About Dennis
After working for some years in several renown Amsterdam restaurants it was time to do something new. The open restaurant kitchen didn’t yet exist en I missed the interaction with the guests.
When I started to visit restaurants with Johannes van Dam for his reviews for Het Parool, I met many new people. One of them was Cees Holtkamp, owner of the famous pastry store at Vijzelgracht. One day I attended a workshop he gave and that was when I knew what I wanted: to have my own cooking studio. The special atmosphere of having a group in the kitchen, the happy and satisfied faces around me every day, this was the thing for me!
Passion
After all this time I still enjoy the groups, to develop new workshops and recipes. My dishes are becoming more simple. But at the same time the visual and taste impact becomes bigger.
Cooking with fresh ingredients has always been important, even if it means I have to go shopping 3 times a week.
Recently I have developed 2 Asian cooking workshops that fit well within the trend of eating less meat, more vegetables and our curiosity for meat alternatives.
It is nice to see how popular the teambuilding cooking workshop became. In the kitchen we make two teams and the teams cook for each other. Many times I am amazed by the food the teams cook, so original and tasty. So inspiring for myself!
In the end it is all about the positive energy, the vibe when you are together in the kitchen and enjoy a wonderful self cooked meal.
Kookstudio Leeuw, since 1990
