Restaurant Sinne within the Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam has held a Michelin star since 2015. Since my final go to was ten years in the past, a return was lengthy overdue. The restaurant presents a compact menu of solely eight dishes, together with one cheese possibility, from which you’ll be able to compose a 4, 5, or six-course meal for 85, 105, or 125 euros. We opted for 5 programs and let the chef resolve, accompanied by a wine pairing at 13 euros per glass.
We began with a glass of Greek traditional-method glowing wine, a mix of Xinomavro and Assyrtiko. These grapes are grown at an altitude of 700 meters in northern Greece, and the wine was aged for 30 months on the lees.
Two amuse-bouches have been served: one that includes a cream of dill and the opposite a candy macaron with jalapeño and smoked mackerel, though the flavour of the mackerel was barely perceptible.
The primary wine of the pairing was a Malagouzia, additionally sourced from a comparatively cool area in northern Greece. It featured fruity aromas and a construction outlined extra by its bitter notes than by acidity.
This was paired with branzino tartare, daikon, inexperienced curry, and ponzu ‘caviar’—tapioca pearls marinated in ponzu. The dish offered a pleasing distinction between the creamy fish and the crunchy daikon. Whereas the ponzu pearls have been considerably underwhelming for a part offered as caviar, the dish was in any other case very tasty. It was a difficult pairing, and though the Malagouzia stood as much as the daring flavors, it did intensify the warmth of the chili within the curry.
The subsequent wine was a Tai Rosso from the Colli Berici DOC in northern Italy. That is the native title for Grenache, initially known as Tokaj Rosso however shortened to Tai Rosso to keep away from confusion with Hungarian Tokaji. Though it’s uncommon to change to purple for the second wine of a pairing, this was a really gentle, fruity fashion made in stainless-steel with attribute notes of almond.
It was paired with a vegan dish: a chestnut tartlet with shiitake mushrooms, pecans, and pumpkin soup. Whereas the wine and the dish didn’t conflict, they didn’t notably complement one another both. A white wine like a Viognier could have been a more practical pairing.
The next wine was a Pinot Noir from chalky soils in Rheinhessen, Germany.
The concept was that the earthiness of the Pinot Noir would complement the truffle within the subsequent dish; nevertheless, an oaked white wine may need been a better option to match the creaminess of the hollandaise. The dish consisted of grilled celeriac with a 63°C egg yolk, hollandaise sauce, toasted hazelnuts, and freshly grated truffle. Whereas the usual value included solely a small quantity of truffle—with a extra beneficiant portion obtainable for a surcharge—the dish was tasty, although a greater wine pairing may have elevated it additional.
The wine for the primary course was a Cabernet Sauvignon from Somontano, within the Pyrenees of northern Spain. The wine possessed velvety tannins however lacked a little bit of fruit.
A extra fruity wine would have labored higher with the candy and spicy beetroot served alongside the primary course of duck breast. In any other case, this was a really good dish that includes tender, juicy duck cooked to an ideal medium-rare, a well-grilled king oyster mushroom, potato, and a flavorful duck jus.
The dessert wine was a Monbazillac, the extra fruity and fewer complicated ‘little brother’ of Sauternes.
This was a great pairing for the good dessert of mango cream with apricot, basil, and keenness fruit sorbet.
We concluded our meal with some nice petit fours accompanied by espresso and tea.
Studying my concluding remarks from ten years in the past, it’s exceptional—although maybe not shocking—how nicely they nonetheless apply at the moment. The meals is tasty, superbly offered, and technically good. I discovered that there have been maybe too many dishes that includes a candy and spicy ingredient, which appeared in three of the 4 savory programs. This particular profile makes dishes tougher to pair with wine. Whereas the choices didn’t conflict, the pairings felt as if they have been made on paper reasonably than via the method of tasting varied choices till discovering one the place the wine and dish actually elevate one another. As was the case a decade in the past, the service was glorious: each attentive and pleasant. It was clear, nevertheless, that the sommelier was not current (regardless that she owns the restaurant along with the chef). One notable change from ten years in the past was that the restaurant was not absolutely booked on a Friday night time. This can be as a result of the restaurant now presents commonplace worth for cash, whereas it offered distinctive worth prior to now.
