Brasserie De Hofsmid in Buren hands its kitchen to a 22-year-old
Cas Vieleers leaves his sous chef post at De Engel in Dodewaard to run the charcoal grill at an all-day brasserie backed by Edwin Muns of Brasserie Poelzicht.
Brasserie De Hofsmid will open in November in Buren, in the Dutch Betuwe, with 22-year-old chef Cas Vieleers running the kitchen day to day. Restaurateur Edwin Muns backs the project and takes a stake in it, according to the trade titles Misset Horeca and Entree Magazine.
The address is Onderdreef 1A, in the historic centre of the small town, in a building of around 200 years that previously housed Brasserie Goede Buren and De Hofhouding. Vieleers has cooked in several kitchens in the region and is currently sous chef at restaurant De Engel in Dodewaard. The dining room goes to Yorick van Gelder, 26, now restaurant manager at MERAQI in Beneden-Leeuwen.
What Brasserie De Hofsmid will serve
The owner keeps a stake; a 22-year-old gets the charcoal grill and the pass.
The plan is an all-day brasserie: coffee and pastries first, then lunch, drinks and dinner. The menu announced so far lists sandwiches, artisanal soups and Dutch classics such as the uitsmijter and croquettes. The house speciality is hamburgers and steaks from a charcoal grill, with specialty beers and a wine list alongside.
No prices or cover numbers have been published. The building is being renovated with fresh paint, new furniture, upgraded toilets and work on the garden, which keeps its large terrace and gains bicycle parking.
"It gives great satisfaction to guide young talent from the region and give them the space to run their own business," Muns told Entree Magazine.
A backer who learned his trade in Buren
Muns knows the town's kitchens. He worked as chef and sous chef at De Gravin van Buren, at Lodewijk XIII in Maurik and at Van Balveren in Echteld, and spent seven years as co-owner of Bistro Formidable in Breda, according to De RestaurantKrant. In September 2021 he opened Brasserie Poelzicht in Kapel-Avezaath, a French bistro built around a rotisserie with room for up to 70 guests indoors. He also runs Petit Caveau Wijnbar & Bistro in Tiel.
De Hofsmid follows a different formula: the owner stays in the background as partner and adviser, while two people under 30 run the pass and the room. In a Dutch sector still short of hands, as our report on the hospitality staff shortage in the dining room shows, giving a sous chef his own kitchen is also a way of keeping him in the region.
The brasserie adds a name to the list of autumn restaurant openings outside the Randstad. The exact November date has not been announced; until then, Vieleers is still at the stove in Dodewaard.
