Martijn Defauw

Coming Up

Precision, restraint and a clear sense of flavor have already given Martijn Defauw’s work a readable shape. Since 2017, the chef and owner role at Rebelle has placed him in charge of both the pass and the restaurant’s pace, where detail and discipline carry as much weight as personality. Langoustine XO sits in that frame as a signature dish: concentrated, direct and built to make a point.

Where They Are Now

At Marke, the chef and owner role has stayed with Martijn Defauw from 2017 to present, a stretch of continuity that matters in a kitchen because it gives ideas room to develop rather than vanish after a season. He has also spoken plainly about wine, naming both confidence and the need to keep learning in the same sentence: "I know which wines I like to drink myself, but I would like to broaden my knowledge a little more." The line reads as a working palate at ease with its own instincts, while still leaving space to expand.

Signature

Pandan rice dessert and Langoustine XO show the range in Martijn Defauw’s kitchen. One leans toward sweetness and fragrance; the other brings force and clarity. Read together, they point to a style that can hold contrast without losing balance, moving between delicacy and intensity without changing the underlying register.

In Their Words “I know which wines I like to drink myself, but I would like to broaden my knowledge a little more.” The remark is direct, and it says enough: a chef who trusts his own palate, and still treats wine as a field to keep widening. “The title of Young Chef of the Year is a childhood dream come true.” The line carries the weight of recognition without dressing it up. It marks the award as a milestone inside an already active practice.

Honors

Young Chef of the Year (2021) sits alongside Martijn Defauw’s ongoing work at Rebelle and Marke. In trade terms, it marks 2021 as a clear point of recognition within a career being built through consistency, presence and a defined point of view.