[Music] [laughter] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] - I'm not going to say anything about Kastadropičiri, but we'll keep that for ourselves. - Yes. - Otherwise, good luck and good luck. This week we're doing something we haven't done before, Mai. - We haven't. Five years later we're doing a revolution. - And the revolution is that we're doing an episode in English and we're not doing it because we're interested. We are teasing all these people who are teasing us when we use 3 words in English, because the topic is very important and very interesting. S. A. Jordan will make a pitch. -It will be cool if someone writes to us from where to where you put some Bulgarian words in English so that they speak it. -Yes. -As the Bulgarian saying goes, the sales pitch for this episode is that we speak thanks to the HRC Academy, which are clearly partners with GRE. a huge, serious organization for young chefs, entrepreneurs, owners of restaurants, which has existed since the 1970s, originally French, which are, from the smallest of truths, proven, addicted to what is. . . well, not what place is good, because I don't think their role is to sit in places, but an organization that includes fantastic, advanced, adventurous restaurants. And the people from GRE came to Tatkovina, they visited Tatkovina, and you will have to listen to the episode to see what they found. - And what happened there. - We have news, as they say. - Yes, so the whole English language will have to be prepared somehow. - The Tekache 3-2-1, Portuguese and English. First things first, who are you before the whole GRE thingy? Who are you, Hans? - So, my name is Hans, Hans van Waalen. I'm from the Netherlands, born in Curaçao, which is in the Caribbean part of the Netherlands. And after my secondary school, I went to hotels management schools, so where I studied hotel studies. I'm not the chef. - From my experience with Dutch people, you look very young, although you have probably spent a lot of years in the hotel genre. - Well, not the hotel, but more than the restaurant area is my expertise. I was working also here in the Netherlands in several restaurants, but also in France, working in the wine companies. And then I started my own restaurant. Was it successful? Was it great? Yeah, well when I bought it, it was a restaurant which was bankrupt and I rebuilt it with some help of family and friends. We rebuilt it and I had a vision for about 15 years where I wanted to be and in seven years I was there. So I thought what I'm gonna do? Am I gonna stay here or I was quite young still at the time. I thought Where is that? It's in Amsterdam or in the Netherlands? I'm from the south. I'm from near Eindhoven, which is the south of the city of Leiden, where Philips started. And I was in a small village called Heze. And now it's still a very successful restaurant. It's one of the most famous Dutch restaurants. It has two Michelin stars and it's in the top five. And from that place, was it a straight line to GRE or did you go around somewhere? No, because when I started the restaurant, I worked also in other restaurants and at that time internet, social media was not very present. So if you want to be recognized, if you want to be known by the people, by the public, by the press, you have to be in some kind of guide or be associated with some group of like-minded. And at the time, I speak about 1994 or something like that, there was this GRE association starting to build up also in other countries than France, where the origin is from. And working in previous restaurants, as a manager we were also associated with other restaurant associations, but they're only based in the Netherlands. So I So I thought, okay, I have this restaurant, I wanna be, I'm not the chef, I wanna be recognized by journalists, by clients, if they come to my region, then they can find me. So I want to be associated with a group. So when Giri came to the Netherlands, Giri means young restaurateurs, of course, in French, I thought I want to be with this group. So I was always involved in the association already, being a restaurateur at the time. was a member and I most of the part of my membership I was also part of the board. All right. I was really active in this kind of thing. So when I sold the restaurant things with GRE were okay, were fine, not so professional, freshly organized. And after a year or so the actual members at that time they called me and said Hans can you help us because we need some support in the organization. - So it was basically a like-minded people organization. - Absolutely. - Give us the sort of the elevator pitch on GRE. Because I'm going to be very frank with you, I don't think there are more than 20 people in Bulgaria who know what GRE is. - Of course, yeah. That's going to be a challenge. So, Jiri, we are an international organization of restaurants, independent restaurants. So, Jiri as an association is not a franchise organization. We are a non-profit and what we do is we want to promote, respect, maintain culinary traditions from wherever. So, we respect every chef wherever he comes from, the way he cooks or what is his philosophy. That's what we respect, that we would like to highlight that and we would like to promote that. That's one part. Yeah, what is another part? Yeah, the other part is that our chefs are also