Three Michelin star Librije leads Restaurant Award nominations

Triple Michelin star winner De Librije leads all other restaurants in Amsterdam with six nominations in the Netherlands' first ever Restaurant Awards. The five hundred best chefs in the Netherlands are responsible for selecting each winner.

There are eleven categories for the restaurants to compete in. De Librije (Zwolle) is currently in the lead with six nominations in different categories, including the best restaurant, best meat restaurant, best wine restaurant, best organic restaurant, best fish restaurant and best vegetable restaurant.

Inter Scaldes (Kruiningen) has 4 nominations and De Kromme Watergang (Hoofdplaat) has 3 nominations in different categories.

"It is similar to the Golden Ball, the industry judges itself. In other elections, including GaultMillau, the jury is self-appointed. We ask explicitly the personal opinions of the chefs." says the founder of the contest, Arthur Bassant, to MissetHoreca.nl.

The chefs were selected on the basis of quotations from three restaurant guides, Michelin, GaultMillau and Lekker. The winners of the contest will be announced on Monday January 26th.

Nominees for the best restaurant include De Librije, Inter Scaldes, De Kromme Watergang, De Leest (Vaassen) and FG (Rotterdam).

Yamazato (Amsterdam), HanTing Cuisine (Den Haag), Memories of Asia (Arnhem), Asian Glories (Rotterdam) and Izakaya (Amsterdam) are the contestants for the best Asian restaurant.

De Bokkedoorns (Overveen), Inter Scaldes, Ciel Bleu (Amsterdam), Château Neercanne (Maastricht) and De Vrienden van Jacob (Santpoort-Noord) are competing for the title of the most romantic restaurant.

Other categories include restaurant with the best bang for the buck, best newcomer and best Italian restaurant.