Restaurant in Utrecht, Netherlands
Plant-driven French with serious wine credentials.
Hemel & Aarde is a vegetable-forward Modern French restaurant inside Hotel The Nox in Utrecht, holding a Michelin Plate (2025) and a 4.8 Google rating. The kitchen cooks to seasonal availability under the We're Smart philosophy, and the wine list runs to 525 selections. Book if produce-led cooking and a serious wine program in one room is what you are after.
Expect to spend €66 or more per head for two courses at Hemel & Aarde, and that figure is justified — but only if you are prepared to eat on the kitchen's terms. Chef René van der Weijden runs a vegetable-forward menu driven by what is available that day, guided by the We're Smart Think Vegetables! Think Fruit! philosophy. This is not a restaurant where you arrive with a specific dish in mind. If seasonal, produce-led cooking suits your appetite, this is one of the more considered options in Utrecht at the €€€ price point. If you want a conventional French menu with protein at the centre, look elsewhere.
Hemel & Aarde holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, confirming consistent kitchen quality. The Google rating sits at 4.8 from 318 reviews, which is a strong signal at this price tier. The wine list runs to 525 selections from a 4,250-bottle inventory, with France and Italy as the core strengths — Wine Director Tom Appeldoorn and a three-strong sommelier team (Sanne Van den Brink, Marek Masse, Milan Vissers) manage a list that skews toward the €100+ range. Budget accordingly if wine pairing is part of your plan.
Hemel & Aarde sits inside Hotel The Nox on Keistraat in Utrecht's city centre. The hotel setting gives the room a degree of calm that standalone restaurants in busy Dutch city centres do not always achieve. Energy here tends toward composed rather than loud , this is a dining room where conversation is possible throughout the meal, which makes it a practical choice for occasions where you actually want to talk. First-timers should know the room is not a casual drop-in; the price point and the format signal that this is a destination dinner, and the atmosphere reflects that.
The kitchen's operating philosophy shapes everything on the plate. Van der Weijden's commitment to the We're Smart framework means vegetables are not a side consideration , the chef's signature dish is explicitly a vegetable dish, positioned as a statement about where the menu's priorities lie. That said, the restaurant is clear that 100% plant-based is not on offer here. Expect a kitchen that treats vegetables with the same technique and intention that more conventional French kitchens reserve for premium protein. The 4 Radishes recognition from We're Smart (the programme's highest tier) is a verifiable credential that this approach is taken seriously at a competitive level.
The sourcing model , cooking to what the day and nature release , means the menu shifts with season and supply. For a first visit, this is worth knowing before you arrive: you will not find a static menu online that matches what is served on the night. The upside is that ingredients are at peak quality when they appear. The trade-off is that you are trusting the kitchen's judgement rather than selecting a specific dish in advance. Diners who find that arrangement energising will get more from the experience than those who prefer to know exactly what they are ordering before they book.
Wine program deserves attention in its own right. A 525-selection list with 4,250 bottles in inventory is a serious commitment for a Utrecht restaurant at this scale. The €$$$ pricing tier indicates many bottles above €100, so a full pairing will add meaningfully to the bill. If you want to drink well but keep costs down, it is worth asking the sommelier team for guidance on mid-range bottles , with three sommeliers on staff, there is expertise available to move through the list at different budget points. Corkage is set at €45 if you prefer to bring your own.
Hemel & Aarde also holds recognition from Star Wine List (published September 2024, White Star), which further confirms the wine program as a genuine draw rather than a secondary consideration. If you are booking primarily for the wine list, this is one of the stronger options in the city. Compare it against Karel 5 (€€€€ · Creative) if you want a wine program alongside a more conventional luxury-format menu, or against Maeve (€€€ · Creative French) if you want Creative French cooking at a similar price point. For a broader view of what Utrecht has to offer at dinner, see our full Utrecht restaurants guide.
If you are travelling from outside Utrecht specifically for a high-end dining experience, Hemel & Aarde is worth the trip, but it is worth benchmarking against Netherlands restaurants with full Michelin stars: De Librije in Zwolle, Ciel Bleu in Amsterdam, and Aan de Poel in Amstelveen all operate at a higher formal recognition tier. Hemel & Aarde's advantage over those venues is its more focused, ingredient-driven format and the depth of its wine list relative to its size. For Modern French at €€€ elsewhere in the Netherlands, 't Ganzenest in Rijswijk and 't Raedthuys in Duiven are worth considering for context on what the tier delivers regionally.
Hemel & Aarde is located at Keistraat 8, 3512 HA Utrecht, inside Hotel The Nox. The kitchen serves lunch and dinner. Booking is classified as easy , you are unlikely to face a multi-week wait under normal circumstances, though for weekend dinners and special occasions, booking ahead is still sensible. The restaurant is accessible from Utrecht Centraal station; Utrecht's compact city centre makes most of the hotel and dining district walkable. For accommodation options near the restaurant, see our full Utrecht hotels guide. For bars before or after dinner, our full Utrecht bars guide covers the city's current options, including Bar Bet as a nearby option worth knowing. If you want to extend the trip with wine-focused experiences, our full Utrecht wineries guide and our full Utrecht experiences guide are the starting points.
Quick reference: €€€ modern vegetable-forward French | Hotel The Nox, Keistraat 8 Utrecht | Lunch and dinner | Booking: easy | Wine list: 525 selections, €$$$ pricing | Corkage: €45 | Michelin Plate 2024–2025 | 4.8 Google (318 reviews).
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemel & Aarde | €€€ | Easy | — |
| Maeve | €€€ | Unknown | — |
| Restaurant Blauw | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Karel 5 | €€€ | Unknown | — |
| Bistro Madeleine | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Brasserie Goeie Louisa | €€ | Unknown | — |
How Hemel & Aarde stacks up against the competition.
The hotel setting inside The Nox and the €€€ price point signal a polished evening out. Clean, considered clothes — a dinner jacket or smart dress — fit the room better than casual wear. Nothing in the venue data prescribes a formal dress code, but a Michelin Plate kitchen at this price bracket tends to attract a dressed-up crowd.
Chef Rene van der Weijden puts a purely vegetable dish at the centre of the menu as his signature — that is the one to anchor your meal around. The kitchen cooks to what the day and season release, following the We're Smart Think Vegetables! Think Fruit! philosophy, so the menu shifts with availability. Ask the sommelier (Tom Appeldoorn or the team) to pair from the 525-selection wine list, which skews French and Italian.
Booking is classified as easy in Pearl's assessment, so you are unlikely to need weeks of lead time the way you would at a harder-to-get Utrecht table. A few days' notice should be sufficient for most evenings, though a Friday or Saturday dinner during a busy period warrants booking earlier. The hotel location at Keistraat 8 means walk-in options may exist at lunch.
At €66 or more per head for two courses before drinks, Hemel & Aarde is worth it if plant-led, seasonal cooking is your format. The kitchen holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, and the wine list runs to 4,250 bottles across 525 selections at €€€ pricing — the wine programme alone gives serious diners a reason to come. If you want a more conventional meat-centred French menu, the price-to-plate ratio shifts and Karel 5 may serve you better.
Yes, with one caveat: the menu is predominantly vegetable-focused, and the kitchen notes that 100% vegetable is not guaranteed, so confirm dietary expectations before booking for a group. For two people who eat adventurously, the hotel setting, Michelin Plate recognition, and a sommelier-led wine experience make this a strong special-occasion choice in Utrecht. For a larger party that needs a meat-forward menu, Karel 5 offers more conventional coverage at a comparable price point.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
