Restaurant in Woudrichem, Netherlands
Strong wine list, Michelin-noted kitchen, small town.
Cellar Door is Woudrichem's strongest fine dining option, combining a Michelin Plate kitchen under Chef Michael Burgess with a Star Wine List-awarded cellar of 1,455 bottles curated by owner Tim Ogle. At a €€€ price point, it offers better value than most Michelin-recognised restaurants in the Netherlands. Book for a wine-led dinner when you want serious food without the €€€€ spend.
Cellar Door is the strongest case for fine dining in Woudrichem and deserves serious attention from anyone travelling through the region. With a Michelin Plate (2025), a Star Wine List award (2026), and a Google rating of 4.9 from 67 reviews, this is not a local-favourite-by-default situation. The kitchen under Chef Michael Burgess delivers seasonal European cooking with enough technical consistency to earn recognition at a national level, while Wine Director and Owner Tim Ogle has assembled a 1,455-bottle list that stands up to restaurants charging considerably more per head. At a €€€ price point, Cellar Door offers a compelling value position relative to the €€€€ peers dominating the Dutch fine dining circuit.
Cellar Door sits at Hoogstraat 47 in Woudrichem, a small fortified town on the confluence of the Maas and Waal rivers. The setting matters here: Woudrichem's historic centre is compact and unhurried, which shapes the pace of a meal at Cellar Door in ways that Amsterdam or Rotterdam restaurants simply cannot replicate. The room rewards guests who want focus rather than spectacle. Spatial intimacy is part of the proposition, and the absence of the noise and throughput pressures that affect larger city venues gives the kitchen room to work with precision. For food and wine explorers who find oversized dining rooms counterproductive to the experience, this is a practical advantage worth factoring into your booking decision.
The Star Wine List recognition (2026) is the sharpest credential here and the one that most directly affects your decision. Tim Ogle, who doubles as sommelier and general manager, has built a list of 450 selections across 1,455 bottles. The geographical strengths are New Zealand, Australia, France, Champagne, and Italy — a range that signals serious curatorial intent rather than a house-list-plus-Champagne approach. Wine pricing sits at the $$ tier on Star Wine List's scale, meaning you will find a spread from accessible bottles to serious pours without the aggressive markups that characterise many Michelin-adjacent rooms. If wine is your primary reason for choosing a restaurant, Cellar Door is overdelivering for its price tier. Compare this directly against the €€€€ restaurants in this region: at those venues you often pay more per bottle for lists that are not materially better curated.
Chef Michael Burgess runs a seasonal, European kitchen. The Michelin Plate (2025) confirms the cooking clears a technical threshold that most regional restaurants do not reach, though it also signals that the inspectors see potential not yet at star level. That distinction is useful for calibrating expectations: this is serious, consistent cooking rather than the kind of boundary-pushing experimentation you would find at De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen or the classical rigour of Inter Scaldes in Kruiningen. What Cellar Door does well within a seasonal European framework is deliver technically sound plates without the price premium that Michelin-starred rooms in the Netherlands require. Lunch and dinner are both available, which gives you flexibility that €€€€ venues often do not.
Cellar Door's closest regional peers at the €€€€ tier , De Librije in Zwolle, Aan de Poel in Amstelveen, and De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen , all carry Michelin stars and charge accordingly. If you are specifically chasing star-level ambition and have the budget, those venues deliver something Cellar Door does not yet match on pure Michelin terms. But if your priority is a technically serious meal with an exceptional wine list at a lower spend per head, Cellar Door is the stronger choice. The €€€ vs €€€€ gap is meaningful in the Netherlands.
Within the same price tier, Basiliek in Harderwijk and De Swarte Ruijter in Holten are the most direct comparators on cuisine type and pricing. Neither has the wine list credentials that Cellar Door carries with its Star Wine List award. For wine-led diners, Cellar Door wins that comparison. For those prioritising food over wine, the decision is closer and worth checking current Michelin guidance for each. Locally in Woudrichem, Kruiden & Jasmijn (€€€, farm to table) is the obvious alternative if you want to stay in town at the same price tier but with a different culinary focus.
If you are building a wider Netherlands fine dining itinerary, see our full Woudrichem restaurants guide, and consider pairing Cellar Door with a visit to FG in Rotterdam or Ciel Bleu in Amsterdam for a multi-city trip that covers different points on the ambition and price spectrum. Further regional options worth considering include Tribeca in Heeze, Brut172 in Reijmerstok, and De Groene Lantaarn in Staphorst. For everything else in the area, our Woudrichem hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the full picture.
The menu is seasonal and European, so the specific dishes will rotate. Chef Michael Burgess's kitchen has earned a Michelin Plate, which means the cooking is consistently at a level where following the chef's recommended dishes or tasting menu format is a reasonable strategy. Ask the team , with Tim Ogle operating as both owner and wine director, the food-and-wine pairing advice here is likely to be more considered than at most restaurants in this price range.
Woudrichem is a small town, not a major city dining hub, so plan your visit as part of a deliberate trip rather than a spontaneous detour. The wine list is the standout credential , 450 selections, Star Wine List awarded , so engage with it. Cuisine pricing is €€€ but sits below the two-course threshold of €66, making this one of the more accessible entry points into serious Dutch fine dining. Lunch is available if you prefer a lighter commitment for a first visit.
