Haricot.

'Ceci n'est pas un haricot'. An image of a green bean can be seen in the restaurant, freely inspired by René Magritte's painting 'The Treachery of Images', which bore the caption 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe'. We immediately realize that owner Mathijs van der Boon also possesses an artistic sense of humor. Yet what we truly applaud is his culinary vision. Prior to this venture, Mathijs honed his craft at top-tier restaurants in the Netherlands, as well as in Denmark and Norway. Both lunch and dinner feature a six-course menu, and the offerings evolve at a rapid pace. Original starters include little gem lettuce with tomato and laver, padrón peppers with wasabi, and raw prawns with goat cheese and crispy rice. Even during the tasting menu, a warm amuse-bouche arrives in the form of a fritter with octopus, eel emulsion, and powdered dried tuna. Delicious bread is served with hazelnut butter infused with seaweed, enriched at the table with dried and shaved egg yolk. The first course features tuna with hijiki (brown seaweed), cucumber-shaped garnishes, woolly hand crab, and an oyster with jalapeño and cherry leaf. Warm entrées arrive as scallops accompanied by a duck liver consommé and a salad dressed with truffle vinaigrette, or alternatively, langoustine with asparagus and a sauce crafted from paella rice. Alongside the main course of Veluwe lamb, we find a zucchini blossom stuffed with a baby zucchini halved lengthwise and topped with piped lemon cream. Just like a bean. The dessert consists of a salad of marinated fennel curls, pickled blueberries, candied peanuts, and a quenelle of ice cream made from the sawdust of blackcurrant wood. It all rests in a peanut broth and blackcurrant wood-infused oil. Sommelier Shiva Brugge offers some pleasant selections on the wine list, but the pairing choices alongside the dishes remain quite conservative. The opening selections could certainly afford to be a bit more daring. Other than that, it’s all smiles. Welcome to Lekker!