Restaurant in De Mortel, Netherlands
Two-time Bib Gourmand. Worth the detour.
De Wilg holds back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition (2024 and 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating under chef Paolo Rota. Farm-to-table cooking in a Noord-Brabant village at a €€ price point that makes it one of the stronger value propositions for a special occasion in the region. Book two to three weeks ahead for weekend evenings.
De Wilg earns back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025, which in the Netherlands carries a specific meaning: serious cooking at a price that does not require apology. At a €€ price point and with a 4.7 Google rating across 169 reviews, this is a farm-to-table address in a small Noord-Brabant village that consistently punches above its postcode. Book it for a special occasion, a birthday dinner, or a date where you want the food to do the talking without a four-figure bill at the end. Under chef Paolo Rota, the kitchen delivers the kind of produce-led cooking that the Bib Gourmand exists to reward.
De Mortel is not a dining destination most people plot a route to — it is a hamlet in the Brabantse Peel, a range of heathland and farmland east of Veghel. That context matters when you walk into De Wilg. The farm-to-table concept here is not a marketing phrase bolted onto a menu; it is the operational logic of a kitchen that sits close to its suppliers by geography and necessity. When the kitchen is running, the kind of warm, earthy aromas that come from a kitchen working with root vegetables, herbs, and locally sourced proteins are the first signal that this is not a restaurant performing rusticity — it is the real thing.
Chef Paolo Rota leads the kitchen, and the double Bib Gourmand is the clearest available credential for what the cooking delivers: quality of execution and sourcing that Michelin inspectors felt exceeded what the price would normally promise. The Bib is not awarded for ambience or heritage; it is awarded for what arrives on the plate relative to what you pay. Two consecutive years of that recognition suggests consistency, not a lucky run.
For a special occasion, De Wilg offers something specific: the intimacy and seriousness of a destination restaurant without the formality that can make celebration dinners feel like a performance. A €€ price range means a couple can eat well, possibly with wine, and leave without the financial anxiety that colours a meal at a €€€€ address. If your occasion calls for food that is thoughtful and sourced with care, rather than theatre and ceremony, De Wilg is the right call for Noord-Brabant.
On the question of private or group dining, the venue data does not confirm a dedicated private room, and Pearl will not invent one. What is verifiable is that De Wilg is a small-village restaurant in a region where farm-to-table venues of this scale typically offer intimate settings rather than large-format event spaces. If you are planning a group celebration, contact the restaurant directly before assuming private arrangements are available. For groups of two to four, the experience is likely well-suited to the setting. Larger parties should confirm capacity and arrangements in advance.
Timing matters at De Wilg. A Bib Gourmand recognition in a small village draws diners from across the region, and a venue with a 4.7 rating on 169 reviews in a location this size is almost certainly running at meaningful capacity on weekends. Friday and Saturday evenings are your highest-risk nights for not securing a table on short notice. If your occasion allows flexibility, a mid-week dinner will generally give you more room, more relaxed service, and the leading version of what the kitchen is doing that week. Spring and early autumn are the seasons when farm-to-table cooking in this part of the Netherlands is at its most ingredient-rich, with local produce at peak quality.
Booking is rated Easy relative to the Dutch fine dining tier, but that does not mean last-minute. For a weekend date-night or a birthday with a firm date, book two to three weeks out to be comfortable. A Michelin-recognised address at €€ in a region with fewer alternatives at this quality level does fill. There is no online booking system confirmed in the available data, so plan to reach out directly through whatever contact method the venue provides.
For context on where De Wilg sits relative to other Dutch farm-to-table venues in its price tier, see 't Arsenaal in Deventer and Auberge de Veste in Hertogenbosch , both operate at a comparable price point and share the farm-to-table approach. For the full picture of what Noord-Brabant and the wider Dutch restaurant scene offers at various price levels, our full De Mortel restaurants guide covers the local options, and you can explore adjacent categories through our De Mortel hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide if you are making a full trip of it.
Further afield, the Dutch Michelin circuit includes addresses at a very different price register: Ciel Bleu in Amsterdam, De Bokkedoorns in Overveen, De Treeswijkhoeve in Waalre, Brut172 in Reijmerstok, De Groene Lantaarn in Staphorst, De Lindenhof in Giethoorn, and Aan de Poel in Amstelveen. If you are travelling up from Brabant toward Zwolle, De Librije in Zwolle and 't Nonnetje in Harderwijk are the benchmark addresses at the leading of the Dutch fine dining tier. De Lindehof in Nuenen and De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen are also worth knowing for Brabant and Gelderland visits respectively.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, but a Bib Gourmand recognition at a €€ price point in a small village means weekend tables are not guaranteed on short notice. Plan two to three weeks ahead for Friday or Saturday evenings, particularly if you have a fixed date for a celebration. Mid-week dinners are more accessible and likely offer a quieter, more relaxed experience. No phone or online booking URL is confirmed in the available data; contact details are on the venue's own channels. Dress code is not formally confirmed, but a smart-casual approach is appropriate for a Michelin-recognised address. The address is Sint Antoniusstraat 30, 5425 VE De Mortel, Netherlands.
