Summer Menu challenge 2025

About the Restaurant VanOost

Where Heritage, Atmosphere, and Artistry Meet in East Amsterdam

Nestled on the first floor of the Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Maurits at the Park, Restaurant VanOost is a space where old-world elegance meets modern culinary theatre. The building itself, a former university anatomy school from 1908, has been meticulously transformed by Studio Linse into an environment of subdued grandeur: 15-meter-high ceilings, original wooden beams, stained-glass windows, and refined natural textures.

Located on the edge of Amsterdam’s Oosterpark, the restaurant offers not just a meal, but an immersion. Here, guests sit around an open kitchen of marble, watching Chef Floris van Straalen and his team compose plates with quiet precision. The dining room is serene, yet alive—fusing architectural presence with intimate hospitality.

As the chef describes it:

“A place where nature, light, and feeling come together. Where architecture speaks in the same calm tone as the cuisine.”

About the Chef

Floris van Straalen – Guided by Silence, Expressed Through Season

Chef Floris van Straalen began his culinary career at 15 and went on to hone his craft in some of the Netherlands’ most prestigious kitchens—Oud Sluis, Pure C, and under three-Michelin-starred mentor Jannis Brevet, who continues to advise him today at VanOost.

His culinary voice blends the discipline of French technique, the balance and elegance of Japanese cuisine, and the warmth of his Indonesian roots, which inform both his palate and his philosophy. It’s a cuisine rooted in emotion and craft, guided by the question: what can be left out to say more?

“The art of omission is the hardest. Good products and well-balanced flavors need little extra. Too much fuss is just a distraction.”

For Floris, the dish starts with a narrative. Inspiration comes from art, nature, music, or memory—and is distilled through rigorous testing into something deceptively simple, but emotionally resonant.

Chef’s Summer Menu Inspiration

For the All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge 2025, Floris created a tasting menu titled “Omission & Expression”—a seasonal journey led by restraint, story, and globally inspired elegance. His inspiration lies in allowing the product to speak, paired with ingredients that reflect his cultural and emotional roots.

“Each dish has a reason to exist. There’s memory, intention, balance. The goal is to let the product do the talking—quietly, confidently.”

Throughout the menu, there is a rhythm between subtle and bold—sambal-glazed langoustine, sugar-blown chili with dark chocolate, or foie gras with blueberry and shiso. French technique anchors the precision, while Japanese and Indonesian touches add depth and spirit.

All of it is guided by the same vision: emotion and elegance in every element.

Photo Credit Menu photography Mitchell Voorbergen 

Photo credit Restaurant VanOost to Chantal Arnts 

Summer Menu 2025 – VanOost Restaurant, Amsterdam

By Chef Floris van Straalen | All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge

Title: “Omission & Expression”
A tasting rooted in memory, identity, and balanced creativity.

Takoyaki · Truffle · Artichoke
Smoked eel takoyaki filled with Jerusalem artichoke crème and pickled black winter truffle.

Tartelette · Chicken · Oyster
Bone marrow and chicken skin crumble tartelette with oyster pannacotta and wild herbs.

Chawanmushi · King Crab · Vin Jaune
Ponzu custard with king crab tail, brown butter emulsion, and a Jura wine sauce.

Hamachi · Jalapeño · Mango
Sustainably caught hamachi with cucumber broth, green strawberry, kaffir lime, and furikake.

Foie Gras · Shiso · Blueberry
Terrine of bio foie gras with red beet, black garlic, blueberries, and shiso.

Langoustine · Sambal · Atjar (Signature)
Langoustine glazed in house-made sambal kosho with papaya, pumpkin flower, atjar tjampoer, and boemboe sauce.

Sweetbread · Yuzu · Artichoke
Triple-glazed sweetbread with yuzu artichoke sauce, finished with black truffle.

Wagyu · Rendang · Batak Berry
Duo of grilled wagyu with miso and Batak berries, and a slow-cooked rendang-style wagyu with crudo vegetables.

Chili · Chocolate · Lime Leaf
Sugar-blown red chili pepper filled with dark chocolate ganache, peanut praline, and kaffir lime leaf.

Crafted On – Collaborators and Creative Partners

Photography:
Mitchell Voorbergen – Menu photography
Chantal Arnts – Interior and branding

Designers and Creators:
Studio Mattes – Custom ceramics

Suppliers and Producers:
Balfego
Lindenhoff
W&A Fish

Discover VanOost

VanOost is not simply a restaurant—it is a reflection of a deeper philosophy. Chef Floris van Straalen cooks with clarity, guided by his heritage, his mentors, and a deep sensitivity to balance. His summer menu is both an inward and outward expression: of self, of craft, of season.

This is where silence becomes strength, and omission becomes expression.

VanOost Restaurant
Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Maurits at the Park
Mauritskade 61, 1092 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)20 531 17 77
Email: reservations.vanoost@pillowshotels.com
Website: www.vanoostrestaurant.com