entrepreneurs. So they have their own restaurant. So they're not employed by big hotels or whatever. So yeah, the Hilton's of this world, the big chains of this world, they're ineligible. They're not allowed in. That's correct. That's correct. So our chefs are all self-supporting businesses having their own idea of how they cook, what's their philosophy on doing restaurant, where they are located. But there's an overall synergy. Everybody has the same idea about what gastronomy should look like and how we treat our guests and how we treat our staff, how we treat our producers and where we get our ingredients from, with the respect, the sustainability part and everything. So that's a very big part for us. And as far as selection process is concerned, is it people who apply and then you tell them yes/no, or is it the much more "mischlennie" approach of you go and you check out a place and then you decide whether they're eligible? So we are not judges of like Michelin, deciding if you get a Michelin star or not. Of course for us, Michelin like Gourmet or Falstaff in other countries, we maintain a quality level, what's important for us. But we don't judge chefs who have no Michelin star or either have three Michelin stars. For us, everybody is equal in that sense, because we're for young restaurateurs. Meaning that we are scouting every day, where are the new talents for the future, who is interested and who could be interested in us, that we can have them joining our group. And hopefully we can help them, not always necessarily in cooking, because that's what they know and that's what their profession is, but to help them in their day-to-day operation in the restaurant. So what can we do for them to bring them to the next level? Hopefully one day they get one Michelin star or become the world famous top chef of tomorrow. So that's what we aim for with the guys. And you said you're not judges and I very clearly understand that. But then again, you have some criteria where a restaurant is eligible. I mean, what happens if I am a well-spoken newbie who just opened a pizzeria and I wrote to you and you're like, maybe not. So why not? What is it that you aim for? So we have a certain criteria with the restaurants have to apply to, is that they have their own restaurateur. So they are in business, personally in charge of the business. They have two years normally, two years in operation, so they have quite some experience already. Do they have to make a certain turnover or any of that? No, no. There is no strict business requirement? There is no quality requirement. So we will check, we will check of course also how is the restaurant rated in the different guides, is it in the different guides. we do our own check also. So we work with ex-inspectors from Michelin. We have developed our own quality criteria system and we do also these checks with the restaurants. And I am deviating here but aren't the ex-Michelin guys supposed to be anonymous? Yes, but they are anonymous. Also for us they work anonymous. All right, so you don't really know them but you subcontract? I do know that. Oh you do? Okay. Yeah sure, because we work with them on a daily basis. But our restaurateurs, our chefs don't know them. But over the years we've created a mystery check system, which is quite advanced, I might say. And which is a very interesting information also for the chefs. So it's the mirror what we represent them. So this also, So this quality check is also being done and then we are an association. So we present, we have a board of directors who I present to my new candidates. When it's approved then it goes to the next layer which is the international presidents when we meet them and they decide if a member can join and then also the national members have to to decide if somebody can join the group on a national level. So it's a, it's quite a, it's quite a long procedure. Um, but it's important also to, to ensure that we have the right people on board and also the people with the, who are like-minded and who have the same idea and, uh, and become also active members because people are just being member for us. It's not so interesting. So we like active people active in their country, but also not only in the restaurant but also outside the restaurant. But the reason we're talking today is because from what we gather you are visiting Bulgaria. Yes. And do you have a short list? I mean how does that work? Are you announcing stuff? Yes. So is anything public? Can we say something? Yes, we can say something. I think that's maybe a good place here to say something. So we have a piece of news. Yes. Yes. Yes. So we were contacted by a few chefs from Bulgaria. We were contacted by four and we have visited also the HRC Academy. Because already before we were in contact with these four chefs, there was already a collaboration with HRC Academy with our Dutch GRE members. So exchange programs on students and this kind of things. So there we had already a good starting point. So that's also how we came to Bulgaria, more or less. But also a few of the chefs who've been working abroad, who were in contact also with GRE, afterwards started their own restaurant in Bulgaria. and they contacted us saying that they were interested in becoming a membership. So we did our research, we did our checks, we visited the restaurant. You