Innovation of Dutch classics

Right in the middle of the marquises’ city Bergen op Zoom, Tim Schimmel is the operational manager of restaurant Hemingway and Grand Hotel de Draak, Holland’s oldest hotel. Bergen op Zoom boasts over 800 monuments and a rich and eventful past. The Markiezenhof is the former residence of the lords and marquises of Bergen op Zoom. Hemingway’s kitchen team loves to work with local products from Bergen op Zoom and its environs and offers the best of the Brabantse Wal.

 

Restaurant Hemingway is a proud ambassador of Dutch Cuisine; their quintessentially Dutch identity speaks out clearly on the plate. Hemingway loves to work with the best produce from the border region between West-Brabant and Zeeland. The Brabantse Wal with the organic asparagus of Cees van Tiggelen, the potatoes and strawberries. The anchovies and oyster mushrooms from Bergen op Zoom and the fish, shellfish and crustaceans from Tholen in Zeeland.

 

Hemingway also serves special local wines and gins, for instance ‘Klein Wonder’ (small miracle), a monocépage which is a Souvignier Gris from the Brabantse Wal. The dry white wine has a rich spicy flavor with fresh acids and a long, fruity finish. 

The restaurant serves an Auxxerois, a variant of Pinot Blanc with nuances of juicy white fruits (particularly ripe pears and apples) plus a pleasant small sweetness and soft acidity, from the wine house de Apostelhoeve. 

The Pinot Gris Barrique, a cuvée resulting from patience and ultimate cultivation comes from De Kleine Schorre. An intense wine will the full scent of rich Gris and a long harmonious flavor merging the salty touch typical of Zeeland with the warm richness of wood results from secondary fermentation in oak barrels for 6 months. 

Hermit Dutch coastal Gin is a jenever that emerges from the Eastern Scheldt, which gives the gin a unique salty finish. It makes the Hermit stand out from other gins. The addition of citrus fruits, juniper berries and coriander seeds makes for a deep, complex flavor.

In dark, humid cellars in Bergen op Zoom, Jolande Vermaas grows oyster mushrooms on bags of coffee grounds collected from restaurants and cafés around the city. Restaurant Hemingway uses these beautiful oyster mushrooms in its kitchen.