Restaurant ML

Restaurant ML occupies a 17th-century warehouse just behind the Grote Kerk on the quiet Klokhuisplein, connected to the small Carlton Square hotel that chef-owner Mark Gratama runs with his family. The Michelin star arrived in 2014 and has been continuously held since; in Dutch fine-dining terms ML is the definitive Haarlem table and has been since its opening. Gratama trained at the three-star De Librije under Jonnie Boer and at Le Bristol in Paris, and the cooking vocabulary carries both influences.

The tasting menus run 5, 7, and 9 courses at €95, €125, and €165 respectively, with wine pairings at an additional €60-€110. Seasonality is aggressive. A spring menu may include wild garlic oil over raw North Sea halibut; smoked eel with beetroot and horseradish (the Zaanstreek smokehouse is a thirty-minute drive away); veal sweetbreads with morels from the Dutch woodlands; and a pre-dessert of buttermilk with sorrel and dill-oil that is a signature. The technique is French-classical; the ingredients are local to the Haarlem watershed within sixty kilometres.

The dining room seats twenty-eight, split across two intimate salons, with a single chef's-counter seat for four people directly in front of the pass. The wine programme is one of the deepest Bourgogne collections in the country, complemented by an unusual selection of Dutch-soil viognier and pinot noir from the Limburg producers. The service — led by Gratama's wife — is the warmest Michelin service in the Netherlands, a point Amsterdam critics make often. For a Haarlem Michelin dinner, ML is the first call.

For Impress Clients: Restaurant ML is the Dutch Michelin dinner that Amsterdam-based clients fly in for specifically. Twenty minutes from Centraal, twenty-five from Schiphol, a star-rated tasting at a third less than the equivalent Amsterdam experience, and a family-run front of house that makes a client feel personally hosted rather than processed. The chef's counter for four is the correct choice for a small client delegation.