His father was a chef and wine expert, his grandfather and uncle were pastry chefs and even as a six-year-old, he used to make fondue sauces and other culinary delights. You could say he was born to be a chef. At the age of 17, Stefan enrolled at the hotel school De Rooi Pannen in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Upon arrival, he was immediately sent home to swap his Nike trainers for more formal shoes.

"At the time, I thought that was ridiculous, but I soon saw the value of the school's strict etiquette. It taught you to take your profession seriously. I completed my traineeship at the catering company Maison De Boer. I always believed that to be truly great, you have to be able to improvise. And if you work at a place where something's always going wrong or something's always missing, you learn to improvise very quickly. I continued working there after my traineeship. My love for cooking intensified, and in 1992, I went to work for two-star chef Cas Spijkers. There, Cas and I discovered that I had a real knack for cooking and I became a full fledged chef."

"I still remember the time I overboiled 40 crates of asparagus – which the whole team had peeled – after nipping out for a smoke. My colleagues had already given me hell by the time Cas walked in. I thought 'now I'm really in trouble!' But he simply said 'no problem, we'll just make asparagus purée instead!' I'll never forget that. Not only his kindness, but also his amazing creativity. In 1994, Cas found me a job with his old boss at Restaurant 't Jagershuis in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. Soon after, Ron Blaauw was hired. He was such a brilliant chef. At this point, I realized I was going to be one of the big guys..."

"In 1999, Ron set up his own restaurant and appointed me as chef de cuisine. That was a huge token of respect and faith considering my relative lack of experience, although chef experience does count double. In 2005, we were awarded two stars, leaping straight from zero to two! By 2007, I was ready to go it alone. Together with Robbert Veuger, I set up Restaurant Aan de Poel, and in 2012, we were again awarded two stars! So I've got quite the knack for going from 0 to 2. When you don't have any stars, you tell yourself it doesn't matter, but that's just insecurity talking. Once you finally get it, it's such an enormous accolade and it shakes your whole world. It's a weird job in this respect. Every day, I'm flooded with compliments. Ordinary people don't get that in their job. But you must never let it go to your head. I'm now carefully setting out a strategy to gain a third Michelin star. We make 100 dishes per day, and in my eyes, they're between 92 and 95% perfect. To gain a third star, that needs to increase to between 98 and 100%. It's incredibly tough to get those last few percentage points, but what a rush it'll be if we do!"

My signature is a fresh umami flavor that is harmonious, feminine, and not too heavy. To achieve this, I avoid using too much cream, fat and carbohydrates, which also reflects modern views on healthy eating. My ambition is to present an entirely new six-course menu every four weeks - a challenge that's almost impossible to achieve. The menu has to tell a story in which every course is a chapter that guides you to the next. I recently received many compliments for one particular dish. It almost made me angry. In the kitchen I exclaimed ‘something's not right: what's wrong with the other dishes?’"

"I've worn Chaud Devant clothing ever since they started as it's important to stay both up-to-date and safe. You are also given a say as to how the clothes are made, although I suspect they're sick of hearing from me by now. For example, I didn't want a chest pocket with my logo on it, because they start to sag after a while. I let them know and they adjusted it for me. I also asked them for skinny jeans, which are now on the market. And if you're going to wear skinny jeans, you have to have stylish shoes, so they recently invited me and other chefs to try out their new prototype trainers. In short, Chaud Devant's ambition is exactly the same as mine: to ensure satisfied customers. That's our ultimate goal."