In 1990, Jan Theunissen took over De Oolderhof, back then a simple restaurant on a farm, from his parents. Jan and his wife Rosalie believed that the tavern in Ool near Roermond had the potential to be more than just a country pub where you could get a bite to eat. And so, the farmstead originally from 1913 underwent renovations for the next few years. Today, De Oolderhof is a culinary hub on the Meuse, featuring a bar, a brasserie, an à-la-carte restaurant, eight meeting rooms, a conference centre, a hotel with 29 suites and – in the summer – a beach club.
The catering business’ success can in part be traced back to Jan’s culinary vision: ‘Using as many pure, organic products from the region as possible. We work exclusively with top suppliers that provide us with honest domestic products. This allows our kitchen to meet the challenges of a different offer each day virtually down to the minute. In short: Pure, fresh, honest and on top of that, surprisingly tasty. The pork comes from free-range pigs from the Belgian Ardennes, where the animals are traditionally bred by a small business. What’s unique about these pigs is their feed: 100 percent plant-based, a difference you can taste. We don’t use any broilers, just free-range chicken. Our steaks aren’t imported from Argentina – they come from cows grazing on fields in Linne. And we use the whole animal, including its bones, which help us make very tasty sauces. It’s just like the old days on the farm. The trick is not to throw anything away.’ Fine dining was always a huge passion of Jan’s. Successor Juul Thelen is carrying on his legacy at the Oolderhof
As the brasserie opened in 2017, it was this pursuit of a high culinary level that brought Marcel Neuray of MN Gastroservice to recommend his customer M-iClean UM+ glasswashers. ‘I knew exactly what they needed. The M-iClean U series from MEIKO is the absolute top of the line in its class of dishwashing machines – and truly reflects what De Oolderhof stands for. Quality, durability, efficiency, convenience,’ emphasizes Marcel. One year later, the establishment needed a new glasswasher behind the bar. Juul Theelen explains, ‘We only had one wish, and that was to have the same machine in the brasserie.’ And so they once again opted for a M-iClean U from meiko.
"As the proprietor, I work all over the place. I serve at parties, the restaurant, the brasserie and even behind the bar. Of course, it’s a huge plus when the dishwashers are easy to use. And that they are. They really have a lot going for them and are even easy and straight-forward to clean; all the blue parts can simply be removed. We work with a lot of trainees, and they have to be able to use the dishwashing machines too. I only have to show them once and that’s all it takes.
"Another major advantage is that we no longer have to do any polishing"
which saves us a great deal of time and polishing cloths. I myself had a small restaurant and used to take the cloths home with me each night. You see, polishing cloths can’t be washed with normal laundry – they have to be done separately. That’s pretty much impossible here. Luckily, we have professional dishwashing machines from MEIKO at De Oolderhof," says Juul, satisfied.
