Jonnie and Thérèse Boer

You may recall an earlier blog post about Dutch restaurant De Librije (3 Michelin Star, #38 World’s Best Restaurant) in Zwolle launching a beer menu, next to the wine menu. Together with my colleague Willem Habing we presented a tasting for De Librije’s sommeliers which led to this menu. What we couldn’t say then, we can say now: they also invited us to participate in, and perform at, their bi-annual ‘Dutch Avantgarde Cuisine Festival’ Chef(R)Evolution. We couldn’t be more proud!

Boerenmarkt XL (2014)

I have to admit I was stupefied when Thérèse Boer, Host and sommelier of De Librije (and, yes, the wife of Chef Jonnie Boer), told us we ‘had taught her to drink beer’ and she was amazed about the flavor varieties she’d found. Like I wrote earlier, getting such a compliment from one the world’s finest tasters is like being asked to play that bass guitar riff again by Sting or John Deacon. To add to my amazement she immediately asked us if we ‘could do something’ during Chef(R)Evolution too. Honestly, I’m not a timid guy (those who know me are aware of my sizable ego, which may indeed also be taken literally, and my inclination to come to the fore) but this almost blew me out of my socks. It was like being asked to come play and help out in Barcelona’s line-up, as the pub team player I am. Of course we said yes and now we’re almost there!

Zult of pig’s cheek and smoked duck liver in beer sauce

We get to do two things: at the Boerenmarkt XL we will have a stand next to that of restaurant ‘De Heeren van Harinxma’, a Michelin star kitchen headed by Chef Arjan Bisschop from Beetsterzwaag. We will bring a selection of our beers for visitors to try and discover, but we’ll bring an extra special one to be paired to the signature dish, served by Chef Arjan and his ‘De Heeren van Harinxma’ team. That little dish is totally awesome – I won’t give it all away, but look at the picture – then you’ll get the picture! This pairing is promising to be a blow-away experience for foodies and geeks alike. Boerenmarkt is two days: both Sunday 18 and Monday 19 September, we’ll be doing our thing.

Cheese War – wine, and beer, are both winners!

To top it off, and much to my excitement Jonnie and Thérèse loved the idea, we’ll get to perform Cheese War at Chef(R)Evolution! Together with our wine friends Ockhuysen, with whom we’ve been cheese battling for some years now at Bacchus Wijnfestival, and De Librije’s cheese supplier ‘Bourgondisch Lifestyle’ we’ll present the Master Class attendees four carefully selected cheeses. These will be paired in four rounds to equally carefully selected wines and beers. The guests at Cheese War will then choose which combination is the tastiest – per round, and resulting in an all-over winner. Can’t wait to do the pre-tasting and selection…and, of course, see the result. This will be the first time ever, as far as I know, that a Cheese War of this magnitude will be executed at a three-Michelin Star restaurant – in the world! How totally awesome is that!

Having fun can be easy…

Anyway: if you are not yet booked for Sunday 18 and Monday 19 September, come over and join us at Chef(R)Evolution by De Librije in Zwolle!

Chef Arjen Bisschop, Restaurant ‘De Heeren van Harinxma’