As I promised in my previous weblog, I will tell you more about the new menu of Ciel Bleu this time. Actually it’s about the spring, which starts the 21st of March. For me and chef de cuisine Arjan Speelman, spring is a great source of inspiration. Not only the Dutch spring, we also allow ingredients from distant lands, which are on their best in this season.

Sometimes you need time to relax when returning from an inspiring event. As if the new ideas and information need to settle before you can start working on it. That was absolutely the case when I returned from my visit to Madrid Fusión in the Spanish capital.

Now that Serre Restaurant – inspired by Ciel Bleu – is open for one and a half months and really starts to be discovered as a hotspot, I have a secret that most probably soon will be copied in a variety of quality-businesses: Serre’s Bentobox...

The kickoff of 2011 for Okura, and for the team of Ciel Bleu in particular, has been spectacular. On the third day of the New Year already, the Serre Restaurant opened: a literally brand new restaurant on the ground floor of our hotel. A restaurant where you easily enter, whether for an extensive à la carte breakfast, a surprisingly complete (and fast!) business lunch or a romantic dinner for two, while overlooking the beautiful Amstel Canal. And all of that in a stunning contemporary and colorful decor.