Five times a year, chef Joram Timmerman changes his entire menu. Quite a task, but you get used to everything. Meanwhile, after running the same menu for a few months, the team genuinely looks forward to something new again. An interview with the chef from Kook Atelier about inspiration, his favourite dish, and how nature finds its way back onto your plate.
"At some point, you want to create something new again," Joram tells us. "Otherwise you keep playing the same record over and over. You're really ready to do something different again."
For Joram, creating new dishes is primarily a natural process that stems from his drive for renewal and challenge. The entire brigade is constantly searching for new flavours and combinations, and the dynamic of continuously adapting the menu keeps everyone sharp and inspired.
"After a while you've got the hang of it, then it's time to challenge yourself again," says the chef from Kook Atelier. At the beginning of a menu, you have to really focus and concentrate on it. Initially, the team is busy just getting the 15-course tasting menu properly up and running. "And once that's settled in, space opens up again to think about other things."
Joram has been working in kitchens for over 30 years now; the craft was instilled in him from an early age by his father. One of Joram's most important sources of inspiration has always been nature itself. The chef believes that nature has already created all the beauty, and his job is simply to make it taste even better.
Joram: "I think most inspiration comes from nature itself; in the kitchen we really just need to translate it onto a plate." He emphasises the importance of lots of experimentation and "seeing, smelling and tasting." It's no wonder the surprise menu has been called 'Served by Nature' for years.
Apart from nature, which is always a clear source of inspiration, the 'how' of inspiration is something the chef finds hard to pin down: "Sometimes I force myself to work on the new menu, and nothing comes out. And then suddenly, within an hour, you've got a new menu on paper. Where it comes from, I've no idea. Inspiration comes and goes. Over the years you get better at recognising it."
Meanwhile - it's early May as we write this - nature is about to burst forth. "Especially if you look at our Waelde Tuin, our own orchard," says Joram. If there's anything inspiring, it's that place, where according to him right now: "Everything wants to grow."
Now about the menu itself. This menu features no meat dishes. "Meat always comes from our own island anyway, but we have a few rules before we include a piece of meat, often lamb, in the menu. A lamb must have grazed in the field for at least 100 days, otherwise we find it ethically irresponsible to serve lamb." The "lamb season" has only just started, so we're not quite there yet.
The chef explains that it's still a tricky season for vegetables at the moment - everything is sprouting, but still needs to grow. The winter vegetables are coming to an end, whilst the proper summer vegetables are yet to arrive. "So we use lots of herbs and vegetables that are pickled, cured, fermented or preserved in vinegar."
Joram speaks enthusiastically about the herbs from their neighbour's garden on Oost. One of the star players in the new menu is wild garlic. Joram: "Thanks to our neighbour, we can add wild garlic to dishes all year round." The team picks the herbs there together, often enough for a whole year. Sustainability and local sourcing remain central: "This way we leave the rest of nature beautifully undisturbed."
Meanwhile, the team adapts the menu as the season progresses. Joram emphasises the limited availability of ingredients, such as asparagus, which this year was available for an even shorter period due to the cold spring. Timmerman: "So we change the vegetables in a menu quite regularly."
A dish we've seen before, but which is therefore always 'slightly different', is Joram's 'Ode to Spring': "Various pickled, fermented vegetables, with a cream made from Texel sheep's cheese. The preparation method is fixed, but the vegetables can change with the season. It's whatever's available, whatever's in stock."
Joram lifts the lid on one of the 15 courses - a starter with white chocolate spheres filled with an explosion of spring herbs from their own garden. He explains: "These flavour bombs are completely liquid inside. The combination with ginger and spring onion makes it a surprising and punchy start to dinner."
The chef from Kook Atelier can't name a favourite dish from this menu - he's proud of what the team has created. "Even when we ask guests about their favourite dish from this menu, we get completely different dishes back, and I'm proud of that."
When pressed, he's willing to name a personal favourite: asparagus with hollandaise made from smoked butter, served with a glass of fermented asparagus. Timmerman describes precisely how the dish combines sweet asparagus with a rich sauce on one side of the plate and a fresh, tangy foam on the other. Smiling: "And when you eat them together... bite by bite... it's really a brilliant dish."
Fancy experiencing the new menu yourself? Then book a table at restaurant Kook Atelier. And don't wait too long, because before you know it, his team will be renewing the menu once again.