De Librije *** – Zwolle, Netherlands – October 2024
by legionpichon
5 Comments
legionpichon
I didn’t intend this post to be so long but I got carried away remembering an amazing meal. My fiancé and I visited Amsterdam for a few on October 2024 and made the trip to Zwolle to have lunch at De Librije. The restaurant was formerly located in the old library (hence the name) and it was moved in 2000 to it’s current location, what it used to be a former women’s prison.
Chef Jonnie and her wife Thérèse also have a Hotel in the same building as the restaurant, our trip to Amsterdam was short and I wished we could’ve stayed but it wasn’t possible. The train that took us there suffered some delays, I got a bit nervous thinking we could miss the meal. When the delay was 30 min + I called the restaurant, and they assured me that there was no problem.
From the train station we walked to the restaurant, it was a beautiful day but as we were late we couldn’t take a slow pace to enjoy the walk more. We did smoke a joint though, and maybe it was a bit too much as my fiancé and I were pretty high when we got there.
We were greeted by a couple of beautiful and tall FOH girls who ushered us in, they explained briefly the history of the restaurant and prison, and took us through the hallways of the “prison” into a lounge and the into the dining room.
The dining room is situated in what it used to be the prison courtyard, the contrast and harmony of the prison courtyard with the modern and luxurious décor makes the dining room a beauty, and I said earlier weather was lovely and the dining room was beautifully lit through the meal.
On our seat we got greeted by our Sommelier Sara which offered some champagne to start, I was too high and remembered some crazy stories from this sub so I declined lol. Later came Thérèse, Jonnie’s wife so-owner and Maître, and explained us the two wine pairings they offered, the regular one at 130 euros and the” high end” at 299 euros. We decided to have one of each and share to get a taste of more wines. Chef Jonnie came to the table to explain the Menu’s, regular and vegetarian at 299 euros each and the classic (extra courses) that could be added (3 total), we both went with the regular menu and decided to order two the extra courses to share and a Marigold “egg” caviar each as it looked amazing.
The fist couple of bites arrived, these change constantly and featured ingredients from the local producers, a couple were good and the other were ok. We were served our corresponding wines before the first official. Even though we love wine we’re no experts but after tasting the first Riesling they gave us with the high end wine paring (HALENBERG GG, 2018, Emrich-Schönleber) I changed my mind and decided we wanted two high end pairings instead. The wine that came with the regular paring was good but the Riesling was amazing-
I asked Sara if I we could make change and with a smile told us that of course we could, a moment later she arrived with the Riesling to serve us a second glass, topped off our first glass which was ¾ down and left us the wine from the regular pairing (which wasn’t charged). This would mark the start of an amazing meal.
legionpichon
**The Menu we had:**
-“Passport of taste” (chicken liver, blueberry, passionfruit). Chicken liver and blueberry were amazing and let us experience some flavor profiles we’ve never had. So far our fine dining experiences were limited to Mexico, France, Japan and Spain.
– Pancake from Giethoorn (filled with caviar and crème fraiche). Wasn’t our favorite and for us lacked some punch.
-Foie gras, brown shrimps, tomato. Amazing
-Langoustine, carrot, red vanilla. Really good
-Weaver, green pepper, seaweed. Really good
-*Marigold “egg” caviar, 15 grams “2020”. One of the dishes that convinced me to go to De Librije, at 75 euros (each) it came beautifully presented and cutting the egg was so satisfying and made for an awesome video but to be honest we were disappointed with the flavor, it was bland. This was the only letdown of the meal and I wished we hadn’t order one for each of us. Feeding “marigold” to chickens is a common thing in my country, so there was no novelty here for us.
-Tomato, parmesan, toast. This was a bite in the basement (part of the cellar tour). Great
-Weever, green pepper, seaweed. Contender for our favorite course of the meal, here flavors were totally familiar. This tasted like “rajas con crema” something very traditional in Mexico, we loved it!
