Top restaurant Fitzgerald | Accessible for all
Rotterdam’s top restaurant Fitzgerald has a new owner. With more accessibility, a reopened bar and reduced prices, while keeping the quality of the cuisine at the same level, the restaurant is entering a new phase. Managing directors of the Michelin-starred restaurant are familiar faces chef Michael Verhagen and maître-sommelier Bas van Beveren.
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New owner(s)
Restaurant Fitzgerald was handed over to a new owner by Danny Gonzalez, in November 2023. The new operator is a family-run business with extensive hospitality experience, which has appointed chef Michael Verhagen and maître-sommelier Bas van Beveren as business managers.
Michael Verhagen (37): “The new owner wants to remain in the background and has asked Bas and me to run the place, which is a great opportunity for us. I have been working here since the opening in 2015. First, as a sous-chef and since Remco Kuijpers’ departure two years ago as head-chef. Bas and I used to work together at the restaurant of the World Museum in Rotterdam. Afterwards, Bas worked at Rotterdam’s The Millèn for a while, before we got reunited at Fitzgerald just under a year ago.”
More accessible and reduced prices
One important change is that the restaurant has become more accessible. Bas van Beveren (34): “Prices have been reduced slightly and on weekdays it is now possible to order four courses instead of only offering a large menu. Furthermore, the bar has been reinstated. Guests can have an aperitif there before dinner and can visit in the afternoon for a good glass of wine or a cocktail with a bite to pair it with. The bar menu includes Wagyu carpaccio and other special charcuterie, oysters, cheese and distinctive vegetarian bites. From the bar, there is a view of the open kitchen. Additionally, it is possible to make a reservation for a seat at the bar.
The wine stock was kept out of the sale, leaving us with the freedom to put together a new collection of wines. We have since built up a new menu with about 120 wines, most of them originating from Europe. We are going to keep expanding the menu and are differentiating ourselves with our speciality in classic wine regions.
Cooking level and service unchanged
What remains unchanged is the level of quality and cooking style. Chef Michael Verhagen: “We remain true to modern French cuisine with subtle touches from Japan, South America and Spain. This has earned us a Michelin star and 16 out of 20 points in the Gault&Millau guide. The kitchen team is unchanged, with kitchen chef Leonardo Sussi, who has worked at two-star Italian establishments and knows the world.
We maintain the current quality of service and cooking but have made it all a bit looser and more accessible. In the course of the year, we will be organising events such as a caviar lunch, a truffle dinner and a barbecue lunch in our beautiful garden. We find that it gives us a lot of energy to organise these kinds of fun plans.”
New start
The two managers conclude: “We see being allowed to run this wonderful business as a new start. We have used the past two months to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and partly reconstitute the team at the front. In both the front and back there is a young and super-driven team that is ready to perform. Danny Gonzalez has left behind a great company, on which we are happy to build with the new owner.”
Website: Restaurant Fitzgerald
