De Kas

Fine dining restaurant in a restored 1926 municipal greenhouse where most of the vegetables and herbs are grown on-site in the surrounding gardens. The daily-changing menu is dictated entirely by what's ripe that morning: the kitchen harvests first, then decides what to cook. This is farm-to-table in the most literal sense, with the farm being the 8-meter-high glass house you're eating in.

The greenhouse was originally used to grow plants for Amsterdam's public parks. When it fell into disuse, chef Gert Jan Hageman saw the potential and opened De Kas in 2001. The space is stunning. You eat under a soaring glass ceiling, surrounded by greenery, with natural light flooding the room. On warm days the doors open directly onto the herb gardens. The cooking is Mediterranean-influenced, vegetable-forward, and precise without being fussy. Each dish features one or two star ingredients from the garden, supported rather than overwhelmed.

Lunch is the move. The three-course lunch menu runs about €45, roughly half the price of dinner, with the same quality and the added benefit of eating in daylight when the greenhouse looks its best. Dinner is €75 for five courses and worth it for a special occasion. De Kas is in Frankendael Park in Oost, about a 15-minute tram ride from the center. It doesn't feel like Amsterdam out here, which is part of the appeal. Reserve at least a week ahead for dinner, a few days for lunch.