Wilco Berends

Coming Up

In 1999, Wilco Berends took on his first chef role at Restaurant & Grand Cafe De Veranda, a step that brought him into professional leadership and into the daily task of setting pace for a kitchen. His earlier work as sous-chef at Merlet in Schoorl added another layer of operational discipline, where precision and calm control would have been part of the job. Those early posts point to a career built through repetition and refinement rather than shortcuts. Since 2006, Berends has been chef at De Nederlanden, and since 2012 he has also owned it. That pairing gave his cooking a fixed base and a direct line from decision-making to plate. At De Nederlanden, seasonality, Dutch products, and craftsmanship are not side notes; they are the frame the work sits inside.

Where They Are Now

Since 2012, Berends has carried both ownership and kitchen leadership at De Nederlanden, with the operational burden and the creative choices sitting in the same hands. The arrangement suits a style that favors clarity over excess. His specialty is oyster tasting, which he describes in terms of range without losing the ingredient at the center: “The tasting goes in all directions, but the oyster flavor remains. That is the charm of the dish.” The point is not variation for its own sake, but controlled movement around a fixed core. The same thinking shows up in his wider view of the plate: “The taste of the dish should really come into its own, without too much fuss around it.” In practice, that means a kitchen language built on restraint. Ingredients are given room, but the work behind them is exacting. Dutch products, seasonality, and technique stay in balance, with none of them pushed into the foreground for effect.

Signature

Wilco's signature dishes include oesterproeverij and a dish that keeps the focus on tasting and texture while leaving the oyster itself to do the heavy lifting. It matches a kitchen style that prefers clarity, control, and the ingredient’s own character over ornament.

In Their Words “The tasting goes in all directions, but the oyster flavor remains. That is the charm of the dish.”

Honors

Wilco Berends has received one Michelin star (2000). Wilco's honors include Michelin star (2000), Gault&Millau rating, and SVH Master Chef. Those recognitions sit alongside a career defined less by display than by consistency, with the work measured by discipline, technique, and a steady grip on the essentials.