Rick Gresnigt

Your dishes look anything but simple!

‘Thank you. Two years ago i was asked to be the chef, at that time still at the old location. They already did fine dining, but i pushed it a bit further. After a year we grew out of the building; the kitchen became too small and we didn’t had a terrace. Here, at the old location of ‘Podium onder de Dom’, we can expand the quality. Both in the restaurant and the gastrobar as in the hotel with eleven rooms.’

A new seasonal menu every month. Fruit and vegetables must be very important?

‘They are always the point of focus. That makes me happy, especially when preparing vegetarian dishes. Working with fruit and vegetables is the new way of cooking. You work with quality products that are more exciting than fish or meat. You can make great combinations and really show what you are made of.’

I also see ‘smokey beef cheek with Cerisa cherries and celeriac’…

‘I often walk around with an idea for a long time. I think about it for weeks and even dream about it. A month before the cherry season, i already knew what i wanted. This dish contains sweet, sour, salt and a bbq flavor: all together. The beef cheek is simmered, cut into square cubes and baked crispy. Served with cherries. From the tree straight to the plate, because the Cerisa’s are already perfect. With that we also serve a jus de veau, flavored with the juice and the remains of the cherries. And multiple preparations of celeriac: puffed in the oven, and then made into roses and as a cream with mustard. The beef cheek is actually the additional flavor. Our ‘Iberian pig with legumes, artichoke and summer savory’ started as a side dish with 100% legumes. The composition changed on the basis of the availability of certain legumes. Now it’s a main dish. With meat.’

On Instagram i see chicken – curry – pineapple?

‘That’s in the context of: Proud to be fout. It’s a real no-go, and that’s exactly why it works. In my opinion, your guest must be comfortable right at the amuses. And we see everybody laugh when they notice this amuse; you immediately break the ice. It is in fact a biscuit of curry with mouse of chicken liver and gel of pineapple.

You were pastry chef at De Hoefslag: desserts must be important to you?

‘I’m a sweet tooth; i love it. I don’t like sugar-sweet, but fruit-sweet and the sours within the fruit. In my field as a chef i have desserts as a hobby. I love a sweet world as an ending to the evening. Beautiful paintings and flavor combinations. I can also translate my pastry mindset to the rest of the kitchen. Working neatly and accurately, and thinking things through: i’m happy to lead the kitchen in this way. You work tighter and that means less stress. I can recommend it to everyone: to be a pastry chef for a year.’

In terms of fruit and vegetables supply: what do you like to work with?

‘Spring is nice because of the flowers like magnolia and elderflower. Raspberries and cherries are beautiful right now, artichoke as well. The poivrade – with stem- is amazing. Legumes are great, but also celeriac, carrots and radishes in all shapes an sizes. There are so many great things at the moment, it’s almost impossible to mention them all. An explosion of quality. And august harvest month hasn’t even started!’

Do you therefore choose Rungis?

‘Yes, because they’re a precursor in their field. The people of Rungis are always innovative: they always come up with new products, have a large assortment and know what they are talking about. I have short lines with them. They know exactly which products we can use best when i come up with a new dish.’

Text: Ellen Scholtens

Photography: Romano de Vries