Power
Egon van Hoof, MOS Amsterdam: "One star is a natural habitat for me"
A restaurant that feels like home, with a Michelin star on the facade, a spectacular view over the IJ and surprising and changing menus. MOS Amsterdam is a MUST to visit. In conversation with patron-cuisinier Egon van Hoof (1979, Amstelveen). “I don't feel any pressure to perform because of that star. Well, from within myself, because I am a perfectionist. It always has to be right.”Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Online editorial: Noa Verseveldt
Image: Esther QuelleWhat a location! MOS Amsterdam is located at the very tip of the IJDock. a peninsula in the IJ that was filled in 2011, behind Central Station. Wherever you sit inside, you can see tugboats, ferries, cruise ships and pleasure boats passing by on the ever-moving IJ. On the other side, EYE shines in the sun and the ADAM tower towers. The view from MOS Amsterdam is nothing short of spectacular. So are Egon van Hoof's surprising French-international dishes, which earned a Michelin star in 2016. It's Thursday morning. There is plenty of movement not only on the IJ, but also in the restaurant, where preparations are being made for a lunch for fifty people. Egon van Hoof leads me up the stairs to a place where we can sit quietly. The espresso is steaming, the owner-chef starts. “The passion for good food was instilled in me from an early age. Although I am not a Brabander, I am a Burgundian. I inherited my love for cooking from my parents. My father spent all day in the kitchen on weekends trying out all kinds of recipes from cookbooks. And I was always taken along for the necessary shopping: to the poulterer, the greengrocer... I found it all very interesting.” Sole cooked in mustard seed oil with oyster, caviar and fenugreek beurre blanc.
Feasts and parties
Egon went to mavo-havo, but that wasn't really his thing, he noticed. “And the school especially noticed that, haha. After a year they said, 'Maybe you should do something else.' At that time, the career choice test was very popular. I took that test and it turned out that I had to do something with my hands. My talent was not so much in carpentry, I chose to follow the classical chef training at Hubertus & Berkhoff. There I was taught bread, pastries, service, cooking... I soon knew that I enjoyed cooking the most, making tasty things. After this pre-vocational secondary education, I moved on to the ROC, a four-year course with a different training company every year – four days of work, one day of school. I started at catering company Kragtwijk in Amstelveen. That was my first catering experience, which mainly consisted of sandwiches and preparing a lot of salads for parties and celebrations at the weekend. Very nice, but sometimes there were days from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Pretty intense, I can tell you. And I was just in my 'discovery years', so I also wanted to go out with my friends. I look back on that first year as a period in which I learned to work very hard. In the second year I started working in the former Miranda Paviljoen (now Amstel Boathouse; ed.), also hosting parties and events, and the following year in Brasserie Van Baerle. That's where my love for French cuisine started. In the kitchen was Patrick van der Kroft, the brother of Michel van der Kroft ('t Nonnetje**, Harderwijk). He came from Hoorn and linked me to Constant Fonk, who ran the Oude Rosmolen there. I was able to go there in my fourth year. Constant had educated himself and therefore had a different view of things than what I had learned. I found that very interesting.”
Gears
When his training at the ROC came to an end, Egon had also seen it in Hoorn. He looked closer to home. “I went to Halvemaan in Amsterdam, from John Halvemaan. He was the pioneer of Nouvelle Cuisine in the Netherlands and had himself in the picture cooked with unique flavor combinations such as 'steak tartare with oyster' and 'lobster with vanilla sauce'. But his cooking style was very classic. I personally found it more exciting what Ron Blaauw did, who was on the rise at the time. I strengthened his team at his two-star restaurant in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel and stayed there for six and a half years. Ron traveled a lot to Spain and always came back full of ideas. It was a great time to develop yourself and he allowed that to happen - it was a breeding ground for talents. Ron is someone who knows how to turn the right gears for everyone, so that you perform optimally, with a lot of fun. That's what I try to do here too, based on my own feelings.” Egon was in Ron Blaauw's kitchen with Menno Post, André Gerrits, Joris Bijdendijk, Stefan van Sprang and Robbert Veuger. “At one point, Stefan and Robbert were approached to start Aan de Poel, in the most beautiful spot in Amstelveen. Stefan asked if I wanted to go with them. No matter how good I had it with Ron Blaauw, I couldn't pass up that challenge. I was given the opportunity to help set up the restaurant and become kitchen chef, a step higher than with Ron. But, a restaurant from sketch and no experience as a kitchen chef: that was not easy. It was quite a tough period and it took a while before I found my way through it.” A road that led to success, because Aan de Poel achieved two stars in four years. “Of course there is more pressure involved. You try not to experience it that way – we are judged for what we do, so what we do is good –, but also want to keep challenging yourself and innovating. So we changed menus a lot. The innovation used to be done in a playful manner, but now it was more perfunctory. And then it doesn't feel natural.”
Would you like to read more about Egon Hoof and his restaurant Mos Amsterdam? Order the new MASTERS MAGAZINE now!
