Unique Frisian greenhouse restaurant Mearkas opened
Interieur kasrestaurant Mearkas in Eastermar - credits Julia Dongstra
Interieur kasrestaurant Mearkas in Eastermar - credits Julia Dongstra 
Kasrestaurant Mearkas - Kees Meinderts in open keuken - credits Julia Dongstra
Kasrestaurant Mearkas - Kees Meinderts - credits Julia Dongstra
Kasrestaurant Mearkas - Noordzeekrab - credits Julia Dongstra
Kasrestaurant Mearkas - Kees Meinderts enChristiaan Steijn - credits Julia Dongstra
Kasrestaurant Mearkas - glamping - credits Julia Dongstra
Opening – Together with business partner Christiaan Steijn, chef Kees Meinderts opened greenhouse restaurant Mearkas on May 2, 2024. Friesland’s (a northern county of the Netherlands) only greenhouse restaurant is located in the beautiful bocage landscape of the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden and is surrounded by a vegetable garden, picking garden, a food forest and a luxury glamping site. In the greenhouse-based fine dining restaurant, guests can enjoy creative dishes, mainly made with ingredients from their own garden.
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Location of greenhouse restaurant Mearkas is Eastermar
Mearkas is located in Eastermar, north of Drachten between the lakes De Leijen and Bergumermeer, in an area with special reed lands and ‘wetlands’. The restaurant is located in a large greenhouse on the two-hectare estate, where everything has been arranged for guests to enjoy culinary excellence and stay overnight in a beautiful natural surroundings.
Quirky companions
The quirky owners of the greenhouse restaurant Mearkas are the companions Kees Meinderts (36) and Christiaan Steijn (37). Kees worked for years as sous chef and kitchen manager at Michelin starred restaurants such as ‘De Librije’ (***) in Zwolle and ‘De Heeren van Harinxma’(*) on the Lauswolt estate in Beetsterzwaag. Christiaan owns catering company ACCES, which is already located on the estate. His role will be in the back office; Kees, as head chef, is the face of the business.
Greenhouse restaurant Mearkas | Where you experience taste
The large greenhouse that houses the restaurant is the centerpiece of Mearkas. Christiaan Steijn: “From your table and from the terrace you look into the garden and see where your food comes from. Looking over the meadow and the wooded banks you can sometimes see deer, this is truly a unique place.”
Entitled “Where you experience taste”, guests enjoy refined dishes with natural and robust flavors. The creative dishes have a healthy balance of fish, meat and vegetables, herbs and berries from their own garden and food forest.
Kees Meinderts: “I call it ‘relaxed fine dining’; we do it here in our down-to-earth Frisian way without much fuss, but with schwung and a big dose of hospitality.”
Menu
The menu consists of a surprise menu of four (€67.50) to five (€74.50) dishes, available both with and without fish and meat. In time, the number of courses will be expanded. Upon request, Mearkas also serves a fully plant-based menu.
Culinary stories and experience
Besides the fine cuisine and the garden, experience and the telling of culinary stories are key points of greenhouse restaurant Mearkas. Kees Meinderts: “The route to the restaurant runs through the garden, so you can literally already see what you’re going to eat. At the table we tell about the origin of ingredients. Outside by the terrace a fire burns and you can enjoy a drink before and after dinner here, if you wish. Guests can watch the cooks create the dishes in the open kitchen or when they are picking herbs or flowers. We like to surprise guests. We do that, for example, with table preparations, such as barbecuing a dish component at the table. And instead of a plate of different cheeses, we make a cheese dish. We also serve a pre-dessert, as a bridge from the main course to dessert.”
Warm interior and glamping
The warm interior of the greenhouse restaurant showcases the rural setting. The wooden tables and bar are made from trees from the neighborhood. Striking elements are the paved floor and flowers and plants as natural accents. In warm weather, guests can eat outside on the terrace, where they are completely absorbed in the beautiful Frisian landscape. For those who want to stay overnight, there is a small-scale glamping site with 5 luxury tents equipped with private sanitary facilities, completely made beds, coffee and tea facilities and of course, a good breakfast is provided. There is also an attractively priced introductory package consisting of a five-course dinner, overnight stay in a luxury tent and breakfast for € 145 per person.
Mearkas is open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner and it is also a great venue for events and dinners for private groups. They also cater dinners.
Website: Maerkas
