Wouter van Laarhoven

The Path

At Alma in Oisterwijk, Wouter Van Laarhoven works from a dual format that has been in place since 2019: Modern French fine dining on one side, a more open bodega register on the other. The arrangement is not decorative; it is a working structure. One address asks for precision and restraint, the other for ease and access, and the strength of the group sits in how both are kept in line. His progression in 2019 set that structure in motion. As chef at Alma Bodega in Oisterwijk and chef-owner of Alma Fine Dining, Van Laarhoven took on two roles that already point to the same discipline from different angles. The later chapter, as chef-owner at Alma Bistro in Breda in 2024–2025, widened the frame without changing the underlying logic: keep moving, keep the standard intact.

The Work Today

Today, Van Laarhoven’s primary role is Chef de cuisine at Alma in Oisterwijk. Alongside that, he has been chef at Alma Bodega since 2019 and chef-owner of Alma Fine Dining since 2019. The titles map a chef working across connected rooms rather than one fixed stage, with each service carrying the same expectation of control. The cooking associated with him is Modern French fine dining at Alma. That is the craft line here: contemporary, but still disciplined by French structure; formal, but expressed within a Dutch restaurant context that also makes room for a bodega model. Van Laarhoven frames that balance in practical terms. Change is not treated as a break from the work, but as part of it. The planned makeover during the July summer closure, after almost six years since the 2019 opening, puts interior, service, and kitchen in the same operational cycle.

In Their Words “In July, during the summer closure, the restaurant will undergo a makeover. After almost six years since the opening in 2019, it will get a new interior.” “I have the ambition to take both businesses to a higher level.”

Acclaim

Wouter Van Laarhoven has received MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand (2024). Wouter's honors include Michelin one star (2022) and Michelin Bib Gourmand.