sent people down to Bulgaria? Yeah, in this case it was myself and one of my vice presidents, so the board of directors, we were two. And we had the occasion also to meet the minister of tourism, the school and the four restaurants. So two of them are in Sofia. You remember the Watergate, the whole scandal and Nixon being out, right? With the main informant not really being able to say out the pieces of information. So are we going to do this this way? I mean, do I ask you names of restaurants and you nod in acceptance or can you tell me who the nominees are? Well, the nominees are I can tell you them from I have to make sure that I don't make any mistakes, of course, but From Sofia we have a restaurant is called Cosmos. Okay. It's from Vadislav Bebov if I say that right my Bulgarian is not so yeah, it's all right sort of all right. Yeah. Yes we have he owns a bunch of restaurants and this is Cosmos is by far the most sort of prominent and the one that tries to impress people. But yeah, he's a serial entrepreneur. Yes, and the interesting part is that he's doing this whole fermentation part, what he's doing there is very interesting. Yeah, I think that's a really interesting thing what he's doing there. And also, maybe not for everybody to understand of all, but I think with chefs and modern techniques and what's kind of not popular but accurate at the moment. Another restaurant is called Nicolas 360. Interesting cuisine as well because he's doing some Asian stuff, mixing it with. . . - Yeah, he used to live in Asia. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, interesting, nice place to be, nice chef also, and very, I think, a very dynamic guy who's asking us already for a long time to become. He's the one that I have heard Giary from years ago. So, yeah, he has been really, I think he has been pursuing this for quite a while. That's true, that's true. Until another chef came along which is Veselin Kalev from Estibum. He was also the one who was very active and very dynamic in being in contact with us. The reason also is that he was also working for quite some time in Germany with some GRE chefs there as well. So that was for us also a good sign and a good reference to make the next step. And the fourth restaurant, restaurant ONA. Interesting chef, Philip Sahari. For those who missed it, number three would be the Zurnice estate, right? Yes, yes, that's correct. Because of the names, yeah. Names got a bit convoluted. Okay, cool. Sorry, yeah. And ONA is the small restaurant which is working only with local ingredients and also he has been working with I did some projects also with Anna Ross, who is also a member from Slovenia, also one of our prominent members there. So there we got some contact and some feedback as well. So we did the research basically by ourselves, by our mystery visitors doing the desk research part, and also the feedback from actual members we have. So making sure that we have, I think we have the rights, the bunch of guys. And now that they're on the short list, when do we know if they are part of the official selection? Or I got something wrong? No, I can tell you that we had our last meeting with all the country presidents, which is the final say, and it was in June. And there they were all welcomed as new members. So Bulgaria has four restaurants on the GRE list? Four restaurants will be in the list from 2024. Yes, all right, cool. Yes, and then in April 2024 we will be 50 years of GRE and during the congress in Paris that's where we're going to launch and present officially to the international press the four chefs. Okay, so that's quite the sort of the honour. Yes, yes, I think also for these guys, very interesting and a very great opportunity to present themselves and that's also one of the reasons why we try to get in contact with the Ministry of Tourism in Bulgaria because we think that we can offer them great opportunities also for a tourism sector on the gastronomy part of course, because we are going to implement Bulgaria. Disha is going to be on our platform, not only social media but our websites, communications, all the partnerships we do internationally with our international partners. And this is a part of Bulgarian tourism that is underdeveloped. I mean, we sort of pride ourselves of being a tourist nation, but we cater to the lower end, the slunch of blacks of this world and where the young Brits come and get first taste of life. So how do you actively promote, I mean, what is, I'm curious, what is your conversation with the Ministry of Tourism? What is it that, do they know what they ask for, or is it you that lead the conversation? Well, we went there as a first introduction, basically what we did there. The introduction was made also by one of the chefs, who's becoming a member. Because we believe that not only, you know, we are, like I said, we are a non-profit organization. So all our business model is based on membership income and partnership income. But if you want to promote Bulgaria as a culinary destination. Of course, we have to build this up because it's not there yet. And I know that there's still a lot of work to be done, because Giri is not a well-known name at all in Bulgaria. But also on the gastronomic part, I think that we can be of enormous help. Other chefs can come and we do exchange programs and all these