Gastronomic shifts in the Lekker500 2025: Brut172 in the lead

The gastronomic world has been shaken up: Hans van Wolde beats his peers and takes the number 1 spot in the Lekker500 2025 with restaurant Brut172. 'Connecting in food and love' is what Hans van Wolde stands for and he puts his money where his mouth is.

In the unique entourage in Reijmerstok in South Limburg, SVH Masterchef Hans van Wolde and his team literally cook the stars from the sky, where a full team is ready to bring the guests to culinary ecstasy. His innovative outlook and creative ideas are rewarded with a first place in this year's restaurant guide of the Netherlands.

Jonnie and Therese Boer make way for Hans van Wolde and are in second place this year with the Librije in Zwolle. In third place an innovative fast riser: Jarno Eggen and Cindy Borger with restaurant De Groene Lantaarn in Staphorst. They rose a whopping seven places to third place. Followed by Jan and Claudia Sobecki with Tribeca in Heeze, who will eventually renovate the restaurant to give the culinary experience even more substance.

Otherwise, there is some turmoil at the top. Spectrum, Sydney Schutte's culinary palace, stands like a house and takes place at number five. Emile van der Staak rises to number six with De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen. That means some steps back for Bas van Kranen of Flore in Amsterdam (to eight) and Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot of 212 in Amsterdam (to seven). Fred Mustert and his wife Mirjam continue to deliver top quality at restaurant Fred in Rotterdam and are therefore firmly in number nine this year too.

With the increasing buzz at the top of Dutch gastronomy, this year there is not only a new number one but also a new name in place ten. Son Robin as talented chef, daughter Michelle as gifted (sake) sommelier and mother Sandra as proud mater familias have created a sparkling business: De Leuf, in lovely Ubachsberg. They come in at place 10 of the guide.

Lekker500 once again sent its rapporteurs and inspectors through the expanding Dutch landscape. As always, this resulted in a total score of 500 good to very good addresses, including 62 new addresses in the list. What should also not go unmentioned is that Lekker500 edition 2025 has the most newcomers since 2019. One notable of these is Restaurant Showw in Amsterdam. Chef Dorus Floris and sommelier and co-owner Lendl Mijnhijmer opened the business less than a year ago and already have a Michelin star in their pocket. With Restaurant Showw, they are also the highest newcomer in this year's Lekker500 list. They are firmly in place 45.

This year, Lekker500 honours Dutch ingredients and the adaptability of restaurateurs, who continue to innovate despite challenges such as staff shortages and rising costs. The culinary landscape is changing with them, with new concepts, informal dining experiences, and special wine selections. For every lover of food and drink, the Lekker500 2025 offers plenty of ideas for a new season of culinary discoveries. And what the Top-100 looks like is exciting every year.