My name is Monif. I am the Chef/Owner of Boudoir le Mariage and I want to dedicate this section to talk about me, on how I became a Chef and how did I end up in The Netherlands doing what I love.

It is important to get to know each other. Specially these days when transparency, backgrounds and safety are so important. People should know who is cooking for them.

I was brought to this world by a Spanish mother and a Lebanese father and therefore it was already a fact that diversity ran through my veins. I spent 3 quarters of my life between Venezuela, USA, Lebanon, and Spain. In my house there was always exceptionally good food. Whether it was breakfast or dinner, any meal of the day was important. In general, it always had to be rich in flavour, fresh and dedicated. I officially started cooking behind a commercial kitchen in 1993 in Venezuela in a Lebanese restaurant and it was thanks to my father who supported me financially to undertake this project that would become the first step of my career as a Chef.

Over 10 years, we managed to open 4 more restaurants in different locations and different concepts. The market in America was more aggressive and allowed risky investments since the return and demand were tangible. So, while my father invested and negotiated, I cooked, cooked, and cooked. Which I appreciate, since 80% of my life was cooking and learning to begin to develop the ability of transforming food into the flavours that I previously established in my mind.