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Alain Simonis: "BESO is truly a first for the Netherlands"
The Simonis family business, dating back to 1880, continues to grow steadily. This autumn marks the opening of its eighth restaurant.
The Simonis family business, which dates back to 1880, continues to grow steadily. The eighth restaurant, BESO by Simonis, will open this fall, and then there is the development of Beach House Scheveningen. Despite the challenges of this time, Alain Simonis, together with his brother Giovanni and sisters Naomi and Joëlle, remains alert to expansions. “We are always open to opportunities.”
Comments Bart-Jan Brouwer
Portrait photography John van Helvert
What once started as an eel smokehouse has grown into a chain of fish specialty shops. In 2013, Catch by Simonis was added to the portfolio. Looking back, what have the past ten years been like for Catch?
“We started with the starting point 'what is not possible in the current cases?' and 'where are the opportunities?' Simonis aan de Haven is aimed at the masses. At the time there was a number system, an accessible service, it was noisy. Business people could not sit there quietly, but the need was there. We responded with Catch by Simonis, a restaurant with international allure and ambiance, located in one of the most beautiful places on the harbor, with a favorable sunny position. There we applied a higher service level and put oysters, lobster, wild prawns, fruits de mer, sushi and caviar on the menu. It was a bull's eye, with that formula we addressed a large audience in a slightly higher target group. Although Catch has 300 seats inside and 300 on the waterfront terrace and we serve between 500 and 600 diners per day, we sometimes had to say no for larger business parties and wedding dinners. We responded to this in 2017 with Encore by Simonis: it was initially created to have room for all the things we couldn't do at Catch. There is an event area attached to the restaurant that is just as large. In total, Encore has 480 seats inside and 220 outside. While Catch is a classic fish restaurant, Encore brings out the Asian twist, especially sushi and sashimi, and uses the shared-dining concept. In this way, one business arises from another: everything that we cannot do in the existing location, we realize somewhere else. And our great strength is that we are our own supplier. We can supply ourselves from early in the morning to late at night. The tongue never runs out. Moreover, we select our own quality – there is no wholesaler involved. That is why we have clearly given our restaurants the name 'by Simonis' as a quality stamp.”
BESO by Simonis will become Simonis' eighth restaurant. It is expected to open this spring. How are things?
“We already gave a preview of the restaurant at the previous edition of MASTERS EXPO. But we have no control over how municipal officials work. There was still some construction work that needed to be done in the building. The architect and the constructor both needed approximately six weeks to fully develop the application. It then ended up on a civil servant's desk. They informed us that we had to wait 26 weeks, with an extension period of 12 weeks, before the permit would be granted. Our new goal is to open between October 1st and November 1st. On the other hand, we have already managed to create interest and curiosity among a large audience, also through social media. BESO already has about three thousand direct followers. Quite a lot for a restaurant that doesn't exist yet.”
How does BESO compare to Catch and Encore?
“The restaurant really has its own identity. That's it in Spanish cuisine. Why our choice for this? Of course because it suits Simonis: fish is the basis of Spanish cuisine. And also because the country, the culture, appeals. 80 percent of Dutch people sometimes go on holiday to Spain. But how many real Spanish restaurants do you have here? They are either living rooms or tapas bars. But you won't find a Spanish restaurant with an international character and a high service level in the Netherlands. This makes BESO unique. It is truly a first for the Netherlands. Just like with Catch and Encore, you immediately have a wow feeling upon entering. The restaurant will be on the ground floor with a large open kitchen - you can see the chefs at work - and 80 seats. We have the same number of seats on the first floor, where there will also be a huge bar with room for 24 people. At Catch and Encore we have many more seats, the challenge at BESO is to fill the tent twice in one evening. And there will be a large terrace with 150 seats. All in all, it will be a fairly large restaurant that will attract a different audience.”
Will it be a bit of Encore the Spanish way?
“Just like Encore, it will be high-end and shared dining. The Encore kitchen team will also supervise it, my chef will take on an executive role there and a Spaniard who now works in the Encore kitchen and has experience at star level will act as chef of BESO. The delay has given us creative opportunities. The core of Catch and Encore went to San Sebastian to get ideas. For example, in nearby Getaria we visited the Elkano star restaurant, which is known worldwide for grilling turbot. The purity of that kitchen! The juice released from the turbot is used to make a sauce, the recipe of which is known only to the owner and his mother. Since that inspirational trip, the core of the BESO management team and the chef of Encore have come together every Wednesday afternoon to come up with a number of dishes. We already have quite a few that deserve a place on the menu, such as pintail squid from the charcoal grill.”