-*Pike-perch, apple syrup, Riesling “1993”. At 45 euros this was totally worth it, a reinterpretation from a classic back when they got their first Michelin star. We were still high, now a little bit drunk and having a great time so I asked them if we could order a second one. Sara was surprised but immediately said she would check with the kitchen, a moment later came back with the good knew. This course was assembled in front of the table, we thought we would only get the plate served.
-*Veal sweetbread, peanut, pineapple “2004”. Third and last addition for 45 euros, delicious.
-Cauliflower, coffee, peanut. Really good
-Roedeer, pointed cabbage, spruce top. Somewhat bland, wasn’t bad but one of the weakest courses for sure.
-Blue cheese, white chocolate, pistachio. Amazing!
-“Red Fruit” Pink pepper, mint, meadowsweet. Good
-Petite Fours. A mix of amazing and ok
**Wines we had:**
-Riesling, HALENBERG GG, 2018, Emrich-Schönleber
-Chenin Blanc, David & Nadia Plat’bos 2021
-*Héritage Rosé Brut Champagne (extra 27.5 euros per glass, offered with the Marigold “egg”)
-*Domaine Henri Boillot : Volnay 1er cru “Les Caillerets” 2021(extra 70 euros per glass, offered with the Pike-perch)
-2015 Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOC
-erez, Ximénez-Spínola Old Harvest
Chateau Climens Barsac, 1998
Throughout the meal some of the servers where a bit cold, which of course is part of cultural differences and probably some language barriers (we´re from Mexico), but Sara and a couple other sommeliers/waitresses were quite friendly. The total came to 1,695 euros for 2. Sara and was amazing and throughout the meal our glasses were topped off a few times. I don’t think we’ll come back, but that’s because we had a “complete experience” and would rather try other places. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve had in our lives.
voltaire18
Beautiful photos. The meal looks wonderful.
Kihl1997
Stunning photos
keithharingwithonion
Thank you for the review, on my list for a while. Just a question: if the meal was 299 each, and the wine 299+130, (total 1030) those extra dishes must have been very expensive, is that true?
5 Comments
I didn’t intend this post to be so long but I got carried away remembering an amazing meal. My fiancé and I visited Amsterdam for a few on October 2024 and made the trip to Zwolle to have lunch at De Librije. The restaurant was formerly located in the old library (hence the name) and it was moved in 2000 to it’s current location, what it used to be a former women’s prison.
Chef Jonnie and her wife Thérèse also have a Hotel in the same building as the restaurant, our trip to Amsterdam was short and I wished we could’ve stayed but it wasn’t possible. The train that took us there suffered some delays, I got a bit nervous thinking we could miss the meal. When the delay was 30 min + I called the restaurant, and they assured me that there was no problem.
From the train station we walked to the restaurant, it was a beautiful day but as we were late we couldn’t take a slow pace to enjoy the walk more. We did smoke a joint though, and maybe it was a bit too much as my fiancé and I were pretty high when we got there.
We were greeted by a couple of beautiful and tall FOH girls who ushered us in, they explained briefly the history of the restaurant and prison, and took us through the hallways of the “prison” into a lounge and the into the dining room.
The dining room is situated in what it used to be the prison courtyard, the contrast and harmony of the prison courtyard with the modern and luxurious décor makes the dining room a beauty, and I said earlier weather was lovely and the dining room was beautifully lit through the meal.
On our seat we got greeted by our Sommelier Sara which offered some champagne to start, I was too high and remembered some crazy stories from this sub so I declined lol. Later came Thérèse, Jonnie’s wife so-owner and Maître, and explained us the two wine pairings they offered, the regular one at 130 euros and the” high end” at 299 euros. We decided to have one of each and share to get a taste of more wines. Chef Jonnie came to the table to explain the Menu’s, regular and vegetarian at 299 euros each and the classic (extra courses) that could be added (3 total), we both went with the regular menu and decided to order two the extra courses to share and a Marigold “egg” caviar each as it looked amazing.
