On Monday, May 1st 2023, the culinary stars were awarded by the Michelin guide in the Netherlands.
On this occasion, Jan Smink, representative of the Netherlands and winner of the last edition of the Taittinger Prize (2023) won his first star.
This news, which Maison Taittinger is delighted with, once again confirms the position of talent scout that our Culinary Prize has made for itself, which has existed – let us remember – since 1967 and has participated in highlighting international chefs widely recognized today.
The Taittinger Culinary Prize, closely watched abroad (and even more so in France), has aroused the curiosity of the Michelin guide teams towards the latest winner. They came to discover his restaurant, “Smink”, located in Wolvega.
The Netherlands are now accustomed to victories at the “Taittinger”, with four winners in recent years (Jan Smink in 2023, Jonathan Zandbergen in 2014, Lars Van Galen in 2011, Charly de Wijs in 2006) whose cuisine is representative of the excellence and creative abundance in terms of gastronomy in this country, in which our Prize is proud to be established.
Jan Smink, Congrats on your 1st Michelin star ! What does this award mean to you?
I am very happy to see my work rewarded again after so much effort. Winning the “Taittinger” and then a Michelin star, I dreamed of it! The fact that this is now happening means a lot to me.
What will this star allow you to do in addition to what you were already doing? What changes does this mean for your restaurant “Smink”?
I will still do my own thing and respect our own philosophy. We are not going to change, we just need to improve ourselves and go further to the next step.
Would you say that your cuisine is rooted in its territory (the Netherlands) or that it is more international?
My cuisine is a good mix between basic French techniques and a lot of products from our region in the Netherlands. So I would say “local with international twist”.
