Valentine's is for Eating Well with your Partner

(Color coordinated couple at Ciel Bleu...we take special occasion dining seriously!)

Last week David and I did some serious restaurant eating, in part due to it being Valentine's Day week. What is a day-long celebration stretched over the course of the week for us, because of schedule changes. Initially, we thought we would not be able to go out the night of Valentine's Day proper due to technical rehearsals. And so we had decided to celebrate Valentine's Day earlier, on Monday (the 11th), our day off. We booked weeks ago at Ciel Bleu, the only restaurant in Amsterdam that boasts two Michelin stars.

And then our technical schedule changed and we did end up having Valentine's Day night off. We tried to swap the Ciel Bleu booking, but were unable to do so, the restaurant being fully booked on V-Day. So we decided to keep the booking at Ciel Bleu for Monday, and book at De Kas for the 14th.

What a wonderful culinary week we've had!

Although Michelin stars do not necessarily guarantee a fabulous restaurant, Ciel Bleu was a singular experience, from the environment (panoramic view of Amsterdam), to the service (white gloves! synchronized waiter service!) to the food -- which was delicate, layered, inventive, and beautifully presented. It is one of those restaurants where buying its cookbook for home is just silly verging on the delusional, because the restaurant's dishes are so time consuming and labor intensive.

As a very special occasion dining, Ciel Bleu did not disappoint.

A few snippets from Ciel Bleu:

ABOVE: David about to enjoy a beautiful dish of a lobster and avocado "cannelloni"... the cannelloni is actually paper thin beet root that has been baked. We could not figure out how the chef managed to put so many plump, juicy lobster pieces with ripe avocado right into such a delicate "cannelloni."

ABOVE: David enjoys a pre-dessert dessert. It consisted of 3 small components all inspired by mojito. The lollipop David is holding is actually mojito ice cream on a stick.

Few days later, on the legitimate day of Valentine's Day, David and I returned to De Kas. De Kas had a special Valentine's Day course, which was lovely. A completely different experience from Ciel Bleu, De Kas being much more grounded, earthy, yet light; the dishes simple yet robust with flavor. There's nothing fancy about the food here -- what's special is how fresh everything is, from the plump, homemade green olives and baked bread while you sit waiting for your first course, to the vegetables on which the simple grilled day-caught fish perches. Everything tastes and feels healthful. One would surely buy the De Kas cookbook... if one could read Dutch.

A few photographic snippets from Valentine's Day at De Kas:

BELOW: David very excited about his lemon tart with a scoop of rhubarb ice cream. All freshly made from rhubarb and lemons harvested from De Kas's own greenery.

BELOW: homemade limoncello! Scandalously delicious.