Erik de Mönnink De Swarte Ruijter

Cooking starts with buying

“It sounds very clichéd, but cooking starts with buying, and I shop as locally and sustainably as possible. The cooking is a beautiful combination of pure, fresh flavours, and the dishes are light. Our kitchen brigade likes to surprise you with fresh vegetables from our own farmer, mushrooms from the forest, venison from the national park, and other top ingredients of the season. Our Green Menu features lots of flavourful dishes for vegetarians and vegans.”

A party on your plate

“Our skate wing with shiitake, beansprouts and pork neck is a mainstay of the menu. Some guests book and say: ‘We want the skate, please.’ I think it’s about the umami and the wonderful textures of juicy skate and crispy pork. When you combine these with the stir-fried shitake and freshly picked beansprouts, you’ve got a party on your plate.”

Fish and meat in harmony

“I like to use fish and meat together in one dish. Our cuisine is distinctively flavoured, but always in beautiful harmony. One of my favourites at the moment is the langoustine and chicken thighs: the thighs are marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked overnight, and the langoustines are firm and slightly juicy. The eastern taste of the chicken combined with the sweetness of the langoustine is out of this world.”

When he trained as a chef under Cas Spijkers, Erik de Mönninck knew that he wanted his own restaurant one day, and a Master Chef title from the prestigious Stichting Vakbekwaamheid Horeca. He has been patron cuisinier of De Swarte Ruijter since 2006, and gained his coveted title in 2012. He also won a Michelin star in 2015.