Please note that since writing this blog post, Repere has closed down
There’s a connection here – bear with me. Readers who’ve been following me for a while will know that there are various characters in my blog posts (otherwise known as “friends”) who pop up on a regular basis. There’s the Honey Badger, for instance (he’s actually my boyfriend), and there’s Dutchies and chefs and designers. And then there’s Scary French Lady. I met her a few years ago through a mutual photographer friend, and was instantly intimidated: she’s elegant, immaculately dressed, fluent in several languages, and never backwards in telling an unsuspecting waiter how she feels about her food. In short, she’s Parisian. And (here’s the kicker), she’s moving back to Paris. Now, despite her scariness, I’ve come to love my intimidating Parisian friend over years of criticizing restaurants with her, and I’m more than a little sad to see her go…
So here’s the (tenuous) connection: just before she left, we visited one last restaurant together: Repéré. Repéré is a pop-up place on the Prinsengracht: it, too, will be gone by the end of month, and I’ll be sad to see the end of it too. Just like Scary French Lady, Repéré is elegant, accomplished and not lacking in attitude. The perfect meal for a tribute post to my French friend…
The menu offers just three choices for starter, three for main and three for dessert (the first two comprising meat, fish and vege). I love a short menu because a) I don’t have to think too much, and b) I generally assume that the ingredients are ultra-fresh and the kitchen is doing what it does best. In this case, my assumption was spot on: my starter of beetroot, goat’s cheese, Jerusalem artichoke and buckwheat was so good my mouth is watering just writing this.
