One Michelin star Chef Dennis Huwaë is mindful about his time: Live to work or work to live?

After completing his culinary training at the ROC in Amsterdam and gaining work experience in both the Netherlands and abroad, Dennis Huwaë became co-owner of restaurant Daalder* in the lively Jordaan district of Amsterdam in 2016. It was not long before Dennis was cooking his heart out – and his talent did not go unnoticed: in March 2021, he received his first Michelin star.

Broad target audience

Just six months later, Dennis moves his restaurant Daalder* to its current location in Het Sieraad on Postjesweg in Amsterdam-West. ‘We want to welcome as many different guests as possible at Daalder’, Dennis explains. ‘And we can do that on Postjesweg. The polished brass and marble at our previous location has made way for neon, graphic shapes and street art. We have a bar for all-night drinks and eight-person booths where groups of friends can sit comfortably together. This new location has allowed me to reinvent myself, both in terms of flavours but also atmosphere. For example, I only play music that I love myself. That is also part of an evening at Daalder.’

Daalder Atelier

The previous location on Lindegracht in the Jordaan has been renovated and refurbished. It is now home to Daalder Atelier, a chef’s studio, where Dennis and his team endlessly experiment, taste and perfect. ‘In that studio, we push the boundaries of what’s feasible in a restaurant’, laughs Dennis. ‘At Daalder Atelier, our latest ideas are listed on the menu first.’ The marble bar at the front of the restaurant has become a cooking area, so the chefs can spend the whole evening here with their guests and hear their reactions to the latest creations on the spot. ‘At Daalder and Daalder Atelier, I want to show that high-level fine-dining is not about white table linen and uptight service.’

Setting priorities

The young chef, born in Zaanstad in 1984 and half-Dutch, half-Moluccan, is calm and mindful about his time. ‘Having time is all about prioritising. I receive all kinds of requests every week, but I say no an awful lot. I get some enormously interesting offers from all over the world, some of which are incredibly lucrative. But I don’t want to be driven by money. So I like to leave the financial side of things to my business partner; I often don’t even know how much profit we’re making. Financial considerations creep into the back of your mind and have an impact on how you feel about a request. I really like the way we’ve been doing things so far: I want to choose based on my intuition and only say yes to the things I like. A lucrative job might allow me to buy slightly more expensive shoes or a nicer jacket. But if I don’t like it, it adds nothing to my life. Those shoes and that jacket won’t make me a happier person. I think it is much more important to make the most of my time here on earth.’

"Having time is all about prioritising. A lot of what I do is based on instinct, and I only do what I feel like doing. If I have to do something I don’t enjoy, it feels like work. And that’s not what I want. I wasn’t made to work; I was made to live."

One Michelin Star Chef Dennis Huwaë

Team spirit

Dennis makes very conscious decisions, both at work and in his private life. That’s why he consciously keeps his inner circle small. Another reason why it hurts him personally when staff quit and move on. ‘From a professional perspective, I get it: sometimes people need to move on and seize new opportunities. But I personally find it very difficult, it always feels personal. It makes me sad and therefore sometimes a bit angry. Then I think: “I thought we had created something amazing together?” I always share the stage with my employees, I don’t want to hog the spotlight. My team an important part of who I am.’

Michelin

Just like any other chef, Dennis has to make some tough decisions now. ‘Given the shortages on the labour market and the rising prices of our ingredients the sensible thing to do is just offer set menus. But Michelin expects you to serve à la carte as well. They don’t say it in so many words, but you can see it in the decisions they make. So you’re faced with a dilemma, especially if you want to achieve two or three stars.’ And is that what he wants, a second Michelin star? The chef refuses to be drawn in to giving a definitive answer, but he does say: ‘If this is it, then I’m done. We always want to keep pushing forward. And I guess I see it as a kind of competition. If there’s nothing to win, what’s the point of taking part.’

Recipes by Dennis Huwaë

Dennis Huwaë does not work according to fixed rules in his kitchen. ‘I don’t have a specific cooking style; I try all kinds of things all at once. I make a real mess! It’s precisely those things that aren’t allowed or don’t belong in a kitchen that I find interesting.” For his scallop with jasmine celery and calamansi, he does not soak the jasmine flowers in water to make tea, but incorporates them into a classic beurre blanc, based on Debic Whipped Cream 35% without sugar. You should also try his fried sole with artichoke, green apple and Debic Culinary Original. ‘Sometimes I say I follow Moluccan cuisine, but people have no idea what that means, so that gives me the freedom to do whatever I feel like doing.’