Ratatouille Food & Wine

Ratatouille Food & Wine occupies a converted 17th-century spice warehouse on the east bank of the Spaarne canal, five minutes east of the Grote Markt. Chef Jozua Jaring opened in 2010 with a French-classical vocabulary refined at Inter Scaldes in Zeeland (two Michelin stars) and in Lyon at Paul Bocuse. The Michelin star arrived in 2015 and has been continuously held. The room is regarded within Dutch fine-dining circles as the prettiest small dining room in the country.

The tasting menus — 4, 6, and 8 courses at €85, €115, and €145 — are classically structured. A typical menu opens with a chilled North Sea langoustine with buttermilk and cucumber; proceeds to a roasted turbot with morel and vin jaune sauce; a deep signature of slow-braised Veluwe venison with celeriac and juniper (in winter) or grilled Norfolk lobster with sorrel butter (in summer); a cheese course built around three to four artisanal Dutch cheeses with house-made bread; and a dessert that leans to the orchard — poached Normandy pear with almond, or a gianduja-chocolate parfait with raspberry.

The dining room seats twenty-four, spread across three small connecting spaces under the warehouse's oak ceiling beams. The canal-side windows frame the Spaarne directly; at 21:00 in summer the light off the water is the most cinematic detail in Haarlem. The wine list is French-heavy with a serious Chablis and Loire section, and the sommelier is the most confident in the city. Service is warm rather than formal. Ratatouille is the Haarlem Michelin dinner that couples book for a reason.

For a Proposal: Ratatouille has the most romantic dining room in Haarlem and arguably in the Netherlands outside Amsterdam. The canal-side two-tops at the east windows are the ones to request; the restaurant will arrange a Champagne and a privately-timed dessert course on request; and Jozua Jaring's team has handled several proposals per month for the last decade without fuss. The light on the Spaarne at summer sunset closes the argument.