It’s not just the expensive star tents that make London, New York or Copenhagen the true gastronomic metropolises they are. Of course you need them, but the attractiveness of these culinary world cities lies in the combination of that gastronomy at the highest level and a progressive and vibrant scene around it, outside the usual guides and lists. It is precisely in that layer below that the cross-pollination among the new guard takes place, that is where the leaders of tomorrow, today, find their niche.
In these kinds of cities – where enough tourists, expats and other enthusiasts gather to keep all those new restaurants going – a snowball effect can occur in the hospitality industry, with the result that you can find yourself in all kinds of unexpected places outside the center on a weekday. very affordable, just unbelievably good and original food. All those new restaurants serve as breeding grounds for new culinary talent that is fanning out at a rapid pace.
For a few years now, Amsterdam has been on its way to becoming such a culinary metropolis with international allure. The latest addition to the culinary underbelly: Apollonia, at the Marineterrein (see inset).
The restaurant has been open for less than half a year, but there are already two dishes on the menu that they can never remove: the oyster and the crab from Apollonia are instant classics.
‘You shouldn’t do anything with a raw oyster’, I have written on a tile at home. But I’d like to turn it around for the occasion. The salty sea air of the oyster with the sweet, sultry, smoky hint of a thin slice of roasted lardo is an incredibly horny, aromatic combination. On the palate, the crispy, salty salt and the floral, greasy salt also appear to be willing bed partners. The smart thing is in the little bit of tomatillo salsa – a teaspoon, that’s all. That gives just that little bit of vegetal freshness to cut through the pork fat, without getting in the way of the oyster. That contrast ensures that you immediately want to order another one.
And then that crab. It concerns a whole boiled-down North Sea crab, the hollow shell is turned upside down like a tray – filled with running polenta and crab bisque – on the pre-cracked claws. The idea is that you pick the sweet flesh out of the claws and pass it through the bisque. This is very strong in all its simplicity. That bisque is deeply sweet and buttery, the polenta gives a creamy backbone. That is the starting point, then the chef will play. On a chance previous visit, the bisque was flavored with fruity and lightly smoked Mexican morita peppers – that’s what I dreamed of that night. The Nepalese timut peppers give the very same dish a very different anise, citrus nuance tonight. I really want to know what that crab tastes like in two weeks.
Challenging taste peaks
The card is also composed of surprising, sparkling combinations and cleverly executed crowd pleasers. In the last category I mention the brill, baked on a thin sourdough crust with a juicy layer of fish farce in between. Chic fish, beautifully cooked, with a crispy roof on top and a nice hug of the saffron-beurre blanc at the bottom, which is neither too fat nor overpowering saffron. The smart thing here lies in the texture of the fish farce – which is firm and somewhat springy, like in Chinese dim sum – and the challenging taste peaks of pickled coriander seeds and umami-rich dots of tomato XO sauce.
Then the pork head terrine. Imagine: an oversized, well-fried rectangular croquette, but then filled with tasty gently cooked plucks from the pig’s head – fat, rich, voluptuous. Accompanied by a very savory salsa with some spring onion sharpness at the beginning and a slight kick from the mustard leaf at the end, which provides some counterbalance.
We find a sparkling surprise twice in a striking combination of fruit and vegetables. The aubergine dish is a playful variation on the traditional Japanese aubergine-miso combination. The miso is processed in a sunflower seed cream under the aubergine slices, the jammy fruitiness of the peach is compensated with salty pinpricks of trout eggs. The whole is satisfying as an oliebol. Jerusalem artichokes with ripened ricotta make a rewarding Christmas tree decorated with fruity things like plum, pear and pumpkin and decorated with the leaves our waitress picked from the marigolds from her own garden that afternoon – a cheerful detail.
I actually have very little to say about Apollonia. The less memorable dishes – such as toast with raw mackerel, basil mayo and fresh green herbs, or the meaty egg tenderloin (a mushroom) with buttermilk potato mousseline, onion and mushroom gravy – are just solid. It’s attractive, modern food in an unusual place and not too expensive – that crab is on the menu for 27 euros, but with a good slice of bread you can eat it generously for two.
Apollonia is a natural wine restaurant. To be fair, a glass of poo diaper passed by somewhere, but very elegant and challenging wines are served across the board, such as the strong, yeasty vernaccia as an aperitif and the sweet, but sour Attia from Sicily with the pig’s head and a surprising sauvignon touraine which I think smells quite stuffy at first, but exactly that smell magically changes into a pleasant aroma after the sommelier mentions the word ‘comté’. She adapts not the wine, but my brain to the dish. Then you understand your trade.