kind of things. But positioning Bulgaria as a culinary destination, we need support from the board of tourism because we need more funds to do that actively. So we have quite some experience in countries like Slovenia and Croatia in the past. I was curious, I checked out your list and there's, I mean, Slovenia is a famous culinary destination in this, in Central Europe. But I'm curious, how long ago did you start with Slovenia? And what is your story with them? With Slovenia, we also, basically, we started off in the same way as now we were asked by four important chefs at the time. It was Tomas Kavčić. I don't know if you know him, but he's one of the the most well-known chefs. My Slovenian chefs, I mean my knowledge of Slovenian chefs is poor outside of the Anna Rosjes of this world. Yeah, okay, but he's more or less on the same level as Anna Rosjes. Anna Rosjes is more well-known because she's also in many television programs. Tomas is also very involved in politics and also in Serbia and he's working a lot in Poland, doing television programs there. But a very interesting message. But these four of them came also to us, and that was 16 years ago. So we went there, we did the check, we believed in these guys, this can be something for the future. So step by step we worked on them, we worked with them, we created a structure. And GRE was first, and then came Michelin, right? Absolutely. All right, I know this is speculation, but then again you went to all four places. In your opinion, do you think that either of them deserves a star? And I don't want you to name names, this is not about judging them, but is there a star worthiness here? I think so, yes. But like I said also already, there needs to be done some real work here and to help them in some other directions as well. So the potential is there, yes, for sure. But coming back to Slovenia, because that's where we started with 15 years. So it took us 15 years with ups and downs and then at some point the spark lit the fire, because a few of the members became really active and started to. . . - And one of the managers of Giari is a Slovenian, right? Yes, it's Gaspar Puhan. He was the one also who came with me to visit the four restaurants in Bulgaria. But he really made the wheel go spinning faster and got in contact and getting the right business deals and opportunities for the chefs. Then we we were lucky, so to speak, that Michelin came to Slovenia and immediately rewarded – I think 100% or 95% of the Michelin stars were rewarded to GRE restaurants. So the correlation was clear. Yeah, we had that luck, so to speak, that we were rewarded in this way because for the larger public, a Michelin star is more interesting than having no Michelin star. However, it's not my opinion that if you go to Austria, you find chefs who have no Michelin star because there's no Michelin guide who would have received two or three Michelin stars immediately if the guide came to the country. But what do you mean? There is a Michelin guide in Austria? Yeah, but only for the main cities. So if you're outside of the main city, then if you go to a place like Aldreas Delor who has 19. 5, I think, Gommio, and he had no Michelin star. So sometimes for the public, it's quite difficult to understand that these are really, really, really top chefs as well. But having this, bringing and working together with Michelin a country like Slovenia and Croatia for example, we were able to put them basically on the higher position on the culinary map. So here we collaborate a lot with Michelin. However, Michelin is only an event which takes one time a year. - It just happens to be one of the more famous and established ones. With all the pros and cons that it brings. Yeah, absolutely, because it's only one activity per year, you have a mission and a star and that's it. There are GRE when we are in the country or collaborating with the country, and it's also what we explained to the Ministry of Tourism, that we said we are not only there for a one-day event, we are there 365 days a year, working with the chefs, doing projects, doing events, doing promotion, working together with local producers, trying to improve the quality of the food, the production of food, making chefs aware about the sustainability, about the environment, about their social responsibilities, what they have towards the staff, what they have next generation. So that's all these all these parts for us. It's really important to work on that. We really highlight and really push our chefs on to work on and be very accurate about that. if I mean going outside of the of the Michelin comparison, and if we go across the pond to to the US, the James Beard Foundation, they in their last incarnation, the last couple of years, they were really diligent on doing background checks of the chefs, of whether they had the right attitude, whether they were working in a toxic environment, do you have something like that in your list of criteria? Yeah, we look on these things as well. So when members sign up with us, they also have to sign this kind of way, code of conduct or how do you write. We do that and we expect also that from our chefs. In every sense we want to be also leading and being an example for other chefs in the profession. Absolutely, yes. Especially also when we send chefs abroad, they represent not only