Already a star chef since he was 34, he has just opened a new restaurant: Jermain de Rozario (1984) is in the prime of his career. A young dog overflowing with ideas, "I want to grow in experience: more art, more smells, more music."
Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks | Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Image: Esther Quelle
Last July, Jermain de Rozario's restaurant moved into the monumental Villa Prinzen on the Markt in Helmond. The decor betrays his Indonesian origins: lamps in the shape of playful monkeys and lots of wood, bamboo and plants. As the (newly) 36-year-old star chef describes it, "A little subtropical, chic with a slightly Asian vibe." We sit down at a small table on which sits a large round bowl containing sand and a rake, a miniscule zen garden, with a tray in the middle on which to place amuses. I notice that the image on that tray is a copy of one of the tattoos Jermain wears on his right arm: a lotus flower. "A reference to my past: a lotus flower growing out of the mud to blossom," he says. And as he plays with the rake in the sand, he takes me back to his teenage years. "At fifteen, I wondered: is this it? Should I go to college, should I go to work? I dropped out of school, left home. Stuff packed up and left. I was then able to stay with a friend of mine. He took me to places you don't normally enter when you're fifteen. He worked in a well-known French fry store here, where everyone went after going out. I went to help out in that French fry store, chopping onions a little bit. I also went to a lot of illegal parties in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It was partying, partying, partying. At one point, my then girlfriend, who was taking the catering course at De Rooi Pannen, asked, 'Isn't it time you chose something? Why don't you start serving?' So when I was seventeen I started in park restaurant Warande, a posh establishment in Helmond. Really weird that I started there, because I was a loose party animal. That boss really tackled me. That's where I learned the intricacies of serving."
Due to "holes in my head," Jermain does not have all the facts accurately listed. He worked at De Raymaert restaurant for another blue Monday and went to 't Parlement in Helmond around age twenty-one. "Not that I wanted to work there, but I had no option. Although I had started chef school, I was a relatively old apprentice and had no experience in the kitchen. The first time I put on my tube and buttoned up, I knew: this is it. I became sous chef and came up with the idea of an impression menu instead of the surprise menu, which every restaurant already had. That went really well, so I ended up at the Lindehof in Nuenen. I never applied there, I was asked by chef Soenil Bahadoer. I was there with my current sous-chef, Martijn Bax, and said to him, 'We're going to lose plankgas.' Takis' creation looked so sleek and slick, a cross between Jonnie Boer and Sergio Herman. I contrasted that with pointed cabbage rendang with ice cream of ginger beer and kimchi, a dish I had created especially for the competition. I had thrown it purely on flavor. Jonnie was on the jury and said he couldn't choose. My dish was brilliant in taste but could be better in appearance, the other dish was brilliant in appearance and could be better in taste. He let us both win."
In 2015, the Lindehof earned its second star. Jermain remembers it like yesterday. "In the year the second star drops, Michelin comes more often than usual. It's a fact. I remember very well that chief inspector Werner Loens was there. That tension, that adrenaline in your body. You just know: at that moment you are cooking for that second star. Period. Then you see Soenil with his ticks and things, then you know 'it's on'. The fear! You realize: if it's shit, the old man will finish you off. We were in so deep... And it was going really well. At the checkout we were sure it was Werner Loens: he handed over his credit card and it had his name on it. Soenil spoke to him and took him aside in the kitchen. "How did you like the food?" he asked. 'I can't reveal too much,' Loens replied, 'but I ate deliciously.' Still, we were uncertain. Soenil went to the announcement of the Michelin stars. We stayed in the restaurant, following it on the laptop and our cell phones. All the restaurants that had won a star had passed in review. But not the Lindehof. Thick disappointment. We closed the laptop, put away the cell phones. Ten minutes later we suddenly got all kinds of apps: 'Congratulations.' We opened the laptop again... 'The Lindehof: two stars.' We went absolutely nuts. We screamed and cheered, ran out like crazy, took shots... As it turned out: when the announcement was over, the head of Michelin came on stage. 'We have another surprise...' The globe appeared on the big screen, zooming in on Europe, the Netherlands, Brabant, Nuenen... the Lindehof! Immediately the reservations poured in. Dick Middelweerd (chef of De Treeswijkhoeve; ed.) was coming for dinner and all the other famous chefs. We were totally hyper, but just had to keep working. That was such an exhausting evening. Once everyone was gone we were able to really celebrate. I'll never forget that for the rest of my life. If ever the day comes that I get to go, this moment is going to come before me anyway."
In May 2016, he opened his own restaurant: De Rozario, on Steenweg in Helmond. Why did he want to stand on his own two feet? "At one point there were too many things I would do differently. Soenil has the enthusiasm of a young dog, but he is a chef of the old school. A lot is demanded of you; I worked five days from morning to night. I stayed at the Lindehof for three years and am one of the people who have worked there longest in the kitchen. It was time for something else. Not that I had the luxury of being able to start for myself. I looked around at who I would like to work for. Once when I was having lunch with Quincy, I ran into my current partner, Patrick Keulens. He wanted to take a sabbatical and was looking for someone to take over his place. "Isn't it time to start our own business?", Patrick asked me. The next day Patrick called me: 'Jermain, I'm serious. Wouldn't you like to have your own restaurant?' I said I'd love to, but it wasn't realistic. He suggested we meet sometime. During that meeting, he had me tell him about myself: 'Give me a short biography. What would your vision be if you had your own business? What would you want to work toward?' Based on my story, he created a business plan. Very clever. Slowly the idea of my own restaurant began to mature. It felt right, I just had to do it. Although I knew I wasn't ready - I had only worked in four kitchens - but with Patrick by my side, doing the financial aspect, maybe there was a future in it. Soenil was pissed when I quit my job, but I take that as a compliment. Then the adventure began.
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