Why did you become a chef?

Because the culinary was put in my cradle, already in childhood I started to cook and serve the guests of my parents and also on holidays or other family celebrations. To do this, I put on a light gray velvet bow tie of my father a chic white shirt and a discarded vest. With this outfit (looked a bit like a confirmation outfit) I stepped in front of the merry party guests and took the orders and served drinks and the planned food of the day. Moreover, I come from a family of pastry chefs and cooks related to gastronomy. You can say I had no other choice.

What is the most beautiful thing about your job?

Besides cooking, creating, experimenting, having access to the weirdest foods and drinks, it is the contact with people (crazy characters), that concerns both the colleagues, involved trades, the dishwashers (most important man / woman in the company, because he or she knows the deepest inside of any business inside out). They are often poorly paid and in most cases do not get the attention they deserve. Behind them there are often undreamt-of talents that can be teased out and put to good use. But it is actually these sometimes bizarre encounters of people that make my job so lovable but also exhausting at the same time.

How important is sustainability in upscale cuisine?

Extremely important, because it has unfortunately still not fully arrived there.

What does respect for food mean to you?

Appreciation and value creation of products / dishes to the last bite. The own rethinking in the design of dishes, with a view to its availability. Refraining from seasonal foods (when they are not in season). Not wasting food through sheer voluptuousness. Enforcement of actually impossible wishes of the guests, related to the nature of the raw products.

Which Nesmuk knife is your favorite and why?

Nesmuk Slicer 260! I have long waited for this knife. Each cut over the complete length of 260 mm drives a grin on my face. A cut with this knife through a delicate product such as fish or fine fibrous meat are pure sensuality. A Janus Chinese Chef's Knife 180 is also pure joy, but differs in appearance from the slicer. The chef's knife is also a pure joy to use, but its design makes it somewhat coarser. The sharpness, on the other hand, impresses the user unreservedly with every cut. Unfortunately, I still lack expertise in the bread knife 270, because bread is indispensable in my life, in combination with cold butter. But what is not can still become. In conclusion, I must say that so far every Nesmuk model has impressed me in its own special way for the respective specific properties and areas of application.

Why are good tools so important in your profession?

Since our profession is also based on sound craftsmanship, it is the logical consequence to do this with excellent tools. Precision and accurate craftsmanship are the basis of our work. This is the only way to achieve sustainability, cleanliness and hygiene.

How do you bring sustainability to your
business?

In which we try to direct the guests and create synergies of individual products. During my apprenticeship I was taught not to duplicate ingredients or to present them several times in a meal. Today, we try to utilize and process everything from one product by using different preparation methods. The result of this is very exciting, because you experience a food in different facets and can thus process all parts to 100%. We also pay special attention to the "waste products" that are created during the processing of a food product. From cauliflower, for example, we not only use the fruit itself but also prepare the peels in different ways and either add them back to the dish or use the result in another dish. After all, the peel in this case usually makes up half the product.

What makes Nesmuk knives different from others you've worked with before?