25 YEARS.. PASSION FOR THE CRAFT
“In February 2015, I had my first cup of coffee with Annaline. Many more cups of coffee would follow. We clicked immediately and discovered that we shared the same ambition. We thought it would be wonderful to take Mes Amis to a higher culinary level. A month later, I started as head chef.”
Giving It Our All Together
“For me, that step came at exactly the right moment. I was given the space to further develop my own cooking style, with classical French cuisine as the foundation and a strong focus on seasonal products, local suppliers and refinement on the plate. Creating new dishes and flavours was the part of my work I loved most. Over the years, signature dishes emerged featuring sweetbread, langoustine and lamb, as well as artisanal pâtés and terrines. In addition, I felt it was important to take vegetarian cooking seriously, to give it proper attention and to invest my creativity in it.
The most memorable moments for me were the evenings when the restaurant was completely full, with a team that was so well attuned to one another that we could truly perform at our best together. What mattered most to me was that a guest would have a beautiful experience from beginning to end and would leave satisfied at the end of the evening. That gave me the greatest sense of fulfilment.”
Striving for More
“I never wanted to be satisfied with ‘good enough’, but always wanted to keep striving for improvement. That ultimately resulted in 12 and later 13 points from Gault and Millau, something I am still incredibly proud of. There were also many wonderful developments outside the regular service. Wijnrestaurant op het Land was launched, we took part in Preuvenemint, and during the coronavirus period we delivered Mes Amis at Home boxes throughout the country. Together, we kept looking for new ways to surprise guests and to keep moving forward.
The moments outside working hours were just as valuable. Evenings out with the team, shared dinners at other restaurants and our annual Saint Nicholas evening created a real family feeling in the workplace.”
Working with Mother and Son
“Annaline was much more to me than just my employer. She was a wonderful hostess with enormous wine knowledge, but also someone who was always caring and loving and who was there for you when things were not going well. I also witnessed Patriek’s development from close by. He started out with me in the kitchen and eventually grew into a co owner. He is completely different from Annaline, but that is exactly why they complemented each other so well. Patriek is a master of planning and organising, but he can just as easily work in the kitchen, in service or start doing odd jobs somewhere.
After eight years, I can say that Mes Amis has been an important chapter in my career. I was able to learn a great deal there and help build something meaningful, but above all I discovered how far you can go when you work at your craft every single day with complete focus and passion. That is also what I always try to pass on to the new generation: stay sharp, keep improving yourself and try to get the very best out of every single day.”
