Top chef Peter Scholte starts journey through Utrecht event venue with sustainable chef vision
Utrecht, 11 April 2023 - Peter Scholte will be Royal Jaarbeurs's new chef from 1 March 2023. Previously, Peter worked at, among others, Le Garage by Joop Braakhekke, The Duchess at the W hotel in Amsterdam, Spanish restaurant elBulli and he earned a Michelin star as Chef in Norway. Jeroen van Hooff, CEO Royal Jaarbeurs: "We are extremely happy with the appointment of our new chef. Peter's sustainable chef vision fits perfectly with the ambition we have within Jaarbeurs to make our hospitality industry even more sustainable. In recent years, we have made our catering assortment largely vegetarian. We notice that there are still many steps to be taken to make our catering industry even more sustainable and with Peter's arrival, I have every confidence in that."
The world is changing, cuisine must change
The hospitality industry can make an impact with sustainable choices in the kitchen. With a large team in the kitchen, Jaarbeurs itself takes care of the entire catering range in all its restaurants and on location. Peter Scholte: "I think it's great to see that Jaarbeurs has already taken considerable steps to green its hospitality offering. Among others through its cooperation with Greendish, Too Good to Go and De Koekfabriek. The world demands solutions and therefore it is no longer a matter of 'wanting' but 'needing' to change the kitchen." In his role as concept and development chef for Albron hospitality and leisure, he was partly responsible for setting up The Green House: a circular hospitality concept next to the Beatrix Building. Responsible and sustainable cooking is central there. "With the knowledge I gained there, I have already come up with many concepts for cooking with sustainable, local and pure ingredients within Jaarbeurs. I have always been taught 'Only the best is good enough for our guests', so with this in mind I will start working here."
Passion for 'green' today
Scholte's passion for good food and drink started when he was sixteen. He now has years of experience in the hospitality industry and his passion is 'green' anno now. Scholte: "If we don't go green now, there is no future. There are still so many opportunities to cook with vegetables and herbs directly from your own urban farm or from the local environment. Enjoying food as it was once conceived, from the season. That is important to me and is totally Dutch cuisine. In my opinion, this also fits perfectly with the designation 'Royal' that Jaarbeurs carries. My wish is that we work with pure Dutch products within Jaarbeurs and that we lead the way in this. The various trade fairs and events are a source of inspiration for me. In my opinion, the BouwBeurs requires a totally different dish than the Vakantiebeurs, for example."
Taking people on a culinary journey
Jaarbeurs 's new chef not only focuses on Dutch cuisine, he has also gained a lot of international knowledge. For example, he has worked for British master chef Raymond Blanc and was star chef at Hotel Continental in Norway. He also worked as a top chef at elBulli in Rosas, Spain, and gained knowledge in Hawaiian and Italian cuisine. "Taking people on a journey of discovery through the finest culinary dishes is what you can wake me up at night for. I am really looking forward to taking the Jaarbeurs catering team on my culinary journey through the kitchen. In my opinion, the Jaarbeurs kitchen should be at the forefront of sustainability on all levels. From a trade fair in the exhibition building to a fancy dinner with dignitaries in one of the beautiful meeting rooms."
In 2022, Royal Jaarbeurs won the UFI Sustainability Award for making its hospitality offering more sustainable and for its innovative way of reducing food waste. UFI is the global association of event venues and organisers.
