Plant-forward Yerba
By Seger Abels
Ruysdaelstraat 48, 1071 XE Amsterdam
BOOK NOWLet’s all close our eyes for a second. In our minds, we go back five years to the year 2018. We walk into a random supermarket and we will walk straight to the section with the meat substitutes. Okay, you can open your eyes again because I bet you can keep searching in that 2018 supermarket. Five years ago we lived in a different world, with a totally different focus/opinion/ drive regarding eating plant-based and in that world Walter and Sally decided to open up Yerba; a plant-forward restaurant space for creative, seasonal dining. How cool is that?!
Back to the present. It’s a Thursday evening and we take a seat in the back of Yerba. A stylish restaurant, with some key features, located just off Amsterdam’s Museumplein and with ‘famous’ restaurant Le Garage as a neighbour (and Loetje sort off, but let’s not talk about that). When we enter the vibe is chill, and when we leave the place is packed and the vibe is right! The earlier mentioned key features sit mainly right in the middle of the restaurant where an open kitchen and a bar face each other and from where all the goodies come. It may not be ‘a thing’ but seeing an all-female kitchen crew is cool.
On the menu you first have to make a decision: four, five or six courses. And then the rest of the choosing starts as they are really flexible at Yerba. For instance; when you opt for the four-course dinner, you can pick three dishes that you like out of the five listed and your table partners can pick the three they like. Amazing! Even more amazing is the fact that on the menu there is a meat and fish suggestion to complement two of the dishes on the menu. This, at Yerba, is certainly not needed as the vegetables are the stars of the show but if you feel like it, you can get a little bit of meat…at no extra cost! A really charming way we felt.
The wine pairing also goes in the typical charming Yerba way. Wine pairing is €6 per course and for that charming amount, you get sort of half glasses, which as we all know is enough with a wine pairing for multiple courses. We however opted for an amazing chilled red (Morilly – Antoine Lambert) which went amazing with many of the grilled veggies.
Talking about the veggies and everything else, it was great and truly surprising. Roasted watermelon with rhubarb, cucamelon and pul biber (ground red Aleppo peppers). Triple-cooked Jerusalem artichoke with Kentucky fried banana blossom, pickled kumquat and a peach barbecue sauce. Creativity at its best.
Take the chance and book a table at Yerba. Omnivore, carnivore, locavore…everyone will leave pleased and then some.
Yerba
The Place: Plant-forward restaurant.
The Space: A tranquil yet vibrant restaurant with open kitchen as an eyecatcher.
The Base: €43-53 p.p. excluding drinks.
The Face: Expats, travellers and open-minded Amsterdammers
The Ace: Every Sunday they serve a very extensive brunch!
The Veg: Might be your dream location.
Opening Times: Thurs-Sat 17:00-23:30, Sun 12:00 – 15:00, 17:00-23:30, Mon, Thurs-Sat 17:00-23:30, Tues-Wed Closed
Images from yerbabar.com © Yerba
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