<a target="_blank" href="https://www.restaurantfitzgerald.com/">Restaurant Fitzgerald</a>

Gelderseplein 49, 3011 WZ

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Tel. +31 10 268 7010

BY IAN D'AGATA | MARCH 29, 2019&nbsp; The Food:

Selection of
oysters

Yellowfin
tuna with matcha, kohlrabi, African ground cherry 
 
Brill with passion fruit, spinach, tomberry 
 
Langoustine, avocado, kimchi, Dutch shrimp&nbsp; 
 
Veal sweetbreads, almond,
apricot,&nbsp;butternut squash 
 
Fillet of veal, artichokes, Jerusalem artichoke,
Cuban pepper 
 
Cantaloupe melon,&nbsp;Dutch carrot, coconut,
lime&nbsp;

The Wines:

<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>2017&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Collestefano
 Verdicchio di Matelica</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;91</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2015&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gales
 Auxerrois Remich Hopertspour Moselle Luxembourgeoise</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">89</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2013&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jean-François
 Ganevat Côtes de Jura Cuvée Florine</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">92</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1964&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Chateau
 Corbin Michotte Saint-Emilion Grand Cru</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">92</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2015&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Keller
 Monsheim Silberberg Rieslaner Beerenauslese</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">92</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>

Talented head chef Remco
Kuijpers is a big attraction wherever he decides to cook, but fact is, just
about everything about Restaurant Fitzgerald in Rotterdam (in the historic and
pretty Oude Haven) will impress you. Named after writer and bon vivant F. Scott Fitzgerald, the
restaurant is housed in a modern, sleek open space that manages the neat trick
of feeling refined but not stuffy. Restaurant Fitzgerald boasts an amazing wine
list including, for example, 15 different wines from Coche-Dury and 41 from
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, plus many older vintages. Service and food are both
outstanding, but be warned that à la
carte selections are offered only to parties of five or less; if there are
more people at your table you will need to choose one of the very fine tasting
menus. Restaurant Fitzgerald owner Danny Gonzales obviously loves wine, and you
quickly understand why he has won numerous awards for his fine work in the fields of wine and hospitality over the
years. For example, Fitzgerald was just voted “2018 Restaurant of the Year” in
the Netherlands by a prominent Dutch magazine.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1553873071861-Welcome+to+teh+Fitzgerald..._copy.jpg"> Welcome to the Fitzgerald 

The food at
Restaurant Fitzgerald features mostly seasonal ingredients that are expertly
prepared and cooked. There is nothing out of place. Flavors and textures are
very nicely balanced. As always when a restaurant is firing on all cylinders,
it’s extremely hard to pick a standout dish. If I were forced to choose a
favorite or two, I might opt for the langoustine, avocado, kimchi and Dutch
shrimp&nbsp;dish, or Fitzgerald’s signature dish of veal sweetbreads,
almond, apricot&nbsp;and butternut squash. But the brill with passion fruit,
spinach and tomberry is also very satisfying, with added interest from the
tomberries, which are unusually small red or yellow tomatoes that measure justone
centimeter (less than half an inch) in diameter and are perhaps the world’s
smallest.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1553873062175-A+few+osters+just+ti+get+started_copy.jpg"> A few&nbsp;oysters&nbsp;to get started 

This evening offered as perfect
a night of fine wine dining as I can think of. I had a great time picking wines
from Fitzgerald’s exceptional list, which includes outstanding wines not just
from famous estates, but also from little-known areas and producers at the top
of their game. For example, Fabio Marchionni has turned Collestefano in Italy’s
Matelica region into not just one of the country’s better white wine estates,
but also the source of one of Italy’s 10 best-value white wines in practically every
vintage. And so it is again with the 2017
Collestefano Verdicchio di Matelica, a lovely example of what the Verdicchio
variety is capable of. This refined, luscious wine is vibrant and precise,
offering hints of fresh citrus, ripe pear, green apple and almond. Gales, a
Luxembourg winery with over 100 years of history and a fourth generation now at
the helm, produces both still and sparkling wines (Crémants). The 2015 Gales Auxerrois Remich Hopertspour
Moselle Luxembourgeoise Premier Grand Cru Classé is a very good example of
wine made with a variety that has found a happy home in Luxembourg. In my
experience, Auxerrois wines from Luxembourg are less spicy than those made in
Alsace, but can offer a rich, luscious yet vibrant mouthfeel. These particular
vines are grown on mostly Keuper marl soils, and the wine is fermented in
stainless steel. <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1553873050714-Langoustines_copy.jpg"> Langoustine, avocado, kimchi, Dutch shrimp&nbsp; 

There are few wines I enjoy more
than those of the Jura. I visit the region regularly and have loved the wines
for most of my adult wine-drinking life. At 14 generations and counting, Ganevat
is one of the best names in the region. For nine years the maître de chai at Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne, the extremely
talented Jean-François Ganevat returned home to his family domaine in 1998. He
makes an astonishing number of different cuvées and is a meritorious example of
a vigneron who can make sulfur-free
wines while avoiding the off flavors that sometimes plague wines made in this
style. His 2013 Côtes de Jura Cuvée Florine is named after Ganevat’s daughter
and is made with the estate’s youngest organically grown and biodynamically
farmed vines (planted in 1986) on mostly limestone soil. Piercing and flinty,
it is an interesting take on a grape that is all too often reduced to a butter/vanilla/tropical
fruit bomb of very little interest and difficult to pair with more delicate
food preparations. Ganevat also produces outstanding Vin de France wine blends
from co-planted vines of many less common varieties, such as Poulsard Blanc, Argant, Petit Béclan, Gros Béclan and Enfariné. <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1553875592803-Sweetbreads...._copy.jpg"> Veal sweetbreads, almond, apricot,&nbsp;butternut squash&nbsp; 

I can never get enough great
Bordeaux, and I’ve always been smitten with the underrated 1964 Bordeaux
vintage, which actually gave many lovely and even powerful wines, especially in
those cases where the grapes were harvested before the rains fell.
Nevertheless, red Bordeaux has an uncanny ability to age well no matter what,
and the 1964 Chateau Corbin Michotte is
a case in point. This lovely bottle was surprisingly powerful and complex, a multilayered
cedar, faded violet, spicy tobacco and black currant elixir lingering long on
the aftertaste. Though clearly no spring chicken at 50-plus years and counting,
the 1964 is drinking beautifully – and in better shape than some professional
wine tasters I know!<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1553873104897-Cool%2C+hip+Rotterdam_copy.jpg"> Cool and hip Rotterdam 

Readers are aware of how much
I love great German white wines, and though Rieslaner (a Riesling/Sylvaner cross)
is not one of my favorite wine grapes, I have to say that the 2015 Keller Monsheim Silberberg Rieslaner
Beerenauslese is a work of art. The domaine, run by Klaus Peter Keller
since 2001, dates back to 1789 and has a long history of excellence, which is on
display in this marvelous wine. Its scintillating panoply of lemon, lime and
white flower nuances keep me company all the way back to my hotel.

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