SOUS Stories: Sander de Jong

Chef Sander de Jong: “I’ve never really had another profession in mind, I absolutely love it!”

In our culinary quest to discover what occupies the minds of chefs, we sit down with them for ‘SOUS Stories’ to discuss their path to success. This time, we’re pulling up a chair at Restaurant Aan de Poel**. We talk to Sander de Jong about his culinary upbringing, his most important mentors, and also: what he considers indispensable in the kitchen.

It’s 11 a.m. on a Wednesday. The mise en place is being prepared and final touches are being added here and there before lunch begins. The beautiful, two-Michelin-starred restaurant conjures up tasteful works of art from its open kitchen. The location—situated on 'the large Poel' lake—is exceptionally stunning.

We are sitting at the table with Sander and start the conversation with the question: “What is your favorite country when it comes to food?” Without a moment’s hesitation, he replies: “Italy! Italian cuisine, particularly because of its simplicity. Take, for example, a wonderfully juicy tomato, some artisanal mozzarella, a few basil leaves, and some balsamic to finish it off, and et voilà: you have a very beautiful dish. You can put the most delicious dishes on the table using just a few simple ingredients—so tasty you’ll want to lick the plate clean! During my travels to Italy, I’ve been able to collect some unforgettable (culinary) memories.”

From an early age, Sander knew he wanted to be a chef. When asked what his culinary upbringing was like, he answers: “My parents used to own a butcher shop. If they hadn’t stopped doing that, I probably would have become a butcher.” Subsequently, Sander says: “But secretly, I knew very early on that I would eventually work in a kitchen. I got a toy kitchen for my fourth birthday. Ever since then, I’ve had it in my head that I wanted to be a cook. I’ve never really had another profession in mind, I absolutely love it!” says Sander.

Sander has had two very important mentors in his career. To start, he says: “I worked in Germany with Thomas Bühner of Restaurant La Vie. I was able to learn an incredible amount from him. ” Sander continues: “And from Stefan van Sprang, I not only learned the basics of cooking, but also everything related to hospitality. Furthermore, I consider it a great honor that I have been able to work here with Stefan for nine years now—day in, day out.”

At Restaurant Aan de Poel, seasonal dishes are central: “Our Chef’s menu changes every four weeks. We offer four or five new dishes that truly move with the seasons, but also with the supply from our vendors.” What distinguishes Aan de Poel is that they see the seasons more as weeks than months: “Ingredients are often only available in the desired quality for a few weeks. Serving top-quality dishes is the most important thing for us. My favorite season to work with is definitely winter. Working with ingredients during the winter is a real challenge; I like a challenge. My favorites are root vegetables, but also celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, and winter mushrooms like morels and porcini. Those are truly the ingredients that make it winter for me!”

Spring gets a little closer every day, something Sander is also very much looking forward to. “Then we’ll start working more with young vegetables, salty sea vegetables, fresh flavors, and colors. When the sun starts to shine, it starts to itch again!”

And when you think of spring, you also think of preparing delicious dishes on the barbecue. “The smell and the taste of burnt charcoal—I really love that! Not so much slow-cooking everything on the barbecue, but the roasting; that’s what I find beautiful. We apply this technique quite frequently again as we head toward spring,” says Sander.

Finally, regarding the collaboration with SOUS, Sander says: “What makes the concept so interesting for us is that it becomes accessible for people who are not as experienced with Michelin-starred restaurants to bring that experience into their own homes. In this way, we can offer them a wonderful first introduction to our dishes and flavors. And of course, it’s even better if we get to welcome these people into our restaurant after this at-home experience.”

Did you miss SOUS Stories part 2? Read it here!