Jonnie and Thérèse Boer Reopen Brass Boer Bonaire's Pier

Brass Boer Bonaire has reopened at Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, after its most extensive renovation since it opened in 2017; on the private pier, the new two-seat Yerba Mesa now begins with Champagne, Brass Boer’s signature caviar egg and a personal introduction to the menu. Jonnie and Thérèse Boer conceived the waterfront reset before Jonnie’s death in 2025, and Chef Stefan Martens now carries the six-course menu on the pass while Thérèse Boer keeps the wine program in her hands (Carib Journal⁸).

The renovation adds three Dutch-built palapas, an expanded terrace, refreshed private dining spaces, a redesigned entrance, a new lounge and a walk-in wine cellar built around Thérèse Boer’s list. It also places two memorial tables on the pier: Yerba Mesa, created in Jonnie Boer’s memory, and Table 14, the long-running table honoring Johan Cruijff.

Brass Boer Bonaire is the oceanfront sister restaurant to De Librije in the Netherlands. The terrace, the herb-framed table, the cellar and the expanded service day all give the team more stations for the same lineage: Martens at dinner, Thérèse Boer in the cellar, Bon Tera sending tomatoes, basil and mint when available, and MBO Bonaire’s culinary students connected through a $14 contribution from each Yerba Mesa guest.

Inside the Brass Boer Bonaire Reopening

The reopening changes the working shape of the restaurant. Since 2017, Brass Boer Bonaire has operated at the edge of Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire with the sea close to the tables. The new layout gives that edge more structure: three palapas over the terrace, more open-air dining, a lounge for aperitifs and drinks around dinner, and a new cellar for the wine program.

The table seats two on the private pier, surrounded by growing herbs and overlooking the resort’s house reef.

Martens’ dinner frame includes the six-course Brass Boer menu, with à la carte dishes alongside it and De Librije creations that carry their first years in the repertoire: Corvina from 1993, Sweetbread from 2004, Egg Caviar from 2006, Deconstructed Apple Pie from 2009 and Cauliflower from 2010.²

Breakfast runs Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.; lunch runs Wednesday through Saturday from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.; dinner runs Monday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. Yerba Mesa reservations are recommended between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.

What Changed at Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire

“Jonnie and I dreamed up this renovation together, from the palapas on the terrace to Yerba Mesa on the pier,” said Thérèse Boer, co-founder of Brass Boer Bonaire.¹

Jonnie and Thérèse Boer imagined the trio after a trip to Turkey. EVE Architecten, the Dutch architecture firm, developed them. Mudde Bouw prefabricated them in the Netherlands and shipped them across the Atlantic. The same carpenters who built the structures assembled them on site in Bonaire, beneath palm-leaf roofs engineered for the island’s trade winds.

Roosdom Tijhuis Bonaire carried out the redesigned layout on the island. The restaurant reduced its indoor footprint to make room for a larger terrace and the Brass Boer Lounge. A redesigned entrance now leads into refreshed private dining spaces and the new walk-in wine cellar. Kaja Horeca’s interior work uses natural materials, warm wood tones, a neutral palette and color accents drawn from Bonaire.

EVE Architecten's Palapa 4.0 structures were built by Mudde Bouw in the Netherlands and assembled on site by the same carpenters.

Brass Boer Bonaire serves breakfast by the water, lunch on the terrace and dinner from 5:30 p.m. for dinner service or a private-pier reservation. Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire puts the restaurant close at hand. The Boer team provides the method.

Yerba Mesa and Table 14 Put Memory on the Pier

Yerba Mesa costs USD 94 per person and seats two on Brass Boer Bonaire’s private pier. The two-seat limit makes the booking more private. It is a pair of places on the pier, set among herbs, with the house reef in view (Brassboer⁹).

$14 from each Yerba Mesa guest supports MBO Bonaire’s culinary education program, helping introduce a Level 4 elective in Regional Specialties and Products and fund student visits to local fishermen, goat farmers, poultry farmers and vegetable growers.³

Jonnie and Thérèse conceived the experience before his death in 2025, and the herb setting refers to his way of working with flavor. The booking links a memorial table, Champagne service, caviar egg and culinary education in one narrow line.

Table 14 carries a different memory. The private-pier table honors Johan Cruijff and accommodates two to five guests. The Johan Cruijff arrangement begins with bubbles, oysters and refined bites, then moves into a six-course dinner with wine pairings. The price is USD 374 per person, with $14 per guest from each reservation going to the Johan Cruyff Foundation (Brassboer⁹).

The number 14 connects the table to the foundation and to the 14-year relationship that began when Jonnie Boer and Johan Cruijff established Koken met een Doel.⁴ It connects the dinner to the foundation and to the 14-year relationship that began when Jonnie Boer and Johan Cruijff established Koken met een Doel, an annual fundraising dinner supported by the Boer family 4.

Stefan Martens Holds the Six-Course Menu

The named classics carry dates, and dates carry accountability. Corvina from 1993 places the fish dish at the beginning of the list. Sweetbread from 2004, Egg Caviar from 2006, Deconstructed Apple Pie from 2009 and Cauliflower from 2010 show a kitchen that records its own repertoire through repetition and memory.⁵

Bon Tera supplies tomatoes, basil and mint while farming vegetables in Bonaire’s arid climate. That supply chain matters because the kitchen is built partly around herbs. Basil and mint matter when the table for two is surrounded by growing herbs and the menu keeps Jonnie Boer’s herb-led cooking in view.

The sensory thread comes from named things: Champagne at Yerba Mesa, oysters at Table 14, tomatoes and basil from Bon Tera, the caviar egg that opens the private-pier table, and a wine pairing attached to Martens’ six-course dinner. The reopened dinner program also includes à la carte options for guests who want the kitchen without the full six-course sequence.

Thérèse Boer Keeps the Cellar in the Room

The new walk-in wine cellar is built around Thérèse Boer’s wine list, and the wine program remains under her direction. The list has a named hand behind it, and the room has been planned to hold that hand’s work.

Brass Boer Bonaire’s wine program has earned a White Star from Star Wine List. The reopened restaurant pairs that recognition with practical service changes: a new wine pairing for the six-course Brass Boer menu, a lounge suited to Champagne and drinks before or after dinner, and private-pier experiences that begin with bubbles or Champagne. Guests staying in the penthouses at Delfins Beach Resort are welcomed with a bottle each of Thérèse Boer’s white and rosé wines.⁶

The Brass Boer Lounge adds another point of entry into the wine-and-drinks program. It welcomes guests for an aperitif or a drink before or after dinner, with plans for bites such as oysters, caviar, pata negra, langoustine lollipops and duck liver lollipops alongside Champagne, rosé and cocktails.⁷

Thérèse Boer’s program now has a walk-in cellar, a six-course pairing context, pier tables and a lounge.

How to Visit After the Reopening

Brass Boer Bonaire serves breakfast Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., lunch Wednesday through Saturday from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Yerba Mesa costs USD 94 per person, seats two on the private pier and is recommended between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. Table 14 accommodates two to five guests and costs USD 374 per person for bubbles, oysters, refined bites and a six-course dinner with wine pairings.

Private dining reservations are handled at reservations@brassboer.com. Yerba Mesa gives two people the herb-framed memorial table and the Champagne-and-caviar-egg opening. Table 14 gives a small group the longer pier sequence, the Cruijff connection and the Johan Cruyff Foundation contribution. The dining room and terrace give Martens’ six-course menu and Thérèse Boer’s cellar their broader nightly audience.

Brass Boer Bonaire has reopened with more stations, more memory and more ways for the work to reach the table.