“Chasing our dream. That’s what Kevin Kion, my best friend since childhood, and I have always done. And there was never any doubt about the content of that dream. To become head chefs in our own restaurant. That’s what we wanted, and we would do anything to achieve it.”
“I can still see myself standing in the kitchen at home with a large tube of mayonnaise in my hand. I was making a Russian salad for my parents, a recipe I had just learned at the culinary school in Amsterdam. Later, when master chef Imko Binnerts took me under his wing at the age of fifteen at restaurant Vis & Ko, my drive only grew stronger. Especially because he taught me an incredible amount with all his Insights, experience, and dedication. Something that came in very handy when I subsequently worked at restaurant Bolenius (1 Michelin star), five years at Ciel Bleu (on the verge of three Michelin stars), and then four years at Serre as a head chef.”
“Besides pure cooking, the renowned chefs Onno Kokmeijer and Arjan Speelman provided me with numerous tools that will be useful for the rest of my life. Learning to experiment with flavours, for example, daring to be creative and original. But also in terms of entrepreneurship and leading in a good way, they taught me enormously. So much so that I now think I am ready to start my own restaurant. Together with Kevin, my mate, who has followed a completely different culinary path.”
“In a few weeks, we will open restaurant Mano in our hometown Haarlem, just as we always said we would in secondary school. We are not lacking in ambition. In the long term, we want to be among the top four restaurants in Haarlem. How? By ensuring our guests have a good time. Conveying our passion for food to them, which has been running through our veins for 28 years. And letting them enjoy our dishes, which are based on street food. Really, chasing the dream was already beautiful. Realising that dream is even more beautiful.”
Daniel Damen and Kevin Kion restaurant Mano in Haarlem