Meet Chefs Joonatan Kakkuri and Marie-Sophie Martens

Joonatan Kakkuri's culinary experience started in Helsinki, Finland, and Marie-Sophie Martens who began her culinary studies abroad, later relocated to Helsinki to continue her path in the professional kitchen. Now you can find both of them together in Den Haag, Netherlands.

Joonatan has a culinary degree from Perho and he has been in Finland’s Bocuse d’Or team as a junior assistant. Soon after his graduation, he honed his skills in a Michelin starred restaurant Grön. His experience in Grön formed the roots for his clean, diverse and creative cooking.

Before her time in Finland, Marie-Sophie was already pursuing her studies at Hotelschool The Hague. It is one of the top ten schools in the hospitality industry in the world. Her journey took a significant turn when she moved to Helsinki for a portion of her first year, integrating practical experience with her academic pursuits. She interned at Grön, where she first crossed paths with Joonatan, and then shifted to work at the 2 Michelin starred restaurant Palace, significantly deepening her fine dining experience. After her time in Finland, she returned to Netherlands to continue her studies, equipped with a deeper understanding and passion for cooking and hospitality. Joonatan joined her and is now working in Restaurant Bøg.

Joonatan and Marie-Sophie’s dream is to travel around the world, serve food to people everywhere and build on top of their food philosophy, which brings people together by transforming ingredients into a range of dishes that show their heritage, the diversity of nature through what it has to offer. They like to keep their style simple yet refined, creative and unexpected.