themselves, but they also represent the whole group of chefs when they go to the Maldives or do cruise ships, cooking demos or all these kind of things. So, yeah, definitely. I don't know how often you lose your GRE status. I don't know if that's a thing, But I'm guessing a GID chef just picks up the phone to another GID chef and says "Oh, by the way, I'm in, I don't know, in Ljubljana or in Zagreb or in London" for that matter, and has an access there. Absolutely. We say we are a family. And how you treat family is that you treat them as friends, they come to your house and treat them in the best possible way. This can be when they meet each other during events or projects. We have exchange programs in Croatia. We have very nice programs called "Chefs at Sea" where chefs invite for a whole weekend a colleague at their expense to come to spend two days with with a partner in her or his restaurant, and then cooking one evening a meal for 10 guests or some journalists, and then showing them the country and showing them the produce and the ingredients and the wineries and the truffles and the olive oils and everything. So yeah, that's a big part of us, that we have this very low-profile way of working together, experiencing the friendship of being a GRE member. And of course the pride is very important. The chefs are really, really proud to be a GRE member and part of that family, that group. I was checking your list and Hungary, what used to be called the Czech Republic and is what now called Czechia, Poland, Greece, Portugal. These are not part of the GRD. So, I mean, how come Bulgaria and not one of these? - Yeah, so Bulgaria, because that's four guys who are really pushing us and really calling us day to day. We want to become members and at some point say, "Okay, really, I think we have some guys who are really motivated, who really want to be with us. Going there, meeting them, speaking with them, understanding them, saying, "Okay, okay, besides the fact that they are really good chefs, they have good restaurants, they're also good members for us. " Because that's also part of the quality criteria, of course. Our chefs who want to join with also the right people who fit with us, who are active and who are really also living in the GRE. I'm working with them, doing an effort for that, not only just paying a member fee and in Dutch we say you sit on the back of the on the bicycle and other people drive. Okay, so a question that is much more for Hans than it is for a GRE member, but how do you, when you travel somewhere, how do you find where to eat? I mean, I will be off to Prague in three weeks, I will be down to Turkey in a month and a half and I want a book. So how does one approach it when there isn't a Giorgio Armani around? When there's no Giorgio Armani around? Yeah, of course. I mean, otherwise you go to where you know. If I was just doing online, then I would be doing a lot of research and seeing the guides or what's there. I'm not so into trip advisor things, looking there, because you never know what it brings you. And of course, I always ask friends, and that's what a lot of friends ask me, where do I have to go when I'm there. So I always call somebody who knows somebody, and then they say, "Go there, go there, see this place, or go to that place. " So that's the way I do it. But for example, when I'm in France, and for example, when I'm in Paris or something, and I don't know the restaurant, I always look inside. And France is such an amazing place, a country where they make fantastic wines and everything. But sometimes I'm really disappointed in France, for example, not to blame the French, but-- - Blame them all you want. (laughing) But they use this very ugly glassware they have, you know, very small glasses. And if you go to Austria or Germany, you get really nice glasses where they serve the wines. But sometimes you see this restaurant, you look inside and you see this really nice glassware on the table. And then I said, let's go there. Because if they pay so much attention to what they put on the table, how they set the table, then also the food and everything with the same attention and with the same love made. And nine out of ten times I'm right. So were you pleasantly surprised by the glassware in any of the Bulgarian places you went to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which one? Yes, there was Estivum with Veselin. Zornita Estate. Zornita Estate, sorry. I have the restaurant name here. Zornita Estate. Also because they make their own wines, of course, and they have their own vegetables. And it was amazing what we. . . We had a wine tasting there with the sommelier before we went to dinner, tasting all the different wines and all the explanations about that. And there you see really that these people have the heart and the spirit and the soul and it's gastronomy and they breathe it every day. So that's what we're looking for. It's a very interesting thing also that they have their own garden and having their own animals there. That's a new chance and the things going on. I'm guessing it helps being outside of the big city. I mean, of course it is a hassle and of course you need logistical nightmares, but you get to control much more of the process. Yeah. Yeah, but you also have to have the effort. You have to do the effort and you have to