Restaurant Ambassade – Joie de vivre in Amsterdam

Restaurant Ambassade is the restaurant at the Ambassade Hotel, which has been impressing diners since it opened in 2015. The restaurant prides itself on quality and service. The kitchen team creates French classics using the finest ingredients, and the courteous staff are ready to oblige day and night. ‘It’s French joie de vivre in a unique spot, with a view of Herengracht and a colourful backdrop of works by the artists of the international COBRA movement,’ says chef Tommy van de Coolwijk proudly, as we ask him about his love of French cuisine and the success of this restaurant in such an enviable location.

— So Restaurant Ambassade is oriented towards French cuisine? —

‘You can tell by the name. French Mediterranean cuisine has a long tradition of wonderful dishes and is renowned for its refinement and variety. I love the fact that I can express my passion for French cuisine through the menu. I always choose dishes you wouldn’t tend to make at home. All our food is prepared with finesse, plated beautifully, and served in just the right way. We also have a great wine list with reasonable prices, and we pay a lot of attention to food and wine combinations.’

— You can tell that the management and your team have achieved something special from the rave reviews and high ratings on TripAdvisor and TheFork. —

‘It’s because of our careful attention to service and quality, and the excellent price-quality ratio. Our guests particularly value the depth of flavour in our dishes and the variety on the menu: from a wonderful house-made bisque or salade au chèvre at lunchtime to a steak tartare or a refined confit de canard at dinner.’

— These days, sustainability is an important issue. A growing number of diners are eating less meat or none at all. How do you respond to this trend? —

‘French cuisine traditionally has many meat and fish dishes, but we see that there’s a growing demand for vegetarian dishes. So we always have more than one vegetarian starter and main dish on the menu. As far as possible, we also use seasonal ingredients, which we buy sustainably from local suppliers whenever we can.’

— In everything you say about your work as a chef, one thing stands out: your passion for the guests. Can you say something more about that? —

‘The main ambition of everybody here, both the kitchen team and the front of house, is to satisfy our guests. We want them to have a fantastic evening, to pamper them, and make them feel they haven’t wanted for anything. I go home satisfied if I see they’ve appreciated the quality of our food and it’s clear they’ve had a good time because of all the care and attention they’ve received. That’s what we’re interested in at Restaurant Ambassade, not all the latest restaurant fashions. Although, as chefs, of course we do keep up to date with that!’