Envy

I'm not a religious person, which is just as well because I'm guilty of coveting what's on my neighbour's plate almost every time I eat out. This is perhaps why the appropriately named restaurant Envy came up with a tasting menu so that diners can sample each other’s food.

Envy is inspired by the osterias in Italy, traditionally meeting places offering wine and basic food rather than a formal dining experience. Envy's decor goes some way to recreating the bustling informality of an osteria, albeit with the rough edges smoothed off.

The open kitchen is at the front of the long narrow restaurant, with behind it a high communal table. The wall opposite is dominated by a row of 26 fridges, which function as a sort of transparent larder for wines, cheeses, sausages and condiments. It's like being able to poke around in someone’s pantry without the embarrassment of being caught prying.

Image of restaurant Envy in Amsterdam This was exactly the effect Bert van der Leden, the man behind Nevy, Vyne, Witteveen, Mazzo and a growing number of other restaurants in Amsterdam, was aiming for. Enjoying food is as much about sight and smell as about taste, and allowing diners to see the dishes being prepared encourages them to eat, he believes.

Unlike an osteria, however, the food at Envy is anything but basic and neither is it confined to Italy. Some 30 small dishes are available for prices ranging from around €4 for a plate of prosciutto di Parma, to €12 for fried goose liver with figs. Like tapas, you can order as few or as many of these as you want; although there is also a 4/5-course tasting menu for €45 or €52.50 respectively (available per table), for which the chef assembles a number of dishes in a more traditional format.

We ordered a small selection of items that were brought to the table at the same time to make up an eclectic main course. Mackerel cocktail with a tempura of soft-shell crab was served on a seaweed base and topped with soya foam. It was fishy, briny and lovely.

Image of restaurant Envy lamb cutlets Also on the table were two scallops, fried golden-brown on the outside and creamy on the inside, with green apple matchsticks and barely more than a mouthful of Pernod sauce. Covering all this like a crunchy lid was a single prawn cracker. The dish looked deceptively simple but was a clever combination of rich and light textures and flavours.

The final dish was comparatively robust: two rosé lamb chops with skinless smoked tomatoes, caramelised silver onions and what was described on the menu as aubergine caviar. Once again, preparation and flavours were good, although there were a few too many onions and the aubergine caviar was a lofty name for what was in fact a smooth, khaki-coloured sauce. Splashed down the side of the deep plate, it resembled something a passing pigeon might have left behind.

With the exception of the unfortunate-looking sauce, the dishes were beautifully presented on white crockery with as much rim as dish, quickly filling the small table. Portion sizes, on the other hand, were definitely piccolo. This can make filling your stomach at restaurant Envy a pricey – but otherwise guilt-free – pleasure.