Elroy Krijnen

I did not grow up in a kitchen. I trained as an electronics engineer and then studied communication and multimedia design. Cooking was something I did at home, mostly for my housemates. They kept telling me to do something with it, and at some point I listened.

I followed an accelerated chef's training in the Netherlands, which ended with an internship in a gastronomic restaurant. Breda had only one starred kitchen at the time. Antwerp had many more, so I went there for my internship, moved to the city and stayed.

Most of my experience comes from Fine Fleur, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Antwerp's Botanic Sanctuary, where I still cook. That kitchen taught me precision, pace and how much a single component can carry.

It is also where I met Gaetano Volpicelli, the sommelier who now chooses the wines for my evenings.

Alongside Fine Fleur I started cooking private dinners under my own name. The first editions ran from my home kitchen, until I built a studio for it. Since October 2025 the chef's table takes place at the Chef's Island x Miele Studio near Antwerp: eight to ten guests around one kitchen island, every course cooked and plated in front of them.

The menu is written for each edition and never served the same way again.

Refined, creative and seasonal. I look for balance and contrast, pure flavours and modern technique, and I keep it restrained: every component on the plate has a purpose, or it does not go on.

This autumn Gaetano and I take part in Mijn Restaurant on VTM, running a restaurant of our own in Mechelen for the show. From 6 October on VTM and VTM GO.