Success for The Knott, Straight Out of the Box
By Nico McGough
The ‘oldies’ among us will remember a ‘straight out of the box’ maiden victory, long ago when German industrialist Walter Wolf built a Formula 1 car from scratch, put ace driver Jody Scheckter in it, and won the team’s first ever race.
Dynamic Chef, Sebastiaan Knottnerus, did the same thing when he opened his own restaurant a few months ago. He received, on his ‘maiden review’, a 9- in the newspaper. Not bad for a debutant restaurant owner. After graduating from the tough Dutch ‘Hotel School’, Chef Sebastiaan joined the kitchens of excellent restaurants. Now he works in his own restaurant, where he serves fine, creative food based on the very best ingredients, created together with his right hand, the talented German Sous Chef, Helge Hecht – who is also a patisserie crack. Maître-Sommelier Thomas Jiménez takes care of the liquids. Even though it is quite a young team, they represent a vast amount of knowledge.
Sebastiaan runs the restaurant together with his new bride, Barbara. It is located on the Laan van Nieuw Oost Indië in The Hague; nicely outside the busy city centre and away from the crowded harbour. It has a cosy interior as well as a quiet terrace behind the restaurant. On warm summer evenings, one can eat outside without cars racing past your table.