
Animal products run across the menu: beef cheek, rabbit, picanha, lamb shoulder and coppa on the meat side, and hake, squid, blue ling, mackerel, shrimp and Zeeland mussel on the fish side.
The restaurant names a regional origin for one ingredient, Zeeland mussel, and the fish are identified by species and are North Sea rather than long haul, which narrows the picture. No butcher, fishmonger or farm is named, no welfare label such as Beter Leven or free range is claimed, and no MSC or ASC certification appears for the seafood.
Vegetables and garden herbs carry structural weight across starters and mains; a vegetarian course option sits alongside meat and fish; vegan menus are not offered.
Vegetables and garden herbs carry real structural weight without the menu being plant led throughout. The restaurant is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the editorial guide dedicated to vegetable led cooking, which describes seasonal cooking with vegetables from the chef's own garden and a parsnip brulee dessert.
The menu is built as a small set of three choices per course covering meat, fish and a vegetarian route, which puts roughly a third of mains on the vegetarian side. Vegetables also lead outside the mains: fennel with buttermilk and summer purslane as a starter, grilled baby cabbage with soft boiled egg and mustard leaf, salt baked celeriac, and desserts built on parsnip or carrot.
Sourcing signals
✓
Low-impact beverage program
The restaurant is named after its herb garden behind the terrace, where the chef cultivates, dries and works herbs into his dishes himself. The We're Smart Green Guide describes seasonal vegetables coming from his own garden, though the proportion is not quantified.
Sourdough bread with caraway and fennel seed is made on the premises and served with the cheese course. Fermented vegetables and fermented blueberries accompany mains; herbs are grown and dried in-house; non-alcoholic drinks are put together by the chef and dining room manager.
The wine list holds organic and natural bottles displayed on a chalk wall, Belgian beers are served, and the restaurant makes its own non-alcoholic alternatives. Remaining cellar bottles are offered by the glass outside the formal list.
