‘Jeroen Pauw’, De Pauw who strolled the terrace of restaurant Het Hooihuis in Roosendaal for eighteen years, died. The animal leaves an unforgettable impression with the staff and guests. “Sometimes he just picked the mussels out of the pan.”
Jeroen belonged to the hay house from the moment one. “We took him from a farmer when we started the restaurant,” says Luuk de Man, co-owner of the Hooihuis. “We thought it would be nice when a peacock was walking around on the large terrace.”
Frietje scoring
The animal got food every morning, and therefore kept faithful to the garden. But he knew more could be gained. “At the start of the season he was always a bit shy, but later in the season he became tamer. Then he stood next to a table and we had to chase him away. He always knew that there was still a fries or piece of bread to score somewhere. Sometimes he just picked the mussels out of the pan.”
Jeroen was not to be missed on a full terrace. “If he was in his place in the tree, he regularly heard that well -known peacock sound. The whole terrace had to laugh.”
Jeroen Bumps Wine from the table
Occasionally the peacock with his tail accidentally wiped a glass of wine from the table. “More of those things happened,” the man says. “Once there was a dog under a table. He saw Jeroen, he went after it, but was still stuck with his belt. The table went along. Fortunately Jeroen always managed to escape.”
Every now and then he made a trip. “Then we were called by companies in the area:” He is here in the parking lot! ” But he always came back to his own place. “
Mascot
Jeroen grew into a kind of mascot. “Or a gimmick,” the man laughs. “Of course we called him playfully ‘Jeroen’ so that it became ‘Jeroen Pauw’. We regularly posted something about him on social media and our newsletter was ‘signed’ by him. That is how it started to lead a bit of a life of his own.”
The guests are going to miss him, the man already notices. “Many guests tell how bad they find it. On social media a lot of photos of Jeroen are shared.”
On Facebook it rains reactions to the news. Hundreds of people respond to the death of De Pauw. “After eighteen years of chatter, a large ego and small wings he flew. Hello Jeroen, the Hooihuis is quiet without you,” writes Tamara. And Lisanne says: “Sad news. He has definitely had a beautiful peacock life with you.”