BESO is located on the Visafslagweg, opposite the new location of Simonis aan de Haven.
“That is quite a big development, Beach House Scheveningen. The first two floors, where the restaurant and shop will be located, comprise a total of 4.000 square meters. That's much bigger than what we have now. The restaurant is currently sold out every weekend and we are running into a capacity problem. Soon that will be a thing of the past. And in the current store we have enough space for fish, but not for by-products and fresh goods. The new location has sufficient space for a broader fresh market concept. On top of the first two floors we have room for another concept of 600 square meters, with a sea view. And on top of that there will be 3.000 square meters of hotel apartments. The buildings are ours, we are allowed to build, there is a zoning plan... But the problem now is that building is so expensive. The raw materials cannot be afforded, there are shortages, there are long delivery times, and an increase in regulations. We are not going to build at a loss, but wait for better times. It's a long-term matter.”
“You don't have a Spanish restaurant with an international character and a high service level in the Netherlands. This makes BESO unique”
Another project is the former fish smokehouse, diagonally opposite Encore. What is the status quo on that?
“That project is also still in the pipeline. We have developed a parking garage in the space next door in order to obtain a catering permit for the building. We now use it as valet parking for Encore guests. And not unimportant: we can have our staff park there for a large part of the week. On a busy Saturday, a hundred people work in Encore and Catch, so that saves a lot of money.”
Are you not suffering from staff shortages?
"No. That's because we have done everything we can to keep running during corona. For example, we started delivering nationally. Purely to keep our staff working. Because that was the focus: that our permanent employees kept their jobs. Of the two hundred employees we had at the time, only five left. When we were allowed to open again after corona, we could immediately start at full speed. Many catering establishments could not do that. And I can also imagine that it is more fun for a student looking for a part-time job to work in such a hip restaurant than in an accessible location elsewhere.”
How do you deal with the high prices?
“We are bothered by that. It has always been our goal to maintain a certain attractiveness with our prices. I would rather have the place full than ask for top prize. We keep a close eye on that. But the price development of fish is quite a problem, especially over the last year and a half. At the time, the Dutch fishing fleet still numbered around one hundred and sixty cutters, but one hundred of these have now retired. That quota is returned to the government and only issued again after ten years. There are a variety of reasons why these are such tough times for the fishing sector. Firstly, the high fuel prices: they simply cannot be recouped in the fish. Secondly, the pulse ban: the Netherlands had invested heavily in pulse fishing. Whatever you think: dragging nets over the seabed is more destructive to nature and uses more fuel. And with that pulse fishing you got much nicer fish. It is quite a difference whether it comes up due to an electricity shock and is carried away by a net or whether it is dragged along the ground. This ban means that Dutch fishing has to go back in time. Thirdly, the loss of fishing grounds due to the expansion of nature reserves at sea, the designation of wind energy areas and the ban on access to British fishing grounds due to Brexit. Fewer cutters mean less supply, but the demand is still the same. So the price goes up. The fish is paid dearly. In 2013 you paid 500 euros for 25 grams of sole in Catch, but in ten years that price has increased to 35 euros. Actually, it should be more - at Van der Valk it costs 42,50 -, but we do everything we can to keep the price accessible.”
MASTERS MAGAZINE #55
Curious about the rest of the interview? The magical autumn edition of MASTERS Magazine is now available. Artificial intelligence has now become an indispensable part of our lives. But, is this development something to celebrate or fear? Will Terminators take over or will friendly robots make our earthly existence even more comfortable? In this edition, AI is examined. According to philosopher Rowan Williams, it is important to remember that whatever AI does, it always imitates. And that we as humans distinguish ourselves through ingenuity. A good example is real estate entrepreneur André Snippe, who is developing an ultra-modern city district in Hoofddorp. Or nautical designer Jurjen Eerkens, who has developed a groundbreaking boat with his Hytender that is leading the way in making the yacht industry more sustainable. These and more resourceful entrepreneurs grace the pages of this edition. Which also looks ahead to MASTERS EXPO | The MAGICAL Edition, our exclusive business fair also born from ingenuity.
