Rotterdam chef takes New York restaurant from zero to two Michelin stars in one shot
Rotterdam chef Marco Prins and his Austrian colleague Max Natmessing have pulled off quite the trick. A year ago, they were hired to save the struggling Chef’s Table restaurant in New York. And on Monday, they won two Michelin stars for the restaurant in one fell swoop.
“We are extremely proud and grateful that we have been awarded two stars,” Prins told Rijnmond from New York. He called it a huge achievement. “You often get one star first, then two, and then three. But to get two stars in one go is a real milestone. We are extremely happy.”
Prins and Natmessing took over at Chef's Table At Brooklyn's Fare in August last year after a long-dragging conflict between the previous chef and owner left the restaurant’s reputation in tatters. The dispute had escalated to the point that the doors had been closed. “When a restaurant closes or the chef leaves, Michelin has a rule that they start from scratch again,” Prins explained.
That meant a bigger challenge, but also an opportunity for him and Natmessing to rebuild the restaurant in their own style. “We went into it with great courage. We worked really hard for a year and now we have received a beautiful crowning achievement,” Prins said. “Rolling up your sleeves and going all out every day. We have the best products here and an owner who supports us enormously. We are very grateful for that.”
It was also a bit of a homecoming moment for Prins and Natmessing. The two met while working at Chef’s Table as young chefs years ago. “We worked there for five years under the previous chefs, when it still had three stars,” Prins said.
Prins has lived in New York for quite a few years now and has truly fallen in love with the city. He doesn’t know whether he’ll ever return to Rotterdam. “Never say never, because Rotterdam is of course Manhattan on the Maas. But my love is also very much in New York. I met my wife here and my son was born here. I feel very much at home here, but I miss Rotterdam, and especially Feyenoord, very much,” he told the regional broadcaster.
