Tres — Restaurant in Rotterdam

In a former jazz cellar beneath the Entrepot building on the Handelsplein, chef Michael van der Kroft descends into his own world. Tres is raw, pure, vintage and warm, and small: just 16 seats at a dark wooden bar with half-height stools. Hostess and head sommelier Emy Koster guides the evening from start to finish. Michelin awarded the restaurant a star, and Gault&Millau named it Discovery of the Year 2022. Michael is self-taught, and you can see that in an unconventional precision that surprises big culinary names. One seasonal tasting menu of 18 courses, using only produce from local producers within 30 km of Rotterdam. Fermentations, garums, ageing: every product is used in full. Examples: a Limburg-style seaweed vlaai with dashi custard and caviar, squid tortellini filled with blackcurrant-twig fudge, and dry-aged turbot glazed with yeast, with pickled wasabi and horseradish garum.