The fist couple of bites arrived, these change constantly and featured ingredients from the local producers, a couple were good and the other were ok. We were served our corresponding wines before the first official. Even though we love wine we’re no experts but after tasting the first Riesling they gave us with the high end wine paring (HALENBERG GG, 2018, Emrich-Schönleber) I changed my mind and decided we wanted two high end pairings instead. The wine that came with the regular paring was good but the Riesling was amazing-
I asked Sara if I we could make change and with a smile told us that of course we could, a moment later she arrived with the Riesling to serve us a second glass, topped off our first glass which was ¾ down and left us the wine from the regular pairing (which wasn’t charged). This would mark the start of an amazing meal.
**The Menu we had:**
-“Passport of taste” (chicken liver, blueberry, passionfruit). Chicken liver and blueberry were amazing and let us experience some flavor profiles we’ve never had. So far our fine dining experiences were limited to Mexico, France, Japan and Spain.
– Pancake from Giethoorn (filled with caviar and crème fraiche). Wasn’t our favorite and for us lacked some punch.
-Foie gras, brown shrimps, tomato. Amazing
-Langoustine, carrot, red vanilla. Really good
-Weaver, green pepper, seaweed. Really good
-*Marigold “egg” caviar, 15 grams “2020”. One of the dishes that convinced me to go to De Librije, at 75 euros (each) it came beautifully presented and cutting the egg was so satisfying and made for an awesome video but to be honest we were disappointed with the flavor, it was bland. This was the only letdown of the meal and I wished we hadn’t order one for each of us. Feeding “marigold” to chickens is a common thing in my country, so there was no novelty here for us.
-Tomato, parmesan, toast. This was a bite in the basement (part of the cellar tour). Great
-Weever, green pepper, seaweed. Contender for our favorite course of the meal, here flavors were totally familiar. This tasted like “rajas con crema” something very traditional in Mexico, we loved it!
-*Pike-perch, apple syrup, Riesling “1993”. At 45 euros this was totally worth it, a reinterpretation from a classic back when they got their first Michelin star. We were still high, now a little bit drunk and having a great time so I asked them if we could order a second one. Sara was surprised but immediately said she would check with the kitchen, a moment later came back with the good knew. This course was assembled in front of the table, we thought we would only get the plate served.
-*Veal sweetbread, peanut, pineapple “2004”. Third and last addition for 45 euros, delicious.
-Cauliflower, coffee, peanut. Really good
-Roedeer, pointed cabbage, spruce top. Somewhat bland, wasn’t bad but one of the weakest courses for sure.
-Blue cheese, white chocolate, pistachio. Amazing!
-“Red Fruit” Pink pepper, mint, meadowsweet. Good
-Petite Fours. A mix of amazing and ok
**Wines we had:**
-Riesling, HALENBERG GG, 2018, Emrich-Schönleber
-Chenin Blanc, David & Nadia Plat’bos 2021
-*Héritage Rosé Brut Champagne (extra 27.5 euros per glass, offered with the Marigold “egg”)
-*Domaine Henri Boillot : Volnay 1er cru “Les Caillerets” 2021(extra 70 euros per glass, offered with the Pike-perch)
-2015 Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOC
-erez, Ximénez-Spínola Old Harvest
Chateau Climens Barsac, 1998
Throughout the meal some of the servers where a bit cold, which of course is part of cultural differences and probably some language barriers (we´re from Mexico), but Sara and a couple other sommeliers/waitresses were quite friendly. The total came to 1,695 euros for 2. Sara and was amazing and throughout the meal our glasses were topped off a few times. I don’t think we’ll come back, but that’s because we had a “complete experience” and would rather try other places. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve had in our lives.
Beautiful photos. The meal looks wonderful.
Stunning photos
Thank you for the review, on my list for a while. Just a question: if the meal was 299 each, and the wine 299+130, (total 1030) those extra dishes must have been very expensive, is that true?