No dress code is confirmed in the venue data. At a €€€ Michelin Plate restaurant in a historic Dutch town, smart casual is a safe default. You are unlikely to be underdressed in a collared shirt or equivalent; formal attire is probably not expected. If in doubt, contact the venue directly before your visit.
If a tasting menu is offered (the format is not confirmed in available data), the combination of a Michelin Plate kitchen and a Star Wine List wine program makes it the format most likely to showcase both strengths together. At €€€ pricing, any tasting menu here will cost less than the €€€€ peers with Michelin stars. That price gap makes the risk-reward calculation direct for serious food and wine travellers.
Yes, with caveats. The 4.9 Google rating across 67 reviews suggests consistent execution, and the Michelin Plate signals the kitchen can deliver at the level a special occasion requires. The intimate scale of a Woudrichem venue works in your favour for occasions where you want attentive service over a lively room. For milestone occasions where Michelin star credentials are specifically important, De Librije or Aan de Poel are the alternatives to consider.
At €€€ with a Michelin Plate and a Star Wine List, the answer is yes for most food and wine-focused diners. You are getting Michelin-recognised cooking and a 1,455-bottle wine program at a price tier below what starred restaurants in the Netherlands typically charge. The value case is strongest if wine matters to you. If you want the prestige of a starred room, the €€€€ peers deliver that but at a noticeably higher spend.
Kruiden & Jasmijn is the main local alternative at the same €€€ price tier, with a farm-to-table focus. Beyond Woudrichem, De Lindenhof in Giethoorn and Inter Scaldes in Kruiningen are worth considering if you are open to travelling for a meal in the broader region. See our full Woudrichem restaurants guide for the complete local picture.
Booking difficulty is rated easy. Woudrichem is not a high-demand dining destination, so you are unlikely to need months of lead time. For weekend dinners, booking a week or two ahead is sensible. For weekday lunches, shorter notice should be manageable. Given the Michelin Plate recognition, do not assume walk-in availability is guaranteed , confirm by contacting the venue directly, as hours and booking methods are not publicly confirmed in available data.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Cellar Door | €€€ | — |
| De Librije | €€€€ | — |
| Aan de Poel | €€€€ | — |
| De Nieuwe Winkel | €€€€ | — |
| Fred | €€€€ | — |
| De Lindehof | €€€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Cellar Door and alternatives.
Chef Michael Burgess runs a seasonal, European kitchen, so the menu changes with the produce rather than following a fixed format. The safest approach is to follow the tasting progression the kitchen sets out on any given visit. With Tim Ogle directing both the wine list and the floor, pairing suggestions from the team are worth taking — the 450-selection list has particular depth in New Zealand, Australia, France, Champagne, and Italy, and wine pricing sits at the mid tier, so guided pairings won't necessarily break the bill.
Cellar Door sits at Hoogstraat 47 in Woudrichem, a small fortified town on the Maas-Waal confluence — getting here requires a deliberate trip, not a casual detour. The kitchen holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and the wine program earned Star Wine List recognition for 2026, which sets reasonable expectations for the level of cooking and service. Tim Ogle functions as owner, general manager, and wine director simultaneously, so the experience has a personal, owner-led character. Go with curiosity about the wine program as well as the food — the 1,455-bottle inventory is a genuine draw.
The venue data does not specify a dress code, but a Michelin Plate, €€€ pricing, and an owner-managed floor in a small Dutch town suggests the tone is smart but not ceremonial. Neat, considered dress is the practical call — think presentable rather than formal. If you are unsure, email ahead.
The kitchen's Michelin Plate (2025) confirms the cooking is technically competent at a level most regional restaurants in Noord-Brabant do not reach. At €€€ pricing — typical two-course meals above €66 before wine — the value proposition holds if you are treating this as a destination meal and using the wine program alongside it. If you are looking only for a quick dinner, the effort of reaching Woudrichem and the price point make more sense when you commit to the full experience.
Yes, with one caveat: Woudrichem is a small, quiet fortified town, not a city with surrounding event infrastructure. The combination of a Michelin Plate kitchen, a 1,455-bottle cellar with Star Wine List credentials, and owner Tim Ogle managing the floor makes for a focused, unhurried meal — which suits anniversaries, landmark dinners, or occasions where the table is the event. It is not the right call if the group needs a lively urban setting or late-night options afterwards.
At €€€, Cellar Door sits at the upper end of regional pricing, but the credentials justify it more than most venues at this tier. The Michelin Plate (2025) anchors the kitchen's quality, and the Star Wine List award (2026) with 1,455 bottles and mid-range wine markups means you are not paying city-centre premiums for the cellar. For comparable spend, De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen carries higher Michelin recognition, but Cellar Door's wine program is the specific reason to make the trip to Woudrichem.
There are no direct fine-dining comparators at the €€€ tier within Woudrichem itself — this is a small town. The nearest regional alternatives worth considering are De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen (stronger Michelin credentials, less distinctive wine focus) and De Librije in Zwolle (higher Michelin tier, significantly further). If the wine program is your primary reason for visiting, Cellar Door is the specific destination in this part of the Netherlands.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
