Rotterdam knows how to play itself into the international spotlight in the field of gastronomy. There are a lot of successful chefs in this city. A new book shares their stories and images. Chef Rotterdam will be launched on 29 November 2021.
The book is an initiative by Nicole Buissing of NB Business Solutions and Edwin Veekens of Kyosei. They are very proud of Rotterdam’s chefs. So they decided to bundle their personal stories in a 220-page coffee-table book matching the chefs’ performances. Chef Rotterdam contains 25 interviews with just as many Rotterdam chefs, each of whom is very candid about their drive, their insecurities, their worries, the sacrifices they make every day and their further ambitions.
Patrick ‘t Hart, patron cuisinier of Zeezout (1 Michelin star), for example, admits that in the neighbourhood where he lives, they thought his wife was a single mother. Two star chef Erik van Loo of Parkheuvel reveals that as a child he made his own sweets by melting sugar in a brand new Teflon pan. Other chefs who are portraited are Floris Versluijs (In De Keuken Van Floris), Michael van der Kroft (Tres), Kevin Fan (Asian Glories), and Jos Grootscholten (Perceel).
Rick Arnold provided the pictures and Cees Helder, the figurehead of Dutch gastronomy, is responsible for the introduction. In 2002, he wrote history by being the first Dutch chef to cook with three Michelin stars at Parkheuvel.
A dish that typifies
In addition to the personal stories of the chefs, each of the men also highlights one dish that typifies them as a chef and as a person. That dish is not necessarily a signature dish. Some have chosen a memory or a tribute.
Nicole Buissing is the founder of NB Business Solutions and also works as a Project Leader Special Services at Enginia. A company that provides services in the field of innovation for companies in the manufacturing industry. In her spare time Nicole enjoys the gastronomical life, hence this passion project.
