Amsterdam: A Michelin Star Experience

There has been a few months since I am living in Amsterdam, but I have not yet been to a fine dining restaurant in order to continue my culinary experience. Therefore after three months, me and two of my fellow students decided to book a table at the Ron Gastrobar.

Chef Ron Blaauw launched the restaurant in 2013 and a year after it was awarded its' first Michelin star. The Ron Gastrobar offers the opportunity to every guest to enjoy world class food without paying exorbitant prices. A regular 3-course dinner would cost between 40-60 euros. The Ron Gastrobar is located near the Vondelpark and it can be easily reached by public transportation or on foot.

Firstly, let us talk about the service. One of the first things I have learned since I was a child is that service is the dominant factor in Hospitality. More than a decade later, one of the first things that I have learned at the Hotelschool the Hague is that service is indeed the dominant factor. When I dined at the Ron Gastrobar, I have noticed that the service is not at the same level as the food that the chef offers. This is observed by little details which if made in the right way they make an experience special and memorable. Someone may say that I am looking at little details that do not matter that much because I do not want to say good comments about the restaurant. Trust me I am not like that. For instance when a waiter serves wine, he or she first shows the bottle and the writing facing the guest in order to confirm that it is the correct one and then the guest can have the opportunity to taste it before he or she finally decides. Also when pouring the wine or water the waiter must be cautious not to drip any into the guest's food or on the table. These procedures were not followed by the staff. Moreover, the use of formal words add value to the guest's experience which was also not the case for Ron Gastrobar. This does not mean that the waiters are not good, it means that for this level of dining small gestures and details matter.

Furthermore, let us talk about the food. Ron Gastrobar as aforementioned, offers the opportunity to every guest to experience fine dining in reasonable prices. Me and my friends enjoyed a variety of courses and types of dishes. The standouts were the baked onions as a starter and the BBQ Ribs for the main. However, in my opinion you cannot judge the quality of a restaurant until you taste the desert. When I tasted the Paris-Brest with Blueberries and caramel ice-cream I was convinced. Light and sweet, acid and crunchy, fresh and ripe, all of these combined in one dish. The reason why I judge the quality of the restaurant especially from the desert course, is because it is the final course and it also shows uniqueness, taste and technique variety.

All in all, the Ron Gastrobar deserves to be regarded as a fine dining and a Michelin restaurant as it combines a modern touch together with serving fine dishes in reasonable prices. However in my opinion, in order for Ron Gastrobar to be considered as a Michelin star restaurant that can even be awarded a second star, service must become a dominant factor instead of the quality of the food and the reasonable pricing that it offers.

University or Not

Personally I have had countless conversations with friends and family regarding whether an individual should attend a university or if it is better not to. This topic is not something that can be answered by a 'yes' or a 'no', it needs a lot of personal thinking and decision making.

Recently I came up with an idea regarding a hotel. My cousin and I decided to carry on with a business plan and asked lecturers, professors, company owners and regular citizens for their opinion. Most people were impressed and very enthusiastic about the plan and willing to assist in any way that they can. We are both university students. I am studying at Hotelschool the Hague which is one of the best Hospitality schools on the planet and my cousin is studying at the University of Reading, a leading business school in the United kingdom. The question is, "do we need academic knowledge in order for our plan to become a reality?".

The first question that someone needs to answer, is whether he/she knows what he/she wants to achieve in life or not. If the answer is 'no', then academic life will serve no better than sitting on their couch watching movies all day long. However, if the answer is positive then there is a second clarification needed. "What do I need to do in order to achieve that goal". Usually the most important part is knowledge and then comes time, money and people. Then you are in a good position to decide what path you want to follow.

There are many paths in acquiring knowledge and skills. Most people believe that going to a university provides a stable life and a future career. Unfortunately this is not true. You need to find a university that provides the right knowledge for your future career but also the right tools in order to pursue it. There are thousands of universities and colleges, however only a few or maybe none of them can provide a "stable future". Therefore something else is needed after all and that is "motivation". Many people think that they are motivated because they have a dream, but actually they are not because 'a dream is a dream' unless you work hard for it in order for it to become a reality one day. Only a handful of people achieve their actual dreams, whether they are academically knowledgeable or practically and theoretically skillful.

Therefore, in the end a person that has spent approximately 20-150 thousand on education for 2-6 years may have the same result as a person who has been working during that time. Thus the person who has spent all this time on education is broke whereas the worker has been saving a stable amount every year.

Finally, everyone has heard about people that have not attended a university but turned out to be billionaires. In my opinion this is possible if you have the right tools. These are motivation, determination, an unparalleled will to succeed but also the knowledge needed in order to succeed. What I always believed is that "if someone attends lectures just for a degree then they should not be there".

Many people asked me, "are you going to wait until the end of your studies in order to pursue your dream?". My answer is, "I am going to pursue success as early as possible, university only provides the knowledge and skills needed in order for me to finish my business plan and then find investments. If I find the investment needed before the end of my studies I am going for it with everything I got." Therefore I hope that this article will help you decide what you want to do in the future and take some serious time before you do.