The guides that appeared first were the Gault Millau and the Special Bite. The week after the Lekker and the Iens were published. Also the Elsevier Thema published a Top 20 of the best Dutch chefs, and I was new in this list with Ciel Bleu on the 12th position! This made us all very proud. And, last but not least, also the Michelin guide was published in the end of the month.

To us Dutch chefs, the Michelin guide is the leading culinary publication. The appearance of this guide always brings a lot of excitement and tension for the chefs, but also the media is getting more and more interested in the appearance of this guide. Tuesday morning the 25th of November I had to get up really early in the morning to go to the restaurant because Radio 1 awaited the new guide of 2009 with me live on the national news radio! An entire program was dedicated to the new Michelin guide of 2009.

How does Michelin work exactly? I would like to share with you how we experienced the publication of this year’s guide. The presentation of the new Michelin guide is not a large festive event attends by all chefs and restaurants and the press, Michelin has a very different approach. In Brussels they push one button, and the press receives the press release by email. This is normally done at 9 A.M, so we went live with Radio 1 around 7:30 to discuss the new guide. We looked back on the past year and discussed what the second Michelin star (received exactly 1 year ago) meant for us. Of course also questions were asked about the expectations for the new guide, who would receive 1 or 2 stars or a Bib Gourmand?

Time passed by and when it became 9 A.M. you could almost feel the excitement and tension of all chefs and restaurants in The Netherlands. The email-system in Brussels experienced some delay, which only increased the excitement even more! These delays made Radio 1 decide to call the chief inspector of Michelin personally. At that time I was also still live in the show myself and Mr. Loens, chief inspector of Michelin, was willing to announce the results live on the radio.

The results were very impressive: 12 new restaurants received one Michelin star, 3 restaurants received two stars and 27 restaurants received a Bib Gourmand! Restaurants are awarded a Bib Gourmand if they offer outstanding value for a good price. It was amazing that Mr. Loens personally told us live on the radio that Okura’s restaurants Ciel Bleu, Yamazato and Le Camelia kept their awards. This was a unique experience and a beautiful closure of the November-month.

Now it’s already December, a very festive month for us. I am, as well as the other Okura chefs, already looking forward to the holidays during which we will surprise you with wonderful Christmas menus. Ronald Oud, my colleague of the Camelia Brasserie for example, presents a Christmas family Brunch on the 25th of December. Maybe you would like to have lunch in a lovely atmosphere during Christmas; that would be possible in the Ciel Bleu Restaurant or Le Camelia Brasserie.

Finally I would like to inform you already that Ciel Bleu will be closed from the 27th of December until the 6th of January. As of the 7th of January we will open again and at your service! Because all the restaurants of Hotel Okura Amsterdam kept their Michelin stars and Bib Gourmand we offer a special ‘Dine Around’ menu from the 11th of January till the 22nd of February on each Sunday in January and February. This menu includes three courses in the traditional Japanese Yamazato Restaurant and three courses with us in Ciel Bleu. A unique opportunity to try the different tastes of Hotel Okura Amsterdam during 1 night! The Michelin stars are very important to us chefs, but in the end we cook for you, our guests. That’s why we would like to celebrate this achievement with you during the ‘Dine Around’.

Kindest regards on behalf of the entire Ciel Bleu team,

Onno Kokmeijer