Tickets for the dinner specials at ITGWO now on sale
Join us at the table with one of the top chefs at the festival
2026
Announcement
DATE
We have to eat about three times a day anyway, so we might as well do it right. At Into The Great Wide Open, you can sit down with top chefs for meals that each tell a story and help build a better world. From fine dining in West African style to Benny Blisto bringing Vuurtoreneiland to Vlieland: come and taste it.
For all dinners, the rule is: first come, first served. Tickets can be ordered here.
De KeukenKaravaan
Restaurant Rondo – awarded 13 Gault&Millau points this year – will host the opening dinner with a menu exploring the chaos in our world, and the beauty that emerges from it. Noni Kooiman & Lelani Lewis build their menu around the Caribbean 'three sisters': corn, beans, and squash, and how they support one another. A menu that suggests how diversity in our world might just be the only answer to all the unrest. Back in Amsterdam, Benny Blisto leaves his Vuurtoreneiland behind and brings the best of BAK to Vlieland. And finally, there are De Fruitslagers. As disruptors of the food system, they create products that rewild the landscape. Their pairing is at least as enchanting.
Omakase Fukumatsu
Yoigokochi – the late-night snack spot on Bolderplein – welcomes Chef Chikamatsu from Kyoto. Imagine yourself at his Japanese counter-resto and let yourself be carried away in the ultimate Japanese experience.
The Chop Bar by The Jollof Club
Chef Nicolas Aquaa bridges the gap between fine dining and ancestral West African recipes. You can taste this in his Chop Bar menu, as well as at The Jollof Shrine: a dance through the past, present, and future of African music. Or join The CookBook Cook-Out and learn how to make a true Ghanaian and Nigerian lunch.
Club de Ville
Perched on a set of old rafters from a former Cakewalk attraction is the well-known Club de Ville, run by the Vollaers family. Treat yourself to a generous plate of fresh paella, including a delicious helado con cafe. Or plan a visit to the beautifully set brunch table – complete with coffee, mimosas, juices, and various homemade delicacies.
De Vuurplaats: De Bewaarschool
In De Vuurplaats, De Bewaarschool opens: a collective dedicated to future-proof food. You'll find the brand-new Kokumi snack by Ivana Mik: the self-proclaimed fermentation queen, and rightfully so. In addition to hand-folded seaweed dumplings, NEAP Seaweed uses its own miso and garums. And Saskia Boer from Outsiders Foraging gathers wild ingredients to serve you the most extraordinary flavours of the wild.
These three chefs offer take-away options, but they also curate a unique menu together with Max Pesch (from Flores) and Kuba: the chef with the romantic signature style from Vin Natuur in Groningen. From fig leaf to koji charcuterie, and from carrot toffee to sea buckthorn leather: pull up a chair.
View the entire range of food specials here.
