i. Biography
Richard de Vries is Executive Chef / chef-kok of Restaurant, Hotel & Spa Savarin in Rijswijk. The work sits in a restaurant, hotel, and spa setting, where the kitchen has to serve the dining room while also fitting the wider pace of a hospitality property. His résumé shows formation across Dutch restaurant and hotel kitchens, with repeated exposure to disciplined service, precise execution, and the operational steadiness required beyond a single menu. “Iedere dag een beetje beter. Ierland lijkt op de achterhoek van mijn jeugd, ruimte en toewijding voor het product.” Richard has said.
The Ascent
A Dutch fine-dining formation is often built address by address, through service rhythm, station discipline, and the standards of rooms where small errors travel quickly. Richard de Vries built that foundation across a wide set of respected kitchens, gathering range without reducing the work to one house style. Restaurant Parkheuvel in Rotterdam places that formation within serious Dutch gastronomy. La Rive, Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam adds the demands of classic hotel dining, where restaurant craft operates inside a larger hospitality machine. Restaurant De Bokkedoorns in Overveen, Restaurant De Zwetheul in Schipluiden, and Restaurant De Nederlanden in Vreeland extend the frame through kitchens associated with composed dining, structure on the plate, and service-level consistency. Further work at Restaurant Savelberg in Voorburg and Restaurant Wielinga in Leiden added to a base already shaped by exacting standards. Bilderberg Parkhotel-Restaurant The Park, Restaurant Lakes, and Restaurant de Kas broaden the register again, showing experience across restaurant focus, hotel polish, and contemporary dining contexts. Taken together, the record points to a cook trained by varied rooms rather than a single idiom. The current post, Executive Chef / chef-kok of Restaurant, Hotel & Spa Savarin (since 2025), asks for more than technical fluency. In a property where restaurant, hotel, and spa share the guest, the kitchen has to hold its own standards while fitting a broader experience of arrival, service, and stay.
The Current Chapter
Restaurant, Hotel & Spa Savarin in Rijswijk combines restaurant, hotel, and spa under one address. In that setting, the Executive Chef / chef-kok role held by Richard de Vries carries both culinary and operational weight: menu execution, kitchen tempo, and the consistency required when a dining room belongs to a larger hospitality property. The professional vocabulary behind the role comes from Parkheuvel, La Rive, De Zwetheul, De Nederlanden, Savelberg, and The Park. Those names indicate repeated work in kitchens where restraint, precision, and service discipline are not decorative values but daily requirements. They also show exposure to both restaurant-led and hotel-led forms of hospitality. At Restaurant, Hotel & Spa Savarin, the title Executive Chef / chef-kok signals responsibility for the pass and for the systems behind it. The craft is not only flavor and presentation; it is pacing, preparation, coordination, and the ability to make the kitchen support the full guest experience of a destination property.
Credentials
Richard de Vries has received Michelin Bib Gourmand for Restaurant The Park (2018). Bib Gourmand and Bib Gourmand mark recognition for cooking judged on pleasure, value, and consistency. For Richard de Vries, those honors sit alongside a career that has passed through Restaurant Parkheuvel in Rotterdam, La Rive, Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, Restaurant De Bokkedoorns in Overveen, Restaurant De Zwetheul in Schipluiden, Restaurant De Nederlanden in Vreeland, Restaurant Savelberg in Voorburg, Restaurant Wielinga in Leiden, Bilderberg Parkhotel-Restaurant The Park, Restaurant Lakes, and Restaurant de Kas. Since 2025, the work has continued in Rijswijk at Restaurant, Hotel & Spa Savarin, where Richard de Vries serves as Executive Chef / chef-kok.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Richard
What does Richard de Vries do now?
Richard de Vries is Executive Chef / chef-kok.
Where did Richard de Vries work before?
Earlier in their career, Richard de Vries worked at Restaurant Parkheuvel, La Rive, Amstel Hotel, and Restaurant De Bokkedoorns.
What recognition has Richard de Vries received?
Bib Gourmand.
