The first week of April was the week of the successful charity event for Japan. We collected more than two hundred thousand Euros for the victims of the earthquake and the tsunami, which gave us all a great sense of unity. But despite that, it was mainly the week of my colleague Marc van der Tang, Chef of our new Serre Restaurant, which is inspired on the cuisine of Ciel Bleu. Why? He tells himself in this weblog...

Marc: "It was quite a week. In late March for starters, culinary writer Johannes van Dam visited Serre Restaurant. Luckily I was present myself – well, I'm always present, haha - and obviously his visit did not go unnoticed. There is quite someone stepping inside! I already knew him from Ciel Bleu, which he visited a few times before and at the end of his visit, we also conducted an animated conversation in the kitchen. In which he already stated that he was pleased, but you still have to wait what he will write about the visit. You never know.”

"When Van Dam’s article was finally published in the newspaper ‘Het Parool’ on Saturday, April 2nd, from early in the morning it was a madhouse! I got a phone call while I was still laying in bed, with the message that we got a 10 -. And from that moment the phone at home and at Serre rang non stop! We got such heartwarming responses. And so many reservations! On good days we had approximately 30 guests for lunch and about 50 guests for dinner. Since the article of Johannes van Dam, we have an average of one hundred meals per day, with peaks at 180 and a record 250 guests on a Sunday. Bouillabaisse and the soft shell crab, the two dishes that Van Dam described, are a real hype. Suppliers could hardly handle!

On that same Saturday our new terrace where fifty guests can be seated opened. With the beautiful weather on April 1st, that was an immediate hit. And when the terrace was packed - which is almost continuously the case - people went to the serre of Serre, where they enjoyed the spring sunshine from behind glass.

All these happenings provide a continuously rush hour in the restaurant, but luckily just on April 1st my sous chef Jeroen Vink started. Another highlight, because we really need all hands on deck. Jeroen and I knew from the time we worked together in the Lisser Spijshuis and when he was a guest at Ciel Bleu, I asked him as a joke if he was looking for a job. And now, he is working next to me!

To finish 'my' week, I would like to mention the charity evening we had organized as staff of Okura for Japan. It's amazing what a strong team can achieve in just two and half weeks. The Grand Ballroom looked great thanks to all the bouquets and the 10,000 hand-folded cranes, the guests were prominent, the auction was a great success and the Chefs of all the restaurants of Okura were on stage in the ballroom to prepare the most fantastic dishes. Serre Restaurant was of course present, because we offered the dessert that was created together with our Finnish Executive Pastry Chef Iiro Heinila. But the real surprise had to come: the announcement of the final amount that we have contributed with all volunteers. More than two hundred thousand Euros for Japan! That makes the first week of April one to never forget.”

Marc van der Tang - Serre Restaurant