Four months after the fire at the Tante Pietje restaurant in Den Bosch, owner Kees Lankhaar reopens its doors. “Relief, joy and pride”, he describes his feeling on Monday. “It was very sour, because this restaurant feels like my baby. But because of this I was able to make it my Aunt Pietje.”
On Monday morning at half past six, Kees was already busy setting up his terrace in an empty Korte Putstraat. “I was counting down every hour. This morning I couldn’t sleep from the excitement and joy, so I went to the restaurant.”
Actually, Kees was already ready to reopen Aunt Pietje on Friday. But he decided to wait two more days. “Many regular guests, including well-known athletes and artists, have made reservations tonight. They want to be the first to eat in our renovated restaurant again, so I didn’t want to disappoint them by opening earlier,” he says. “Those last days could also be added.”
“I got the chance to make it my Aunt Pietje.”
Back to the night of February 2 to 3. A fire broke out in a storage room, with major consequences for the restaurant. “I have several restaurants, but Tante Pietje is really my baby. I remember thinking that night: ‘Shit, why did a fire break out here.’”
There was a lot of damage due to the fire, but Kees immediately wanted to press ahead and freshen up his restaurant. “I took over about twenty years ago and now I got the chance to make it ‘my’ Aunt Pietje”, he says. “I have kept the same as much as possible, because I wanted to keep that living room feeling. It has been improved on details, but most guests probably don’t see much of that. I do that for myself.”
A lot of work has been done in the case in recent months. The intention was to open on August 1, but the resident of Bossche did everything he could to push that date forward. “I was in the restaurant every morning around five o’clock. To see if the workmen were already there. And I checked if they were working. I really chased them,” he says with a laugh.
“It was painful to miss Carnival.”
Kees was there every day from the fire until the opening on Monday. Except the week of carnival. “During carnival I really knew what I had to miss. I didn’t want to see how busy it was in the Korte Put or at the neighbors, because that was too painful,” says the owner. And then it was closed all spring. “Together with the carnival, that is the nicest and busiest period. The fire came at the most inopportune moment.”
The lost income was not his main concern. “I wanted nothing more than to receive guests. Even if I didn’t make a profit all year, Aunt Pietje would still remain open. It’s the love and passion I have for this business,” says Kees.
“I am glad that I am now open again. It will be very busy in the coming period, I will certainly enjoy that. Because since the fire I realize that I have not done that enough in recent years.”
READ ALSO: Enormous damage in restaurant Tante Pietje after fire: ‘No carnival for us’
