Michelin Star Only Restaurant Week

I have written several times about restaurant week Amsterdam. I like the idea but struggle with two major flaws. Firstly an abundance of low quality restaurants that make the fixed price deal seem rather expensive in terms of value for money. And secondly the reservation procedure that makes it impossible to get a table at one of the higher end places.

DiningCity, the organizer of restaurant week, is now launching a new initiative that definitely addresses the first flaw: Dining With the Stars is a restaurant week for Michelin star restaurants only!

For € 50 you get a set five course menu, although the two and three star restaurants might charge € 15 extra. You will need to book through the Dining With the Stars web site, so I am skeptical about being able to get a reservation. Reservations open on 4 November 2009 at 10am. DiningCity subscribers can make reservations starting 2 November 2009 at 2pm, so I assume it’ll be hard to get a good reservation on the 4th. And if Dining With the Stars is like restaurant week, there will be pre-reservations before the 2nd available to sponsors like American Express.

There are some interesting restaurants on the list from the Amsterdam area:

• Aan de Poel in Amstelveen
• Ciel Bleu in the Okura Hotel
• La Rive in the Amstel Hotel
• Ron Blaauw in Ouderkerk a/d Amstel
• Yamazato – Amsterdam

I will give it a try on November 2nd. Fingers crossed!