The White Room by Jacob Jan Boerma

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Historic Room, a Chef with Serious Credentials

The White Room takes its name from history. The space it occupies inside the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky on Dam Square has been known as "De Witte Zaal" since 1885, and it is considered the oldest restaurant interior in Amsterdam still in its original condition. Modern styling has been layered in with care, so the result is a room where the nineteenth century and the present feel equally at home.

The chef behind the vision is Jacob Jan Boerma, one of the Netherlands' most decorated cooks. He fell under the spell of cooking early, trained across a string of respected kitchens, and in 2002 opened De Leest in Vaassen with his wife Kim Veldman. That restaurant earned its first Michelin star within six months of opening, a second in 2006, and a third in 2013. Amsterdam is where Boerma now spreads his wings as Signature Chef, with Chef de Cuisine Tristan de Boer leading the kitchen day to day and translating the vision into every plate.

The Philosophy: Nature First, Then Flavour

Boerma's guiding principle is direct: nature sets the quality, the chef determines the combinations and the taste. His personal preference for bright, acidic notes and considered spicing runs through everything the kitchen produces. As he puts it, those elements will always be present in his dishes — sometimes recognisably, sometimes not. The result is a French cuisine that draws on the best Dutch produce while absorbing flavours from across the world, particularly the spice cultures woven into Amsterdam's own history.

Chef de Boer channels that same spirit, finding inspiration in the city itself — its cultures, its centuries of trade, the herbs and spices that passed through its port.

The Menus

Two set menus are offered, both at dinner and at Saturday lunch. The Gold menu centres on fish and meat — tuna with blueberry and shiso, North Sea crab with red curry and green apple, langoustine with masala and markoesa, seabass "Ikan Bali", and Dutch lamb with green curry and rice. The Green menu follows the same structure with a vegetable-forward approach: smoked beetroot with verjus and blueberries, agnolotti with pumpkin, kimchi and pecorino, pointed cabbage with BBQ banana, baharat and yuzu. Both menus close with a champagne-shiso-strawberry course and a pink pepper dessert with yuzu and BBQ chocolate.

Wine matters here. The cellar earned Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, and the pairing options reflect that seriousness: a Classic Wine Pairing moves through diverse styles and expressive winemaking, while the Premium selection focuses on single plots and top producers.

The Experience

Smart casual dress is the expectation, valet parking is available, and the restaurant has its own entrance on the Warmoesstraat as well as access through the hotel. The atmosphere is elegant without being stiff — the stated aim is to make a genuinely fine French dining experience accessible to a broad audience, and the room's warm monumentality supports that without effort.