Carel Alberts

The Path

The kitchen line at Restaurant de Nederlanden in Vreeland, Netherlands gave Carel Alberts a first grounding in the discipline that shapes everything after service begins. The later move to chef-kok at Flying Fishbone in Savaneta, Aruba carried that discipline into a broader register. What reads across both posts is not a break in method, but a tightening of it: souschef work first, then a chef role, with the craft becoming more visible as the responsibility widened. Bij Mette in Linschoten, Netherlands has held that progression in a single place since 2003, with Carel Alberts serving there as owner, chef, and entrepreneur. The kitchen was built around French classics, which places the work in a demanding tradition that rewards precision over effect. That choice says as much about the restaurant as the titles do: a room kept on standard, day after day, by someone who remains responsible for both the cooking and the structure around it.

The Work Today

"Since then I have been the sole owner of the restaurant. After 21 years I am still active at Bij Mette. Sometimes it is a bit more difficult than other times, but we do not give up. I am proud of it." The plainness of that statement is part of its force. Sole ownership means the same person carries the decisions, the pressure, and the continuity of the house. Remaining active after 21 years points to the repeated labor of service rather than a single defining moment. The line about difficulty acknowledges what long stewardship requires; the refusal to give up is the working condition that keeps a restaurant intact.

In Their Words “I always choose the person with heart.” Those lines place priority on character and fit, not just skill on paper. They also mark the moment when Bij Mette became the place where that standard could be applied every day. The return to the Netherlands is presented without ornament: an opening, taken, and then carried forward through the long run of the restaurant.

Acclaim

Carel's honors include Michelin Bib Gourmand (2007). The award sits within a career built on continuity rather than spectacle. Coming after the early kitchen work in Vreeland and the role at Flying Fishbone in Aruba, Michelin Bib Gourmand (2007) reads as recognition of standards already in place at Bij Mette in Linschoten, Netherlands: a restaurant held to a clear line, and held there for years.