invest also in the willingness and it's a lot of time beside also the restaurant work you're already doing. So it's quite an organization, but more and more you see chefs being more and more focused on what they serve, where it comes from, knowing the producer, giving their directions to the producer, how you want to have the stuff and cook what's the daily and what season it brings you and then start from there. And it's a totally different way of thinking than we did five, ten years ago. Very last question would be, is there something that I forget to ask you? I mean something that you were really keen to share and you're like, this Bulgarian bloke just didn't never ask me. Well, yeah, but what's our ideas for the future, what they are as an association, because you asked already about a few countries, but really the way what we want this. We started off as a French organization, we're now a European association. European with the odd Australian thing yeah yeah so that's that's that's our really our aim for the future to become an intercontinental association but if it's all over the world if it was your call would you start with with the asia-pacific region would you go very deep asia would you go latin america or the us there's so many great opportunities to go everything and maybe it depends also on personal preferences. I like South Africa and what they do there. South America is also amazing but we also have some requests from the US. So we have to see what the future brings. Maybe a fourth pillar on the way for you to make money would be to get really rich people to travel with you when you're checking out restaurants. That could be nice, yeah. I think people would love to join us on checking out restaurants. On a trip to South Africa to check restaurants out. Yeah, that's amazing. That sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. That could be one of our priceless projects with MasterCard. Yeah, so I would be willing to give you that idea for free, meaning if you invite us, so it's not really for free. But yeah, jokes aside, it's been a pleasure, Hans. Yes, thank you very much. And thank you very much for the time. And we are looking forward to getting you in Bulgaria to check out the rest of the scene and to see how that develops after the initial four get in. And speaking as a Bulgarian born and bred in Bulgaria, it is amazing that finally quality is being awarded. It's not it's not just, yes, there is a restaurant, but it's the stamp of approval of someone who cares. And that is a major milestone and I'm happy that GRE is the one facilitating that and making that. Yeah, but the thing is that I absolutely agree with you on that. The hope is that we have to do it together and I hope we'll get also the support from the Board of Tourism in your country, that that they also understand that part and that that could be the right direction also for Bulgaria becoming a culinary destination as now today is Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, all these countries. So that would be my dream. I think every Bulgarian will understand the double meaning of me wishing good luck with the Board of Tourism. I understood that already. It's going to be a tough one. They contacted me a couple of weeks ago again, so we'll see. I'm very optimistic with some processes, not all processes, but it seems like this one has brought fruition. It's a challenge, I understand. That was the news for this year, and we're waiting for the 24th to become a super reactor. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) [SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Yes, if there is a volunteer to call us, but maybe it's time to do it. I hope that now, if we say that we came back after the holidays, because there was a little gap to rest, a little without episodes, and now that we are back to a normal rhythm, I hope that we will jump to the moon and that we will have a conversation with them. But there, it's a matter of time. Before that, on the first of September we will visit Silivriac, or how exactly? - Silivriac. Silivriac, every time. - Silivriac. We will visit Silivriac, the so called Maria Zhekova in Rudopi. - The potato ranch. - Which continues to look fantastically good. We know from her how she takes care of the food, what is her attitude towards the products she uses and so on. [SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the first of September. We will report from there. We will reach the Moon in one day. But maybe the only way to reach the Moon is to give us a lot of money. You can give us a lot of money by visiting www. govorit. internet. com. You can also send us a message, we love you a lot. info@droptyrechili. com again, and as we are on all social media, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, somewhere we are passive, somewhere we are super active. Thank you for being together for a while, and again, let's say it in our language, the fact that things are happening in Bulgaria at a global level is fantastic, fantastic and that at one point we emancipate ourselves and we don't just say, "Okay, let it be. " And it's very nice on the outside, but here to make it more or less something to happen. And suddenly we say, "Let's jump. " It's fantastic and I'm very happy that we live in those times. See you later! (upbeat music) (upbeat music)