Newcomer and established names in the Top 3 of Lekker500 2024

It has been an eventful year for the hospitality industry, and restaurant guide Lekker500 has also seen change and renewal. The competition at the top among the established establishments is fierce, but this year it makes way for a number of new faces and young talent. In this edition of the Lekker500, we can welcome no fewer than 12 newcomers to the top-100, with several more restaurants on the cusp of entering as well. In addition, no fewer than 46 new restaurants were added to the Lekker500 shop window this year. In short, plenty of news for young and new talent.

The restaurant world is always in transition. There is no place for drudgery. Attention and dedication are proving essential for businesses to ensure their existence. When we eat out these days, we look for flavour, continuity, quality and stability. But in this day and age, we also want more experience to really achieve a special dining experience. Established names are also reinventing themselves, surprising their regular clientele but also finding a new fan base as a result.

This year's top three consists of familiar names, but also a newcomer. Jan and Claudia Sobecki are at number 3 with their Brabant Tribeca. The restaurant has a close-knit team that modestly guarantees an optimal experience of high-quality gastronomy. Brut172, from probing Hans van Wolde, enters the top three new this year. Van Wolde, with a hefty dose of guts and experience, creates a experience which Lekker500 rewarded with place 2. At number 1 is the 30-year-old De Librije where fine dining and fun dining go hand in hand. With their inexhaustible energy and constant drive for innovation, Jonnie and Thérèse Boer managed to retain first place again this year in the Netherlands' most delicious restaurant guide.

In the top 20, you can see that a number of solid and stable establishments have to make way for young chefs who are sticking their necks out and doing things a little differently. We have rewarded that in this issue. This year, there are no fewer than seven new names in the top-20: 212 (place 5), Bij Jef (place 12), Meliefste (place 13), Zarzo (place 14), De Leuf (place 17), 't Nonnetje (place 18), and Parkheuvel (place 19).

For us, a number of restaurants stood out head and shoulders above the rest and have therefore, deservedly, risen considerably in the Top 100. The beautiful Château Neercanne in Maastricht rises a whopping 41 places to place 46.'t Ganzenest in Rijswijk flies up 28 places to place 68. The Groningen-based Noor rises 26 places to 38 after their first inclusion last year, and Alma in Oisterwijk finishes just behind Noor in position 39 with a rise of 24 places.

Transmission of knowledge is the essence of the profession. This year, the emphasis is, on the one hand, on continuing traditions, but, on the other, on breaking habits, rules and expectations. Read in the guide, for example, the columns of Tobias Camman, Noni Kooiman and Rudolph van Veen on how they view traditions in the culinary field. Or read in this edition of Lekker500 what it is like to continue your parents' business and give it new zest, as Robin and Michelle van de Bunt of restaurant De Leuf in Ubachsberg did. They now run the business - under the watchful eye of their mother - in their own way, inspired by their father's lessons.

Each year, Lekker critically and independently evaluates the best 500 restaurants in the Netherlands. Time and again, the makers of Lekker manage to produce a guide that no restaurant lover can ignore, that both restaurant-goer and restaurateur eagerly look forward to. And time and again they do their utmost to make Lekker even tastier, without losing sight of its core values: reliability, independence, surprise, expertise and culinary knowledge. Lekker500 is published once a year.

The 2024 edition of Lekker500 with no less than 292 pages will be in shops on 31 October 2023 for €19.99 and can also be ordered via lekker.nl/order. Besides the 500 reviews, you will also read great interviews and inspiring stories and discover culinary must-haves and delicious recipes for the home.