Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

5x top-level culinary hotspots

Award-winning restaurants, innovative cuisines and sublime flavors. The LXRY List 2023 reveals a number of culinary hotspots where your taste buds will be king. MASTERS gives a sneak peek....

Pianeta Terra, Amsterdam

Local and sustainable cooking is all the rage right now. But Pianeta Terra in Amsterdam's canal district has been doing just that since it opened in 2000. Chef Fabio Antonini's kitchen works exclusively with organic, often forgotten and sometimes unwanted, ingredients from Dutch soil. Entirely in the spirit of the Slow Food Alliance, which opposes the industrial production of food. Only the wine, oil and cheese come from Italy. And the atmosphere, service and hospitality also unmistakably have their roots there. Although the restaurant, which is co-run by Fabio's wife Laura and his childhood friend Raul, is not as well known as, say, a Toscanini and Cecconi's, in 2022 it captured 30th place on Prosecco DOC's list of 50 best Italian restaurants in the world. Moreover, Italy Magazine lauded Pianeta Terra as The Best Italian of the Netherlands 2022. Truly a reason to book a table there. Don't expect spaghetti carbonara and pizza vongole, but dishes made with respect for "planet earth" (right, the restaurant's name). Think smoked pork chin from Extraordinary Pigs, wild Wadden Sea oysters from Good Fishermen (which other restaurants don't take away due to size) and - surprise! - crow breast with gravy from the carcass, from The Kitchen of the Unwanted Animal, the organization that, in collaboration with restaurants, aims to let you experience that unconventional meat can be very tasty and that we need to change our view of meat. Either way, you will walk out the door an experience richer!

Geranium, Copenhagen

Less than five kilometers separate the best restaurant of 2022 from that of 2021. After Noma in Copenhagen, this time city rival Geranium is on the top step of the global honorary podium according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants. "I got tears in my eyes when I heard that Geranium is the new number one," chef Rasmus Kofoed informed us. "Food is a great unifying factor, bringing people from all over the world together to share traditions, culture and ideas. I am so grateful to be able to contribute to that. For me, this recognition is not about being better than someone else, it's a celebration of all of us." And it's definitely a celebration to join Geranium. Take your time, because the menu takes at least three hours.

The Traveller, Amsterdam

In the building that first housed The Roast Roam, next to RAI Amsterdam, now sits the second location of The Traveller. The concept of The Traveller is the brainchild of Michiel Deenik, chef and owner of the Visaandeschelde restaurant across the street. Together with hospitality entrepreneur Neal Valentijn and Lisa Bakker, former general manager of Visaandeschelde and The Roast Room, he embarked on the adventure, inspired by their shared passion for travel and the exciting flavors of world cuisine. The Traveller South's menu features a mix of colorful, traditional world dishes prepared using modern cooking techniques. From dim sum and flammkuchen to Thai curry and pulpo anticucho. With beers and wines from all over the world, the beverage menu is also one big world tour.

1742, Ibiza

The chef of two-star restaurant De Kromme Watergang is spreading his wings and (in collaboration with Nassau Group) has started a new restaurant on Ibiza: 1742. Edwin Vinke's Zeeland cooking style - lots of seafood - can also be found on 1742's menu, with dishes such as "Zeeland's Fruits de Mer: spicy shellfish and Thai flavors," "Blue Lobster with squid and beach crab" and "Langoustine barbecued with rum, potato and asparagus. Not only is the food top notch, so is the location: a palace in the historic heart of the capital, at the highest point of Dalt Villa, equipped with many works of art and a beautiful terrace overlooking the harbor. Guests are picked up at a pick-up point and taken to the restaurant, where they are served an Experience Menu of seven to 10 courses.

Zilte, Antwerp

Here you eat with your head in the clouds, because: three stars at fifty-five meters high! Zilte is located on the top, ninth floor of the Museum aan de Stroom, which has a focus on the connection between Antwerp and the world. Viki Geunes merges the identity of his cuisine with the aura of the port city: worldly. In doing so, Zilte is synonymous with the taste and smell of the sea. Fish, seafood and shellfish therefore form the basis of the menu. But it's about more: "A dish can only be perfect if the setting and entourage are perfect," says the chef. "We got that from our many travels; then you come into contact with other angles of 'going to a restaurant.' Like the tailormade feel in big international cities like London, San Francisco and Tokyo - the hospitality and subservience, without going into extremes. In recent years we have focused more on that hospitality. People are guests here; it's their moment. Upon entering, no start button is pressed: the guest sets the rhythm, his or her needs are met by us." At the table at Zilte, you are immersed in a full-length program. Enjoy. Getting away from it all. You sit and you undergo. With the skyline of Antwerp as your culinary backdrop.

LXRY LIST 2023

Spotting more culinary addresses? The annual LXRY List contains plenty of innovative items and surprising addresses, a list that inspires and points to the future. Because new times are dawning...

LXRY LIST 2023