Executive Chef Roel Oostrum originally comes from Groet, where he was the neighbour of a Michelin star chef.  It was the neighbour who made him enthusiastic for the profession. In Amsterdam Roel worked under the leadership of chef Chris Naylor. A very inspiring time in which Roel worked a lot with vegetables. In this period the passion for cooking with vegetables blossomed and since then all menus of our chef are vegetable orientated, if not completely vegetarian.

“Every day I walk through the vegetable garden and discuss with gardener Dries what can be harvested that day. Our collaboration is unique. And the contribution of the participants of the Scorlewald is great. They are driven and eager to learn. Some even come into the kitchen to see how I prepare the vegetables and herbs they harvested.”

The inspiration of Chef Roel Oostrum does not come from a book. It comes from the past, nature and the seasons. But most important of all: the organic Hoftuin. This Hoftuin is the red thread through the menu and the most important source of inspiration. Every season a sowing plan is made together with the gardener. With this sowing plan in hand, the residents of Scorlewald, a care institution for people with a distance to the labour market, go to work in the Hoftuin.

De Hoftuin is part of the blooming Foundation, which aims to invest in socially responsible projects to give people a chance to develop themselves. Challenge them to bloom. The collaboration with Scorlewald is therefore a logical step. Our bloomers now allow others to blossom as well.

And you can taste this. What is harvested in the afternoon is on your plate in the evening. The menu is completely attuned to what the Hoftuin offers the kitchen. We are talking about 50 kinds of vegetables, herbs and fruit, which are grown with attention and passion for the kitchen of the restaurant.

What we can’t get out of the Hoftuin we look for within a radius of 50 kilometres. Fruit and vegetables come from Heiloo, meat from Purmerend. We work together with De Noorderhoeve, a biodynamic care farm only a few hundred metres from the restaurant.

Fish comes from Fish & Season. A seasonal fishery from Amsterdam with the philosophy of ‘contributing to a healthy fish population and stimulating sustainable fish consumption’.

This is something that fits perfectly into the philosophy of Restaurant Zandhoeve. Because we work together with Vis & Seizoen, the fish dishes on the menu will be assured of an MSC and ASC quality mark. Approved by the Good Fish Foundation.

By working with these, carefully selected, local suppliers, we can guarantee you the best products. Not only the best quality, but also products with a fair and sustainable origin. Products that make us all slightly better. This is something Restaurant Zandhoeve attaches great importance to.