Smart casual is the appropriate register for a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant at a €€ price point. No formal dress code is confirmed in the available data, but this is not a jeans-and-trainers setting. Think of it as the same standard you would apply to any well-regarded neighbourhood restaurant with serious cooking credentials.
A dedicated private dining room is not confirmed in the available data. De Wilg is a small-village farm-to-table venue, and groups of two to four are likely well-suited to the setting. Larger groups should contact the restaurant directly before assuming private arrangements or large-table configurations are available.
Specific menu formats are not confirmed in the available data, so Pearl cannot advise on tasting menu structure or pricing with certainty. What the double Bib Gourmand does confirm is that Michelin inspectors found the cooking-to-value ratio strong enough to recognise twice. At a €€ price point under chef Paolo Rota, the expectation is serious, produce-led cooking at a price that is fair for what you receive.
Yes, at a €€ price point with two consecutive Bib Gourmand recognitions, De Wilg delivers more per euro than most comparable addresses in Noord-Brabant. The Bib Gourmand specifically signals that Michelin inspectors considered the quality-to-price ratio a reason to recommend, not just the quality in isolation. If you are calibrating a special occasion budget, this is one of the more efficient choices in the region.
Specific dishes are not confirmed in the available data, and Pearl does not invent menu items. The farm-to-table format under chef Paolo Rota means the menu will follow seasonal and local produce availability. Ask the restaurant what is leading that week , at a venue with this sourcing philosophy, that question will get you a better answer than any static recommendation.
De Mortel is a small village and direct local alternatives at the same quality tier are limited. For farm-to-table at a comparable price point in the broader region, 't Arsenaal in Deventer and Auberge de Veste in Hertogenbosch are the closest stylistic peers. If you are willing to step up to €€€€, De Lindehof in Nuenen and De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen are the benchmark addresses for serious dining in the wider Brabant and Gelderland area.
Yes. De Wilg is well-suited to birthday dinners, anniversaries, and date nights where food quality matters more than spectacle. The combination of Bib Gourmand recognition, a €€ price point, and a 4.7 Google rating from 169 reviews points to a venue that delivers consistently on the things that make a special occasion meal work: good cooking, fair pricing, and enough care to make the evening feel considered. It is not the right choice if the occasion calls for grand theatrical service or an elaborate multi-hour tasting experience at a prestige address.
Two to three weeks ahead for weekend evenings is a safe window, particularly for a fixed-date celebration. Mid-week tables are easier to secure on shorter notice. A Michelin Bib Gourmand at €€ in a small village draws diners from across the region, and this is not a venue where walking in on a Saturday night is a reliable strategy.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| De Wilg | €€ | — |
| De Librije | €€€€ | — |
| 't Nonnetje | €€€€ | — |
| De Lindehof | €€€€ | — |
| De Nieuwe Winkel | €€€€ | — |
| Fred | €€€€ | — |
How De Wilg stacks up against the competition.
A relaxed but considered approach fits the setting. De Wilg is a farm-to-table restaurant in a rural Brabant hamlet, not a formal city dining room, so there is no case for black tie. Neat casual — think a clean shirt or blouse — is appropriate. The Bib Gourmand recognition signals quality cooking without ceremony, so dress to feel comfortable rather than to impress.
There is no group policy on record for De Wilg. Given its village location and the scale typical of Bib Gourmand restaurants in the Netherlands, assume capacity is limited. For parties of six or more, check the venue's official channels before booking to confirm availability and any group-booking terms.
De Wilg's menu format is not detailed in available records, so we cannot confirm whether a tasting menu is offered. What is confirmed: back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025 at a €€ price point means serious cooking at accessible prices — if a tasting format is available, that combination is historically strong value in the Dutch farm-to-table category.
Yes, at €€. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards exist precisely to flag restaurants where the cooking punches above the price. Chef Paolo Rota running a farm-to-table kitchen in rural Brabant at this price tier is a strong value proposition by any measure in the Dutch dining market. You are unlikely to find Bib Gourmand-level cooking cheaper.
Specific dishes are not on record here. At a farm-to-table restaurant earning Bib Gourmand recognition, the strongest choices are typically those led by what is seasonal and local — ask the team what is freshest on arrival. Avoid over-ordering: at €€, portion and pacing are usually calibrated for a full meal rather than grazing.
There are no other restaurants recorded in De Mortel itself — the village is small enough that De Wilg is the primary reason to make the trip. If you want alternatives in the broader region, De Lindehof in Nuenen (also Bib Gourmand-recognised) and Fred in the Brabant area offer comparable farm-forward Dutch cooking, though neither matches De Wilg's specific rural-hamlet setting.
Yes, if your occasion suits an intimate, countryside format. The combination of Michelin Bib Gourmand cooking, a €€ price point, and a farm-to-table setting makes De Wilg well-suited to a low-key but genuinely special dinner. It is not the right call if you need a grand urban backdrop or a large group table — for those, a city venue would serve better.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
