5x here is where you need to be for your cheese fondue
As you know, I am a huge summer person and I can't wait for the first skirt day to arrive. But sometimes winter can also be really nice. Friends and family at a long table, candlelight, red wine, a crackling fireplace, and a table full of treats. Everyone poking into a bun and scraping through a huge pot of cheese fondue. I am far from a winter sports enthusiast, but just for that I would already (without hesitation) get into the car with the final destination being the French Alps. Are you homesick for winter sports or do you want to get into the mood? I have listed the places with the best cheese fondues in the country for you. By the way, you can go there all year round for your fragrant caquelon filled with creamy melting cheese.
1. Amsterdam: Bistrot des Alpes
Located in the Utrechtsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam (ha, that's around the corner) is this authentic French spot, where every association with winter sports, candlelight, and romance is fully realized. Just back from your winter sports and still have the skis lying in the living room? Reserve a table and dream away at the photos that at least you still have.
Owner Thibault, a born and raised Savoyard, travels back home every two months to pick up blocks of fresh Comté, Beaufort, Reblochon, and Abondance from his regular addresses. Bistrot des Alpes is known for the tastiest cheese fondue, the most fragrant raclette, the most flavorful tartiflette, and the perfect gratin de crozets. Just make sure you plop down in the chair with an empty stomach, okay?
2. Haarlem: In ’t Goede Uur
For more than 45 years, the cheese fondue made with organic Gouda cheese and Gruyère has been a household name in Haarlem. Prefer a fondue with a twist? How about a spicy cheese fondue made from Gruyère, gorgonzola, and red port? Or would you rather have the Forestière, the richly filled fondue with various mushrooms and a splash of white port? On a diet but still want to poke into a bun? Then go for the skinny variant. A cheese fondue made with 45+ cheese, less salt, and with 60% less fat than the standard fondue.
3. Maastricht: Witloof
At Witloof, no culinary masterpieces; what is on the menu here is pure and real. Handmade, of course, organic, sustainable, fair, artisanal, and flavorful prepared according to their own Flemish family recipes. From Liège meatballs from Bomma to real Ostend shrimp croquettes. But for the most flavorful Bruges cheese fondue, you have to be in Sint Bernardusstraat in Maastricht. And of course, a Belgian beer belongs with that. But with 351 types of beer on the menu, that shouldn't be a problem, right?
Beemster fondue with a mix of special spicy sun-dried tomatoes, spring onion, and sambal
4. Alkmaar: Fonduerestaurant De Fransman
Thousands of visitors from all over the world come specifically to Alkmaar for the cheese market. Well, it can't be helped that you also have to be here for perhaps the most comfy food that exists on this planet. Fonduerestaurant De Fransman is located in the historic heart of Alkmaar, just a stone's throw from the cheese market. The cheese plops here so fresh from the market into the caquelon. If you suffer from choice stress, it's better not to plop down here. From Swiss to Beemster, or would you prefer a Tuscan touch with sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan? Like me, a sucker for spicy food? Then the Devil's Cheese Fondue is probably your favorite: Beemster fondue with a mix of special spicy sun-dried tomatoes, spring onion, and sambal. I say: school trip to Alkmaar.
5. Paris: Pain, Vin, Fromage
Okay, not entirely fair, but I can't help it. Something about a press outing in two weeks to Paris. Right in Le Marais is this traditional fondue restaurant, where they serve almost nothing else but bread, wine, and cheese. Gosh, we find that very annoying. Besides traditional raclettes and fondues, they serve fondues with a twist: Indian cheese fondue with curry or a Norman fondue with Calvados, Livarot, and Pont L’Évêque. Let's just say we have to be in this neighborhood. Girls, I'll reserve a table in advance, okay?
Source image: alexander-maasch
