Benny Blisto

Benny Blisto is the chef and co-founder of restaurant BAK in Amsterdam. In his kitchen the menu follows the rhythm of the seasons, built on long-term relationships with farmers, fishermen and growers.

Cooking with the Seasons

"Our menu is always led by the seasons. When the water is cold, shellfish are at their best. Spring is the moment for the first greens. Summer brings abundance, sometimes almost too much at once. Autumn is my favourite season — mushrooms, root vegetables, game."

"Most of our ingredients come from people we've worked with for years — fishermen, farmers, growers. They call me when something is good, and that's how we build the menu. Without those relationships the restaurant wouldn't exist."

"I don't believe in shouting in the kitchen. It's a sign of weakness, of not being able to control one's emotions. I want the kitchen to be a place where people can be open and honest with each other, without it turning toxic. At BAK we set the bar high but never at the expense of people. But it's definitely been a learning process."

"The only way to improve as a home cook is through repetition. Cooking dishes again and again, then next time changing one detail. Throwing something unexpected in, experimenting. I learned the most from working with people who were better than me. I still use cookbooks, not to follow recipes exactly, but for ideas. On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox is one that I keep coming back to."

Building BAK

"People may be surprised to learn that at home I cook in bulk, for two or three days at a time. It's just easier, because I have a young son and as parents know, there's a 2-hour window where everything needs to happen: dinner, bathtime, bedtime story. Also it's cheaper, because you can use up a lot of ingredients at once."

"My co-founders and I started BAK more or less by accident. At the time the food culture in Amsterdam felt a bit stale. You basically had two options: a simple eetcafé serving uninspired food, or very expensive fine dining. In Paris you already had the bistronomy movement: young chefs taking over old cafés and cooking ambitious menus with modern techniques for around 50 euros. That vibe was missing here. We had no money, so we organised pop-ups in friends' restaurants, serving three courses for 25 euros."

"It took off immediately. Within half a year Het Parool gave us a great review, and suddenly people were coming in with high expectations. We had to professionalize quickly."

"Music is essential in the kitchen. At the moment I listen to a lot of Fela Kuti, because it's getting colder outside and his music makes it feel like summer. Nick Cave is one of my all-time favourite artists. I got to cook for him recently and it was definitely one of the highlights of my career."