Power
TOP CHEF: NIVEN KUNZ & VIRGINIE VAN BRONCKHORST
Niven Kunz (1981, Gorinchem) and his partner Virginie van Bronckhorst (1988, Voorburg) opened their new restaurant Triptyque in Wateringen last year. In the same building, Niven, as the youngest chef ever, received a star in 2009. MASTERS talks to the Masters and looks back on their culinary career. Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Image: Esther Quelle
Triptyque
After cooking in Rijswijk for eleven years, Niven Kunz is back at the place where his career took off: the former town hall of Wateringen. A monumental building that houses his new restaurant, Triptyque. Inside we are welcomed by Niven and his partner Virginie, while chef Maarten Westerhout prepares some dishes for photography. They have plenty of time, because the appointment takes place during the second lockdown. With an appropriate distance we take a seat at one of the tables in the completely newly decorated restaurant. Virginie in particular has been involved in the makeover. “The starting point was that the place radiates luxury and warmth, so that guests immediately feel relaxed upon entering. The beige, almost olive green color of the walls is reminiscent of holidays in Mediterranean countries. And the tree in the middle of the store exudes an outdoor feeling. The dried bouquets that are everywhere do the same. They give a soft appearance, but we also have them from the point of view of sustainability: you do not have to replace them often.” The interior also fits in with the Dutch-oriented menu. “The paper art on the wall, for example, is by the Maastricht artist Conbulius. And we had the vases on the tables made by someone in Amsterdam.” Niven and Virginie received the key on July 1, 2020, and they opened the door a month later. “We wanted to keep our team together; that was the motivation to reopen quickly. All our friends helped with demolition and painting.”
Naughty shoes
Maarten serves coffee, after which Niven takes us back in time. “As a child, I wasn't really focused on food at all, even though my parents had a catering business – cafe-style, nothing special on the menu. I was much more involved in sports, spent whole days on the tennis court. School wasn't my interest. I was in high school, did nothing, stayed seated and would eventually end up in the class of my sister who was three years younger. Partly to avoid that disgrace, I opted for a catering education. My passion for cooking was sparked when, at the age of seventeen, I received Puur, the cookbook by Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, as a gift - perhaps with the intention behind it to motivate me, to give me that little push. It is now 22 years later and the cooking style described in Puur is still the basis on which we work: regionally based.” When he does something, he wants to do it well. First it was tennis, then cooking. Niven really wanted to end up at a good company. That became Rhoon Castle by master chef Ad Janssen, two days a week. “The pastry chef I came to work with was François Geurds (the current owner of the star restaurants FG Restaurant and FG Foodlabs in Rotterdam; ed.). He had previously worked at top catering establishments such as Prinses Juliana van Paul and Doris Stevens and talked about it enthusiastically. In my search for an internship company, I set the bar high. I applied for a job at Soenil Bahadoer van de Lindehof, but was not accepted. I then took the plunge and took the train to Zwolle. Interning at De Librije was my dream. A dream come true: I was able to stay there twice for a week. It turned out that they were looking for one more student for the following year. It was discussed in the kitchen who that should be. Jonnie and Sidney Schutte (currently chef de cuisine of Spectrum; ed.) did not want to hire me, but Arjan Bisschop (currently chef de cuisine of De Heeren van Harinxma; ed.) did. Thérèse happened to walk in and intervened. 'You are looking for one more student? Then you should take that boy from Hoek van Holland.' She was the deciding factor: I was accepted.”
Golden Ladle
In De Librije he mainly learned to 'work hard, don't whine and just keep going'. After that one year he could stay, but he preferred De Bokkedoorns of John Beeren and Lucas Rive. After Niven had worked in Overveen for a year, the book Zinnenprikkels was published: about life in front of and behind the scenes of De Bokkedoorns. Jonnie and Thérèse were also present at the book presentation.
Team
Virginie got into the business quite quickly, even though she has no catering background. “I trained as a doctor and graduated in 2017. Then I started doing internships and was exposed to services. The big advantage is that I can influence my times and can usually be in the restaurant on weekends. I really enjoy being a doctor and hope to specialize in dermatology. But at the same time I also really like the restaurant.” When asked about their division of labor, Niven answers: “I cook and Virginie does the rest.”
Growth process
Niven is one of the founders of Dutch Cuisine, a movement that puts Dutch cuisine on the international map. “Where elBullí used to set the tone, with lots of flavors and lots of snacks, we have gone back to basics. When you enter here you get a crudité, and not just any one: all ingredients excel in freshness. The difference in freshness between the lettuce that we use and the lettuce that is on the wholesale shelves is approximately four days. That's a four-day difference in quality and you can taste it. The taste of the mini radishes in our crudité is also unparalleled. The larger a radish, the less flavor it has. The same goes for icicles. Especially for us, our grower removes them from the ground earlier. This way we show our region in a unique way. We have a story here that we tell at the table. The story of Westland, of the Netherlands. This comes from that, that's why we did this.” Niven sees it as a challenge to find pure and tasty regional products. “Every dish starts with a product. This has already led to signature dishes such as string beans á la Carbonara, light kale and tomato steak tartare. But sometimes I go too far... For example, we once had a grape that had been grown in a biological-ecological way, where even the position of the sun had been taken into account. An incredibly tasty grape. We brought a bowl of such grapes to guests' tables, cut one off and told the story of those grapes. There were people who tasted the difference and asked for the grower's address so they could get a bunch themselves. But the majority of the guests were like: 'If you're in a restaurant, you get a grape...' Either we didn't tell the story well, or people didn't listen attentively enough or weren't open to it.” Virginie: “We went a little too far with the grape. We stopped doing that.” Niven: “Later that grape returned in combination with goat yoghurt and caviar, and then it was the tastiest grape in the world! It is a growth process and we must guide our guests in this. When we started cooking according to the 80/20 philosophy, people left the restaurant. We received a message via Twitter: 'We are eating with CEO Boss of the Meat in Rotterdam, because what you serve is really junk'. In their eyes we served too many vegetables. That was then, now it's a trend. Every influencer on Instagram is vegetarian or vegan. If you are not in the photo with vegetables, you do not count.” Although Niven's cooking method attracts many vegetarians, chef Maarten emphasizes that they are not a vegetarian restaurant. “We serve 20 percent fish, poultry and meat. People who want a nice fish or a tasty piece of meat will find what they are looking for here. Sweetbreads, langoustine… Only it is not the main part.”
Community centre
Niven and Virginie live in Amsterdam and have no plans to move: their love for that city is too great. Why didn't they look for a location there? Niven: “Many people also thought that we would start the new restaurant there.” Virginie: “We played with that idea for a while, but we think our team is more important than the location, and everyone comes from the area.” Niven: “And there are so many friends of ours here. I wouldn't say that Triptyque is a community center for them, but it is easy to bring friends here on Saturday evenings. Come to Triptyque.” And a second Triptyque branch in the capital? Virginie certainly sees opportunities there. “Who knows? I'm more into expanding than Niven. A second Triptyque would be nice if there was someone on it to whom we could leave it to with peace of mind. But first let's ride out corona and focus on Triptyque in Wateringen. Wouldn't it be great if Niven received a star for the second time at this location?”
