De Gertruda Hoeve: The Stench Of Unappeasement!

Recently, I have been thinking about a little restaurant in the Dutch town of Son en Breugel that I worked for whilst undercover. The restaurant is called ‘De Gertruda Hoeve’ (The Gertruda Homestead) the restaurant is known for their use of local produce and is popular with the extravagance of Dutch cuisine with a French twist and awful taste. The restaurant has made some changes since I was last there in the winter of 2009

It all started when rumours had hit the hospitality and management industry about a little restaurant called de Gertruda Hoeve which was said to employ new staff members and belittle as well as degrade them publicly. I was given a small task to do some investigating since I literally lived in the town of Son en Breugel. At the time I was a stubborn 19 year old student enjoying the stages of being ‘green in judgement’ and always knowing best and being right.

I remember my first encounter with Evert Thielen, the owner and head chef of De Gertruda Hoeve, whilst on the telephone, he had a soft briskly voice and sounded like a charming and reasonable man. I managed to make an appointment seeking a part-time job as a waiter. It was on that very same day after I told him that I lived in the same town that he urged me to come to the restaurant immediately. I just about managed to put on something sensible to wear. It was a very cold day, so I put on my grey coat, scarf and gloves. I got onto my bicycle and cycled steadily towards the restaurant just two roads away from my house. As I parked my bicycle and approached the main door of the restaurant I thought how homely the restaurant looked. Outside, was his wife Marlies washing windows, she is the head waitress of the restaurant. “Good morning” she said with a stern voice “Good morning” I replied with a slight grin, she opened the door and guided me in.

Inside, the empty restaurant was dark and gloomy and had this very musky smell to the place, a smell I would in time become prone to but will never forget. There was an unlit fireplace facing west of the bar and restaurant area, in front of the fireplace was a small seating area where I was told to wait for Mr.Thielen. As he approached, I immediately stood up and introduced myself and likewise vice-versa. Evert was a very stocky man who obviously enjoyed his food; he had the biggest and shiniest bald head I’d ever seen and was dressed in his usual white chef’s uniform and very proud of himself.

After our talks, Mr.Thielen came to a conclusion on his part alone, this being that I would be employed full-time as well as weekends. I didn’t like the idea but I accepted. He noticed that, despite my appearance, that I wasn’t the average foreigner in the Netherlands to the over-populating Moroccans and Turks. I think that I was the first and only South African to work at de Gertruda Hoeve. My first shift would be that evening, Mr.Thielen told me to wear something nice but not to arrive over-dressed reminding me that after all, I am just a waiter.

That evening I freshened up very well and put on my ‘smart’ working clothes (pleated trousers and waist-coat) and was all set to go. When I arrived, I was told to always enter from the back entrance from now on. I accepted and went in; Mrs.Thielen gave me a full tour of the restaurant and told me what my job was and what I needed to do. As I went into the kitchen, I greeted Mr. Thielen and the first thing he said was “good grief boy, you reek” I was so stunned, I didn’t know what to say, so I just shrugged. I was shortly introduced to the under-chef and a chef-in-training, a teenager around my age, I never got to know his name but it was this kid who would truly get on my nerves when the reality of rumours would come to life.

My first night at de Gertruda Hoeve went well, I didn’t like the atmosphere but I wasn’t going to allow that change my mood. After a hard night’s work, I managed to have the silver polished and ready for the next day; the dishes and glasses had all been washed and put away. I decided to help clean up behind the bar and it was at this time that Mr.Thielen decided that he was finished in the kitchen along with the chef-in-training; the under-chef was of course still in the kitchen washing the rest of the used pots. Both Thielen and that kid sat at the bar and ordered drinks and refreshments, he specifically ordered five bowls of nuts and five different drinks, I asked him to repeat his order as he was a very fast speaker, he gave me this diminishing look and said. “What are you disturbed? Don’t you understand? You’re useless, I said I want five (mockingly gestures five fingers as the kid laughs out loudly) bowls of nuts, two beers, one glass of chardonnay, a glass of rose for Marlies and what do you want?” I nodded my head. “Coming right up, and I don’t want anything to drink thank you.”  After I served them their drinks and refreshments and declining a beverage myself, Mr.Thielen said I could go home, I yawned and went upstairs to get my coat, scarf and gloves and off I went home.

