Jonnie Boer is the Head Chef at the three-star restaurant De Librije in Zwolle. He runs the restaurant with his wife Thérèse (1971). Jonnie and Thérèse have two children.
Jonnie was born in Giethoorn. At the age of twenty-four, he became head chef at De Librije, which he purchased together with his wife Thérèse a few years later. The first Michelin star followed in 1993 and the second in 1999, making him the youngest two-star chef in the Netherlands. In 2004, De Librije became only the second restaurant in the Netherlands to be awarded three stars. In 2005, Jonnie was made a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau.
Since 2005 De Librije sells its own products in Librije’s Winkel. In 2006 Jonnie started Food on Tour, De Librije’s catering company. In 2008, Jonnie and Thérèse opened a hotel (Librije’s Hotel) with restaurant (Librije’s Zusje) and also cookery and wine school (Librije’s Atelier) in what was formerly the Zwolle prison. The radical rebuilding programme was featured in a docu-soap, ‘Pure Passie’, broadcasted on RTL4.
In November 2008, Jonnie Boer and his young team were also awarded a Michelin star for the restaurant Librije’s Zusje. This was a flying start for the restaurant, which had been open for only six months. In November 2011 Librije’s Zusje had been awarded with two Michelin stars.
Describe your culinary philosophy in 5 words…
Quality, simplicity, taste, humor, stability.
How did you feel when you were awarded your first Michelin star?
I felt like I was the king of Holland!
What is your greatest inspiration?
Nature.
What three things would you take to a desert island?
My wife Thérèse, our kids and a pallet of Champagne.
- 3 Michelin stars
Spinhuisplein 1
NL-8011 ZZZwolle
Netherlands
+ 31 (0)38 8530000
Pictures © Jonnie Boer