![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/rotterdam-Food-Lab.jpg\")
I have met Fran\u00e7ois Geurds on a few occasions now. A couple of times at his eponymous FG Restaurant and also at the newer Food Lab. For once, the Michelin judges have awarded their coveted stars with logic and insight.<\/p>\n I have met Fran\u00e7ois Geurds on a few occasions now. A couple of times at his eponymous FG Restaurant and also at the newer Food Lab. For once, the Michelin judges have awarded their coveted stars with logic and insight.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t just the food that impressed me, it was also the man. I know that Michelin judges are looking for \u2018impressive\u2019 in a juggernaut kinda way, but Fran\u00e7ois is impressive with warmth, sense of fun and passion for his food. You can really imagine that this chap actually has friends!<\/p>\n
Although based in The Netherlands, Fran\u00e7ois Geurds has travelled the world honing his craft. He has worked in the New York kitchens of three-Michelin star Per Se with Thomas Keller, at WD 50 with Chef Wiley Dufresne, and at Le Bernardin. He moved to Italy to gain experience in the two-star restaurant of Gualtiero Marchesi. I talked to Fran\u00e7ois about his life and travels.<\/p>\n
What are this chef\u2019s first memories of food? \u2018I can remember when I was 8 years old, cooking with my mother. She would be cooking for a couple of hours every day. I would cook with her, standing on a stool and I made my first cake when I was a kid. I was fascinated when watching the cake rise. It was like a living organism. I wanted to learn about what was going on inside the cake. I am still interested in cooking from the science point of view.<\/p>\n
\u2018I only ever wanted to be a chef when I was growing up. When I was 12 years old I was working in a restaurant. I was still studying and enjoying sport but, yes, cooking was my passion and it still is. Every single day of the week I am thinking and reading about gastronomy. It\u2019s my life. I was 14 when I got a job at my first Michelin-star restaurant. Over the years I have worked at many 1, 2 and 3-star restaurants. I have worked in New York, Italy, Belgium. You have to spread your wings and look around and see things outside your own country. European chefs travel all over the world, French chefs to New York, for example.<\/p>\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/Francois-Geurds.jpg\")
\u2018I like to travel. If you want to be a good chef you need to travel to see what they are doing and what they are doing differently elsewhere. I think it makes you more complete. I have lived away from home for half my life: it\u2019s made me the chef I am now.\u2019<\/p>\n
What are the culinary influences for this globe-trotting chef? \u2018I like Asian food and I like South American food. Most of all I like cooking that comes from the heart. That\u2019s what makes a good chef. Thai cuisine I find to be quite pure. It has such a lot of ingredients. Beautiful people, great food. They really have a passion for food. Last year I visited Japan \u2013 Osaka and Tokyo. I was really interested in the respect they pay to their ingredients. It was an amazing thing to see; you don\u2019t realise until you actually go there. It\u2019s always good to travel for a couple of weeks just to see such things. You realise there is still a lot to learn.<\/p>\n
\u2018I had an ambition to be a good chef, a successful chef, making good food \u2013 it was that way with me. I am really glad to have achieved that and am able to work with the best products one can find. It\u2019s a privilege.<\/p>\n
\u2018I opened my first restaurant over 5 years ago and within 6 months I had my first Michelin star. In another 4 years we had the second star. We are still working hard to serve the best dishes we can.\u2019 Recently Fran\u00e7ois added another star to his growing firmament with one for FG Food Lab.<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ois indulges his obsession with food and experimentation at his two restaurants. They are distinctly different in ambiance. FG Restaurant is conventional with a smart-casual character. It appeals to discerning diners who appreciate culinary flair in accessible surroundings. This isn\u2019t a stiff, starchy and intimidating establishment: it\u2019s about good food and company without layers of formality.<\/p>\n
![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/Food-Lab-beef.jpg\")
\n\u2018At the start of 2014 I opened my second restaurant, and it\u2019s called Food Lab. It\u2019s called that as it\u2019s a technical test kitchen. It has the feeling of a San Sebastian tapas bar. We try and serve good food in a relaxed atmosphere.\u2019 The Food Lab is unique. It\u2019s actually under the railway arches in Rotterdam and that might not sound too appealing but it\u2019s at the very hub of this posh and trendy city. Fran\u00e7ois has constructed his own gastronomic workshop. The restaurant is intimate and cosy with the aforementioned arches creating a wine-cellarish scene. The open kitchen allows virtually every guest the impression of sitting at the Chef\u2019s Table, or almost. I asked Fran\u00e7ois why he wanted a food lab. \u2018I look for and find how things work in nature. I work to discover how we might improve on the flavours, how we can improve the structure.\u2019<\/p>\n
This charming and natural chef has achieved so much in a vibrant city that is sadly too often overlooked by food tourists. But what next? \u2018In future I want to combine more dishes from the two restaurants. We are trying to explore that \u2013 crazy things. We are always looking for ways to introduce a bit of humour. It\u2019s a memory of childhood \u2013 it gives you a cosy feeling.\u2019 It sounds like Fran\u00e7ois Geurds has come full circle, but I don\u2019t think so: this chef is still very much on a journey, and a delicious one.<\/p>\n
FG Restaurant
\nLloydstraat 204
\n3024 EA Rotterdam
\nThe Netherlands
\nPhone: +31 (0) 10 425 0520
\ninfo@fgrestaurant.nl<\/p>\n
Opening times:
\nTuesday – Thursday 12:00 noon to 14:00 pm – 6:30 p.m. to 21:00 pm
\nFriday and Saturday 12:00 noon to 14:00 pm – 19:00-21:00 pm<\/p>\n
FG FOOD LABS
\nKatshoek 41
\n3032 AE Rotterdam
\nThe Netherlands
\nPhone: +31 (0) 10 425 0520
\ninfo@fgfoodlabs.nl<\/p>\n
Opening times:
\nClosed Tuesday and Wednesday
\nThursday \/ Monday \u2013 11:00am to 15:00pm – 5:00pm to 22:00pm<\/p>\n
Visit Food Lab here<\/a><\/p>\n Visit FG Restaurant here<\/a><\/p>\n For more pictures of Rotterdam, follow me here<\/a><\/p>\n Learn more about other destinations in The Netherlands here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n