The Big Green Egg Book by Dirk Koppes

Author:Dirk Koppes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Published: 2015-10-13T02:18:06+00:00

Dave De Belder

De Godevaart

The Belgian media have called him the “culinary hope” of Antwerp because six years ago he introduced the port city to the molecular kitchen (a “playful kitchen,” according to the chef). Chef Dave De Belder continues to reinvent himself at De Godevaart, his restaurant housed in the storefront of a former fish market on the Sint-Katelijnevest.

A self-described culinary globetrotter, De Belder explains that he got his wanderlust from his father. “My father was a top chef for Holland America. For my entire youth, I was shuttled between Antwerp and Brussels. My uncle was a chef at a Hilton, so this lifestyle was spoon-fed to me. When I was young, being a chef was not yet my life’s goal, as cooking was not cool at school.”

At sixteen, however, De Belder followed in his father’s footsteps, taking a job in the galley on a boat. But “my gastronomical revelation—my heaven—came at De Librije [a restaurant in the Netherlands]. Jonnie Boer is the champ! I attended a culinary program in Belgium, but I completed my internship with Jonnie Boer, Robert Kranenborg, and Ron Blaauw, where I really learned my trade. In Belgium, I was surrounded primarily by classic kitchens. My dad prompted me to look around in the Netherlands because, according to him, that was where it was happening. He was right. The Belgian culinary world is very old-fashioned.” De Belder later interned at the world-famous elBulli in Spain, which closed in 2011.

He was relatively young when he opened his own business. “I’m so cocky; I think it’s better to be your own boss.” De Godevaart opened shortly before the financial crisis. “We were knocked about some, but we survived. We made the kitchen accessible in a timely manner. We stopped using linen tablecloths and menus that cost 200 euros. Who can pay for that anymore? I can still serve the same langoustines, caviar, or foie gras prepared in three-star restaurants, but I will never make that money back. Ideally, perfection remains my goal, but the financial crisis really woke me up. In the beginning, I served ten courses from which people could choose their selections. I would stand in the kitchen for up to two hours preparing main courses only. That was definitely a wake-up call. Now, I have more experience. I have been here for six years and know better what the Dave De Belder style entails.

“My wife, Tamara, and I wanted to create a statement in Antwerp because here you can easily find tourist traps and poor-quality restaurants. We offer a purely innovative kitchen that revolves around a pure dining experience. At our restaurant, you will be served a plate of food, not a main course using ten different techniques. I am going for a melding of tastes that are carried out in absolute perfection, which is how I measure success. People do not want twenty different flavors on their plate or three hundred different garnishes. On the other hand, I do not participate in the gastro-pub trend known as Nouveau Ruig.

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