Heron petit restaurant

Héron Petit Restaurant is a small, open kitchen dining room on a quiet street in central Utrecht. Chef Josephien Blom and founders Victor Stukker and Joyce Bielderman cook a prix-fixe tasting menu rooted in ingredients from Dutch soil and Dutch waters, sourced directly from named farms and growers within the region.

Foraging from the wild landscape around Utrecht and a five-hectare food forest in Haarzuilens shapes the kitchen's direction. Fermentation runs through the menu: koji, amazake, garum and desem bread appear alongside produce from certified organic grower Tuinderij Eykenstein and outdoor-raised pork from Buitengewone Varkens.

The dining room seats a handful of guests at a time, furnished with pre-loved chairs from the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and bar beams salvaged from a house in Zutphen. Joyce pairs each course with a non-alcoholic option drawn from house-made ferments and fruit infusions.