Soenil Bahadoer DE LINDEHOF

Cooking from the heart

“We don’t work to a standard, we continuously innovate. I call it culinary evolution, and it’s our greatest strength. I create new flavours from the cultures I grew up in and combine them with gastronomy. I was born in Suriname, and came from an Indian background. At home they cooked from the heart, with no time pressure, which made for strong flavours that developed differently.”

Rich roots

“I came to the Netherlands when I was eight, so I feel at home in western culture too. That makes me a rich person. With French cuisine as the basis and a wealth of flavours in my roots, I can cover all the bases. I don’t have one signature dish: my signature is working with spices, which I use in every dish. Whatever I make and whatever techniques I use, spices make the dish.”

 A blanket of hospitality

“You won’t find the things we serve here anywhere else in the Netherlands. The food is different and innovative, and the same goes for the atmosphere. It’s never chilly in here. Everyone is friendly and passionate, and guests feel our warm hospitality enveloping them like a blanket.”

As patron cuisinier of De Lindehof in Nuenen, Soenil Bahadoer (b. 1967) has taken Surinamese-Indian cooking to new heights. He now has two Michelin stars, and is the first Stichting Vakbekwaamheid Horeca Master Chef from a Surinamese background, and the first Dutch person to hold Dutch and Belgian master titles.