Cooking to the rhythm of nature

In the renovated Flore, nature, design and gastronomy merge into a seasonal experience. Executive Chef Bas van Kranen serves a menu with vegetables in the lead role, sustainably caught fish and flavours that let Dutch nature speak. Flore is not just a restaurant, but a rhythm, an experience and a manifesto of conscious luxury. “At Flore, everything revolves around honest flavours, thoughtful cooking and moving with nature.”

As soon as you enter Flore, you leave the grandeur of De L'Europe behind you. The organically designed space, with walls of lime hemp and brass accents, exudes peace and depth. The undulating ceiling, inspired by the Amstel, brings movement and acoustics. The new Kitchen Table, adjacent to the open kitchen, invites an intimate yet shared experience. Every detail, from the specially designed Flore Chair to the handmade wooden dining tables and the hand-blown glasses, contributes to the unique ambiance. But Flore is more than a new interior: it is a new chapter. Each dish takes you on a journey through the seasons, with ingredients from local farmers, foragers and artisanal producers. What is no longer in season disappears from the menu. In the in-house R&D kitchen, experiments, preserves and ferments are carried out. Executive Chef Bas van Kranen leads the way. Awarded two Michelin stars since 2021, a Green Star and the Gault & Millau rating of 'Vegetable Restaurant of the Year 2024', he consciously opts for a kitchen without classic luxury products. Instead: vegetables in the leading role, sustainably caught fish and ingredients that let Dutch nature speak at its purest.

Design

In April Flore reopened with a completely new interior. How does that reflect your culinary philosophy?

“The new interior reflects how we try to work more naturally. By being aware of what we do, how we do something, down to the smallest detail, we try to improve ourselves. You feel that not only in the entire experience, but also in the materialization that has been chosen. For example, the wall material is inspired by an old technique for insulating farms: a combination of lime and hemp. It looks very coarse and porous, but at the same time looks very natural and feels relaxed.”

You leave the classic grandeur of De L'Europe behind you. Doesn't that bite?

“Certainly not, because in terms of level we are no less than each other. We are still high-end, just in a different guise. Where De L'Europe is impressively classic, Flore feels like a natural breath of fresh air. You literally walk 'outside' as soon as you enter Flore. That transition is deliberately designed.”

Is design an extension of the kitchen or an equal ingredient in the experience?

“Design is essential. You feel different in a space that matches what you eat. Before, we were in a hotel environment, with linen and gold. Now everything around you reflects what is on the plate: pure, natural and with character.”

How did the collaboration with the Maastricht design studio Reiters-Wings go?

“We approached several parties, who each came up with a great pitch. In the end, we were not so much guided by the first design that was presented, but by the creativity in materialization – even though not all of them were feasible. For example, Tim Reiters and Adriaan Winks came up with the idea of ​​making the curtains from recycled onion skins and the chairs from mycelium. Super creative and local, which seamlessly matched what we were doing behind the scenes. The kitchen table is made from an elm that fell in Amsterdam and the chairs from Belgian oak, with quality and comfort as the main focus. So we did not have to source materials from Asia or the Middle East, for example.”

What is the story behind the artwork that separates the Kitchen Table from the other tables?

“That was made by Ori Sun from Ghent. She works with a material produced by the lacquer scale insect, and has found a technique where she heats it and then blows it into shapes inspired by cocoons. On the wall on the other side of the kitchen table hangs art based on tinder fungi. A creation by Ferréol Babin, a designer from Nantes, who used the wood of a fallen oak tree for it. Everything is handmade, everything is unique. I like that.”

Culinary vision

You've banned foie gras from your kitchen. What does that say about your idea of ​​luxury?

"For me, luxury is about origin and responsibility. Foie gras doesn't fit in with that. We sometimes use caviar, but only from an organic producer in Turnhout - and then we also use sturgeon meat. We want to know where everything comes from and who is behind it."

What is the biggest difference on the board, compared to before?

“The style has remained the same, but we have gone much deeper into health and origin. We have a strong focus on local and organic production to have more control over what we are doing. We know the people who catch our fish, produce our fruit and vegetables, make adjustments where necessary and opt entirely for seasonal products. The difference is very much behind the scenes. And just like before, a dish appears on the menu once and then never again.”

What is the biggest challenge of cooking to the rhythm of nature?

“The time it takes: talking to producers and farmers, but also following nature, going out. I have never been so aware of the start of spring as I have been in the past few years. At the time we are doing this interview (the last day of April, ed.), many colleagues are serving broad beans, garden peas and morels, while these ingredients are not yet available. We are now using the flowers and young tops of the broad bean, because that plant is not even thirty centimetres high. By looking more at what really happens in the field, you create more depth in the kitchen. Another challenge is that the texture and flavour of a product change after a few weeks and you have to adjust a dish again.”

So you are constantly adjusting the map?

