Cooking has been his passion from an early age

Marco Poldervaart took over De Gastronoom in Harlingen from his parents in 1996 and made it one of the best restaurants in Friesland with a place in the top hundred of Lekker. He previously worked at De Wilgenhoeve in Drachten, De Mulderij in Leeuwarden, De Waag in Leeuwarden and the Oranjehotel, also in Leeuwarden. Since the summer of 2011, he was patron-cuisinier in Aalst, Gelderland. Right on the Maas, he ran De Fuik together with his wife. In the autumn of 2012 he opened ’t Havermantsje in Harlingen, where he appointed Ivo van der Molen as head chef. The number of prizes that Poldervaart has won in his career is almost infinite. He won, among other things, the Golden Chef’s Hat in 2007.