Jeroen Tanis knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a chef. He didn’t care much for school. “In class, my concentration was on a lot of things, except for the teacher.” His father was a chef and as a little boy he was occasionally allowed to look into his kitchen. Jeroen soon realized that he wanted that too and that he wanted to be better than his father.
Jeroen and Sanne’s restaurant is named after Dr. Johann Mezger, the founder of modern physiotherapy. He had his villa Irma built on the site of the restaurant in Domburg in the 19th century. In his practice, ordinary people from Zeeland were just as welcome as dignified people. “That is also the case with us,” says Tanis.
Anyone who comes to eat in his and his wife Sanne’s restaurant will be treated to a full evening’s program. “We only serve five to eight course menus and then people dine for three to five hours.”
Tanis and his team pay a lot of attention to the composition and presentation of the dishes. “A large part of the ingredients come from Zeeland, but you can’t get everything from your own region. Langoustine, for example, we don’t have that here.” He also likes to work with umami, an Eastern flavor enhancer.
Restaurant Mezger has a mention in the Michelin guide, but no star. A star is not his main goal, but “it would be the best recognition for me and my team for the hard work”.
