Fewer tables, more Lute

After years of scaling up, Peter Lute has made a radical choice to do less. With LUTE Kruid '02, it comes down to what luxury truly means to him: ambition, personal connection and above all, attention.

Nearly 25 years after Peter and Marieke Lute opened their first restaurant in Amstelveen, they return to the essentials. The former Kruidfabriek has been transformed into LUTE Kruid '02: no longer a restaurant with 140 covers, but an intimate spot for just forty guests. Less volume, more attention. Peter Lute knows the other extreme all too well. He cooked for 1,600 people in a single day, including at massive venues like Johan Cruijff ArenA and Ziggo Dome. But as the scale grew, something disappeared that first drew him to the profession: direct contact with guests. "I missed the feeling of making guests happy. I want that back now." He sums up his new philosophy concisely: "Attention is the greatest luxury of our time."

MASTERS was among the first to experience LUTE Kruid '02. Expect no stiff fine dining here, but a lively spot where gastronomic ambition goes hand in hand with relaxed hospitality. Guests choose from four or six courses, supplemented by a compact à-la-carte selection. From the kitchen come Irish Mór oysters smoked on pine needles, scallop with Jerusalem artichoke and yuzu, and no fewer than six preparations of Barbarie duck with boemboejus. Our favourite is the sea bass with tom kha pla panna cotta, fermented garlic and fresh vegetables: refined in flavour and equally convincing on the plate. The truffle mousseline with celeriac and marble of lardo di Colonnata and bresaola also ranks among the highlights. Especially alongside a glass of Clos Reguin La Côte des Brumes from Jurançon Sec, a powerful white wine with exotic fruit and subtle notes of oak ageing.

The interior unmistakably bears Lute's signature. After earlier collaborations with Marcel Wanders, Winy Maas and Maarten Baas, he took the design in hand with his own team this time. "Domestic 6.0", he calls it. The eye-catcher is a wall of sand flowers that seems to emerge almost three-dimensionally from the space; round tables and soft lines have replaced the angular forms of the past.

The '02 refers to LUTE's birth year, but marks above all a new chapter. Daughters Isabelle and Sara are now part of the young team, and the fire seems to have been rekindled in Peter himself. "I'm eager again to seek out that tension, to be challenged." And the bar? It remains as high as ever. Lute: "We're going for the highest possible."

Lutekruid.nl