Liset Sieben (34) is getting too much. Tuesday is only halfway through, but she has been receiving calls and texts all day after she wrote on social media on Monday evening to stop restaurant De Nachtwacht in Meppel. “It’s hard for me to come up with words right now, sorry,” she responds emotionally.
Together with Caspar Hermeler (48) she ran the restaurant for nineteen years. Lately she’s been on her own. Hermeler can no longer work fully in the hospitality industry due to medical reasons. In 2015, he suffered a ruptured aorta. “My chances of survival weren’t that great.” Loeys-Dietz syndrome was diagnosed, a connective tissue disorder.
Now his health is good again. Last year, Hermeler got a new hip, after having to wait a year and a half for it because of corona. But day in and day out, working in the restaurant like he always did, he can’t do that anymore. As much as he would like it. “I can’t do what I used to do here anymore.”
It is now Wednesday, a day later. The phone was able to recover for a night from all the beeping of messages and ringing of phone calls. Hermeler sits quietly at the table. He does the story.
“In terms of feeling, it’s a tough decision, but business wise it wasn’t that hard. Now is the time to stop,” says Hermeler. “The restaurant is doing well. That is why people have already reported to take over the business. Hopefully we can pass the baton on.”
The reason for closing the restaurant is not just Hermeler’s health. The shortage of personnel also plays a role. Finding new people turns out to be difficult. “Liset can’t keep all the balls up. The place is too big for that. I always did the kitchen, Liset was at the front. She is a great hostess.”
Sieben approaches and takes a seat at the table. Before she sits down, she spots two empty cups on the table. “Would you like another coffee?” she asks. Hermeler nods and looks as if to say: ‘that’s what I mean’.
The two breathe The Night Watch. Nineteen years ago they took over the restaurant. “It had carpeting in it, it still had a small bar,” says Sieben. She takes out her smartphone. “I do have pictures of what it was like.” She swipes through the photos. “On our computer we have a lot more.” She beams when she sees all those pictures. “Seeing this like this makes me emotional again.”
Hermeler and Sieben met each other through The Night Watch, nineteen years ago, when they started the adventure together. “We have a beautiful son together, live together and have set up a wonderful company,” says Sieben. “You could say that our whole life was created by The Night Watch.”
A silence follows. Sieben continues: “What has been our highlight? That is difficult.” Hermeler knows: “Look around you. That’s just what I’m most proud of. That we’ve set it up as it is now. We’ve become a household name in the region, and we’ve created that beautifully together.”
Hermeler also points to the bar. “That’s one of the first things we changed. We turned it into a meeting bar.” Sieben immediately comes to a climax: “All our guests. Dear guests, beautiful guests, friendly guests. The regular guests at the bar have become our friends.”
The restaurant, which got a large terrace in front of the door instead of a parking lot with the change of the Groenmarkt last year, will be open for another six days; only during the upcoming Thursday Meppel Days. Sieben: “We’re still going to run, but we’re going to get everything out of it.”
Hermeler will continue with the company he set up in corona time, a wholesaler of catering equipment. “I’m looking for a new adventure,” says Sieben. “We are positive about it. New doors will open for us. And we are very happy to pass on the baton.”