Flavors merge like colors at Bob Ross

The taste of Pandan is very difficult to describe. Parfumed grassig, almond and fabric softener – those are the only words that come to mind. But of course that does not do justice to the specific, warm aroma of this screw palm. You can know the rice, but it is quite subtle in it. Much clearer it comes to the fore in tropical, especially Indonesian desserts. For that reason I always associate that extremely characteristic taste with creamy desserts.

That Pandan will belong to the dessert, we thought when we saw the ‘Words Cloud’ on the table at Odille – a card with a collection of ingredients that we will encounter in the menu in random order.

Imagine Our Surprise When the roasted zander appeared on the scene, flanked by a cream of cime di rapa and pistachio and hairdresser, in a very fine broth based on stockfish and pandan. Surprising, daring, but above all: extremely refined. Pandan, but also pistachio and hairdressing magazine, are pronounced flavors. However, they are particularly harmoniously intertwined in this dish. The subtle warm undertone of that stockfish acts as a solid backbone without attracting attention – as the bass player of the band.

We had already seen the same style figure in the Chawanmushi with the salty-sweet cockle and blissful aloe vera, fennel, avocado, celeriac and a good dot caviar. Many tastes, nothing gets in the way, again against a serving, inconspicuous fishing background of mackerel in the broth with which the velvet, savory Japanese egg custard is made.

This fine touch is the hand of chef Casimir Evens, who previously worked under chef Viki Geunes of Driesterbastion ‘t Zilte in Antwerp. Odille is the dream of him and his partner Lotte Bloem. When an old men’s fashion store on the Markt in Sint-Oedenrode in East Brabant was released, they took the opportunity to build a restaurant in the huge hull space, completely according to their own discretion. The kitchen is in the middle of the departure – actually they are three workbenches with tables covered with white linen. Ants on the wall symbolize ‘teamwork’, just like small figures who ‘fall and stand up’ in a work of art by Daisy Boman. Nothing to disturb yourself (except the music, see deployment). The operation runs in uniform colors (sand, kaki, beige), and on sneakers of its own Odille brand.

Michelin star

Odille had earned a Michelin star within a year. Justifiably. Everything is extremely well cared for, from the hot cloth with orange blossom and the amuses to the crispy skin of the zander and a surprising first dessert with yellow curry, Duindoorn and Aloe Vera, to the personalized menu afterwards home. 70 percent of all products come from the region, which translates into a « bread experience » with buffalo butter from Schijndel and goat’s butter from Heeswijk-Dinther. The cow butter from Sint-Oedenrode is self-smoked. Four types of bread are baked yourself, including a shallot bread with Swinckels beer. The Katsuobushi (Japanese tuna slicer) for the marinated Bonito is picked up and dried in the house. A menu starts at 130 euros per person. A lot of money, but not expensive. If you have the opportunity, it is definitely worth it.

Here and there you could notice something: a somewhat ordinary perfumed gel in the bonitog dish, a very medicinal spiced kombucha, a dull onion amuse for the Vega head dish or a somewhat dutifully second dessert with basil and Frangipan. But that is all in the nor, for example, a niggling of a Langoustine-really perfectly cooked at the table, the fresh shellfish clefts between the teeth-on a joekel of a super-flowered, roasted white asparagus, just cooked, in a frothy sauce based on light-fermented aspermide and Sobasada and Sobasada and Sobasada. A world dish.

The spices on which the Lango smoked has been echoing in the Bulgarian rosé. And also in the surprisingly fruity celery juice with red pepper and Garam Masala. The wines honor the subtlety of the food, they are complex and mature, not fruit bombs or wood bins. Just like the juices, they are complex, often Vegetaal, fits in beautifully with the Wine Pairings- for example, we find the same licorice tones from the Syrah at the main course in beet and fennel juice. They are mostly light – no worries about a full fruit juice belly if you don’t want to drink alcohol.

The main course is a again perfectly cooked quail with plump fleshy morilles filled with a cream of morilles (love it), gravy of fresh curry sheets and juicy mustard leaf. The vegetarian gets an at least as good and perhaps more refined lacquered oak with eggplant in a light-hearted vadouvans sauce, and feels extra spoiled with a portion of aromatic biancetti truffle. The bridges from Vadouvan to white truffle and from truffle to oak hare are again beautifully intertwined-the flavors merge as colors in the Nat-op-Nat technique of Bob Ross.

Odille is not an average one -star. It is refined, cared for, but also surprising and very own. The control is characteristic. Evens cooks without excesses, no lavish salt or umami, no sour peaks, no mandatory crispy. Everything is delicate, well thought out and executed. Rather a virtuoso piano concerto than the 9th of Mahler – but no less creative or artfully composed.

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