Refresh Magazine

“
We were one of the first restaurants in the
Netherlands to only serve menus.
reasons of sustainability, and more and more fish. We also do
a lot of things with vegetables. That already starts with the
amuse-bouches but we also prepare a lot of desserts using
vegetables. For example, we make ice cream with every herb
you could think of: sage, basil, dill and rosemary, for example,
but also with carrots and beetroot. There is also a trend to cook
the vegetables differently: more al dente and pure.
We also make sure that the menus are really well balanced.
The food mustn't be too heavy, so we don't have too many
carbohydrates. Some refreshing acidity in the beginning and
then the more robust flavours later on. Less is more, that's
what we believe in.’
No attempt
to copy or impress
One of their reviews stated ‘Young as
they are, these Brabant sorcerer's
apprentices, their cooking is extremely
mature’. That says a lot. ‘We're fucking
headstrong here. We have no desire
to copy other chefs or wow our guests
with all kinds of tricks. We cook in a
very simple way. These are pure, deep
flavours and we don't do any crazy
things: we don't want bullshit on the
plate.’ In a city in which good
restaurants and successful chefs come
and go, Johanneke, Guillaume and
Freek want to set the trends themselves.
‘We were one of the first restaurants in
the Netherlands to only serve menus.
And in principle we only give you
cutlery once, unless the guest asks
otherwise. It means we don't have to
interrupt guests at the table more often
than we need to. This allows us to
create a more accessible and relaxed
atmosphere. We try to sense how
guests want to be treated and we don't
want to be too formal.
So happy
‘We are doing things which we think are really cool. I'm just so happy all the time.
We stuck our necks out and it's become hugely successful. It's unbelievable. And for our
work, we also get to visit places all over the world. We recently went to Tokyo to research
a new menu for Guts & Glory and recently we were also invited to Taiwan, Thailand and
London to cook and provide advice. It's fantastic to experience these precious moments
with my best friends. I went to university, I could also have landed a job with a bank,
but now we have become successful in something which we think is really cool and are
experiencing lots of happy times together.’
Here, you can eat at the level of a
Michelin-starred restaurant in a lively
setting but for slightly less money.’
Other chefs also rate the restaurant
highly: ‘I don't feel that there's a lot of
mutual competition. We're all friends
and we eat at each other's restaurants.’
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