Roots: Exploring Dutch Cuisine and Spring Gardens

restaurant — Van Gogh's in Springfield, Missouri.

Van Gogh self portrait. — Print of Van Gogh's self portrait (with restaurant logo).

Traditional Delft tiles from Van Gogh's restaurant.

storefront — A bicycle museum in the historic C-Street district of Springfield.

brick building — Another cool building along C-street, from 1883, housing the other restaurant belonging to the owner of Van Gogh's.

train art on sidewalk — A train motif on the sidewalk on Commercial Street in Springfield. The late 1800s were the heydays of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad in the historic C-Street area.

Route 66 artwork — A mosaic piece on the side of an art shop in Springfield, Missouri, just off U.S. Route 66.

pond in garden — The koi pond and tea room at the Japanese gardens.

Japanese tearoom — Inside the tea room in the Japanese gardens.

Adolescent geese guarded by parents at the Japanese gardens.

flower garden — The English themed garden at Nathanael Greene Park.

purple Iris — An Iris at the gardens in Nathanael Greene Park.

allium — Allium plants in the gardens at N.G. Park in Springfield, Missouri.

black and white butterfly — A resident of the Butterfly Garden at Nathanael Greene Park.

orange butterfly on flower — Another butterfly from the gardens.

tulip tree bloom — A bloom on a tulip tree in the butterfly house at the gardens.

Hunger struck on a recent trip to Springfield, Missouri to enjoy the many spring blooms of Nathanael Greene Park. A quick search for reasonably priced, but top reviewed restaurants brought us a bit of my heritage, a Dutch café.

The owner lived for a time in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and opened Van Gogh’s as his second eatery on Commercial Street in Springfield. This city is inundated with restaurants and food variety, so kudos to Joe for finding his niche there. With authentic Dutch dishes, specializing in Pannenkoeken (pancakes), and charming decor such as Delft tiles, wooden shoes, and Van Gogh prints, the restaurant housed in an old brick building had a lovely foreign vibe.

We shared a Soused Herring Tost appetizer which I had to warm up to as I had all too vivid memories of my Dutch father offering pickled herring, from a jar in the refrigerator, to us as kids. This herring was served on toast points and mellowed by a dollop of pesto. I enjoyed the Frisan Chicken Salad served on dark bread with a side salad, as my entree. While I like chicken salad, my father is from Friesland, in the northern region of the Netherlands. I liked the idea of trying food from my people. It was yummy.

The desserts sounded wonderful, but we were sated and went for a stroll in the historic C-Street district. From a Honey Beetique to art shops to a chocalatier to a bicycle museum, the six block area had plenty to see. A street market reminded us to get going on our garden back home as it had a variety of plant starts. The market was adjacent to a footbridge that crossed train tracks, but was under restoration and not yet open.

We were tempted into Askinosie Chocolate by a free samples sign and after leaving with a dark chocolate raspberry bar, we read the backstory of the former attorney who uses ultra-socially responsibly sourced cocoa beans from around the world. It’s a father/daughter business and their chocolate is handmade (read under Learn and Our Story tabs on the website link).

Ready for walking and to see some flowers, we headed to Nathanael Greene Park. We began in the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden. The pathways wind through 7.5 acres of a variety of carefully maintained trees and plants. Small wooden bridges, including a moon bridge, span branches of a large koi pond and there’s a traditional Japanese tea room on a tiny island. The garden changes throughout the year with a special light display at Christmastime.

While the Japanese Garden is beautiful and calming, the many flowering gardens in the park at large are amazing. The English Garden was my favorite with its delicate flowers in an array of colors, neatly arranged. There was a large rose garden that was wonderfully fragrant.

We ducked into, seriously, there were long plastic strips in the doorway to keep the happy residents in, the Native Butterfly House. It was full of blooms that were pleasing to many, different butterflies flitting about. In keeping with my heritage theme of the day, there was a tulip tree in bloom in the butterfly house, not really tulips, but great imitations. The butterflies were not scared to land on people and were comfortable with close-ups being taken.

Nathanael Greene Park has 113 acres and several features. The many (over 20) gardens within the park are maintained by volunteers and we saw them working hard in the sun. It’s such a large area with so much to do (see park map) that we have visited several times already and the park is always a new experience. After a quick trip to my favorite out of town grocery store, Hy-Vee, we headed home.

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