The next two weeks would become a drastic endurance that I would come to hate. Mr. Thielen didn’t like it when I mentioned anything overachieving when it came to my studies or personal well-being, most of the time his vicious character spelt out ‘I am someone, you are no one’ caused many who worked for him to dislike him including a fellow college friend, Thielen had grown fond of him.

Before Christmas of that year I missed one of my shifts at de Gertruda Hoeve as I was expected to be at the South African Embassy in The Hague, I was applying for a new passport as it was my intention to return back to South Africa the following year. As the day was drawing to a close I new that I would only be returning home late in the afternoon which descended into early evening due to the traffic, I didn’t know what to do, so like a lame old sod, I asked my mother to telephone Mrs.Thielen and tell her that I won’t be able to make it to work. I wasn’t able to bear the response if I was to speak to ‘them’ personally.

The next day I returned to work only to find that I was ignored by Mr. Thielen, again his usual comments would be “Boy, you stink” with gales of laughter from that pathetic kid of whom I despised of. Mrs. Thielen gave me my evening routine. That night would become a storm for the establishment. I was actually liked by diners as well as a group of foreign business men and women who addressed me in English and since the English is my mother tongue, I was able to address them in a profoundly high English manner which was welcomed on their part. Mr.Thielen didn’t like this relationship as he only spoke French and Dutch of course, it was Mrs.Thielen who took on the responsibility of speaking English when it came to tourists who dined at the restaurant.  During the evening, Mrs.Thielen told me to attend to a table and observe as Mr.Thielen was to prepare his famous Liquor Sabayon at the table. As I observed he raised a brow and growled angrily under his breath. “Get back to work!”  I didn’t bother explaining why I was observing despite the fact that Marlies told me to do so; I immediately departed from the dining area. The same thing would occur when she told me to observe how the prawns were being prepared in the kitchen. “What? Don’t just stand there get out of my kitchen and do your job!” This time I said out loudly “Marlies told me to observe the making of the prawns” – I don’t care, GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!” he shouted. I couldn’t bear this kind of attitude, let alone abuse any longer. That evening I cycled home quietly thinking about how this ridiculous restaurant treats and humiliates its staff. It was late into the night or early morning as it was, I was completely exhausted. As I arrived home, the house was completely dark and everyone was asleep. I went into the kitchen to find my dinner wrapped up and neatly presented on my mother’s best china, I thought ‘Now this is restaurant quality, Ha!’ After enjoying the meal, however cold, I went upstairs to my study with a cup of hot cocoa and recorded the day’s events in my journal, after which I crashed on my bed and went straight to sleep.

The next morning I received a telephone call from guess who? Yep, Mr.Thielen, he told me to come to the restaurant immediately to bring some papers that needed to be signed. When I arrived, the kitchen was full of people, most likely friends of Evert and Marlies, they were testing dishes of course and as I entered the kitchen he looked at me, snatched the papers out of my hand and said very loudly in front of everyone. “God forbid, you reek bad kid!” I was then led into his little dusty office where he signed the papers with his cheap but ‘expensive looking’ pen, he told me to leave out the backdoor as he didn’t want me upsetting the people testing the dishes. At that moment he left the room and I took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. I disobeyed his command and went through the door I entered, and of course he noticed but I didn’t care. As I stepped outside I told myself that I will never return to this wretched place again for it was a working place of deceit and terror. The rumours had proven to be true and unlike many, I wasn’t going to tolerate it. I left the restaurant without notice and never went back ever again. No human-being is fit to work there under Thielen’s standards. I reported his aggressive behaviour towards me but it went unnoticed. As of that moment I vowed that if I was ever be treated in such a manner again, irrespective of whom you are and what you do, I will always be prepared to stand my ground.

All my life I have been taught to have and show respect to others, and like an aristocratic gentleman should, I have shown nothing but decent kindness to everyone and I will continue to exercise this small duty that costs so little. As a reference, de Gertruda Hoeve is not a place of interest in my mind, the food is horrible, the owners are disgraceful and terribly rude and the restaurant itself is a deceiving picture of tranquillity and a countryside heaven.