“Yes. There are numerous sub-seasons. Three weeks after opening, we have already adjusted dishes. It is not just about fine-tuning, but about coming up with a number of new dishes. When Hendrik Kramer, a young fisherman, called to say that he had caught the first turbot of the season, we immediately started developing. Nature determines the menu.”

Which dish sums up your vision?

“'Vegetable of the Moment', with more than twenty-five different types of ingredients, each adapted to the season and composed by eight different farmers and two foragers. That really tells the story of what we do. Everything revolves around what is available and how it tastes. That's how we tell the story of the farmer on the plate.”

Is your way of cooking a form of activism?

“Absolutely not, I want to stay far away from activism. I don't want to tell you what to do. You should mainly eat and drink well, feel comfortable, enjoy yourself, want to come back. The story is in the experience, not in a sermon. No dogma, but awareness.”

Sustainability & innovation

Has sustainability now become a given for chefs?

“Running a restaurant or hotel is not sustainable and never will be. But I am convinced that you can improve yourself by being aware of what you do, how you do something. In the different kitchens where I have worked, the focus was always on the quality of an ingredient. But I have never learned to go deeper into an ingredient: where does it come from, how is it produced, why do we need it? With that knowledge you can make better choices. For example, we cook without dairy – not because we have to, but because its production is under pressure. And it also makes the menu lighter and more digestible.”

Do you also see that awareness among colleagues?

“Especially with the younger generation just below the classic star restaurants. Our kitchen receives three or four applications every day. People want to be part of this way of working.”

How does your R&D kitchen work in practice?

"We have a chef who focuses purely on development. Together with my chef de cuisine, I feed him with ideas and techniques, after which he develops them. For example, we now replace Japanese kombu with local seaweed and we extract salt from seaweed ourselves."

Is foraging romantic or realist for you?

“Realism. When I heard the news that Jonnie Boer had passed away, I started thinking about what he had accomplished as a chef. What we are doing now, he was already doing twenty-five years ago: making local connections, showing what wonderful ingredients the Netherlands has. It is not a fashion trend, but a rediscovery of what was already there. Jonnie was a great source of inspiration in that. He pioneered with local, with wild picking. He showed that you don’t need coriander from Kenya if there is ground elder growing in your backyard. That philosophy lives on now.”

Hospitality & experience

What makes the new Kitchen Table so special?

“We see it as five separate tables made from one piece of wood. So you sit with two people, but the nice thing is that you can turn your chair and start a conversation with the people next to you. Because ultimately, this table is full of people who love good food and good drinks. You have that in common. At the beginning of lunch or dinner, the table is quite quiet and relaxed. And at a certain point you see that people start talking to each other. That is exactly what we had hoped for.”

You are not a director of emotion at the table, but inform guests upon arrival. Tell.

“They come in through the Seasonal Studio and there we provide context by showing ingredients and techniques that we are going to use. Such as the slaughtering of the brook knight – a salmon-like fish that is farmed by Streekvis in the Betuwe – using the Japanese ikejime method. A technique in which the fish suffers minimally and the taste and texture of the meat are maximised. This way you see what you will taste on your plate a little later. That gives depth.”

When is an evening a success for you?

“When it’s buzzing. Laughter, noise, people feeling free. That’s when it’s right. That’s success – not necessarily the numbers or the stars.”

What do the guests say afterwards?

“That they feel personally approached. In the way they are welcomed, the reception in the kitchen, the entire routing, the approach at the table, the atmosphere, the comfort… That! No star cult, no cockiness. Just genuine hospitality. That's what I got from Paul van de Bunt: just act normal, that's crazy enough.”

Looking forward

Four years ago you transformed Bord'Eau into Flore and now you're turning things upside down again. What does that say about you?

“That I am not easily satisfied with what I do. When I reach a milestone, I do not celebrate that moment so much but already look ahead to the next challenge. That strong urge to look ahead characterizes me as a person, but also as an entrepreneur. As soon as we are somewhere, I think: what is the next step?”

What will that next step be?

“In addition to Flore as a flagship, I would like to make my way of cooking more accessible. A farm-to-table restaurant, more accessible but with the same vision. Preferably somewhere with a garden, within half an hour of Amsterdam. A place where we can reach more people.”

And a third Michelin star?

“That would be great, of course, but it is not a goal in itself. We do not cook for Michelin, but from ourselves. As soon as I received my first star at De Leuf when I was 21, I started to adapt my kitchen very much to what Michelin kitchens did. As soon as you receive a label, you also try to fit yourself into such a label and you lose your individuality. And that is exactly what I want to prevent. And if the guides can appreciate that, that is a nice recognition and we are grateful for that. But the most important thing is that we remain true to our own vision and values. That is what Flore is all about.”

Flore serves dinner from Wednesday to Saturday and is also open for lunch on Friday and Saturday. Reservations can be made here.