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It was a big loss for Schaijk when the restaurant Nieuw Schaijk caught fire in May. This completely changed the life of co-owner Johan Tielemans. He was determined the day after the fire: “We’re starting again, I’m convinced,” he said then. Now, seven months later, plans for a new restaurant are almost ready.
Johan is sitting at a table in his parents’ house. Together with them he owns Nieuw Schaijk. The table is full of construction plans and architect’s sketches. He talks enthusiastically about better routings through the restaurant, more intimate spots and how he considers whether or not to increase a passage by one meter. “The restaurant is completely up to date again,” says Johan. “It really means starting over and doing what we want.”
“What is most unique is the patio,” continues the caterer. An exterior space as the center of the building. “With 13 tons of glass on it. It’s like the Amsterdam ArenA that you can open. To make people really feel that it is an outdoor space.
“The past seven months have been trial and error.”
On the night of May 14 to 15, things went wrong. A big fire destroyed the entire restaurant on Rijksweg. “I closed this evening myself”, explains Johan. “No one is responsible for the fire. It’s a nice feeling. But tonight is just awful. There were already advanced plans to renovate the old building. Everything changed overnight.”
And so Johan is suddenly no longer a restoration contractor, but is mainly occupied with the new building plans. “The last seven months have been trial and error. You’ve always had a great full-time job. It changes from day to day,” says Johan. “You go from catering operator to project developer.”
“I look forward to the day when I can become a hotel entrepreneur again”
“You don’t know where to start at first,” he continues. Rebuilding Nieuw Schaijk was the plan after the fire from the first moment. “The first piece of advice was to find an architect as soon as possible. We’ve been talking a lot lately. With suppliers, construction companies, architects and kitchen suppliers.
Soon what remains of the old Nieuw Schaijk will be demolished. The new restaurant is expected to be ready by the end of 2023 or the first quarter of 2024. “I look forward to the day when I can be a hotel entrepreneur again,” says Johan. “Then you feel that no matter how unstructured such a life may seem, you get a lot of structure back.”
But Johan first goes to New Zealand with his wife and three children for two months. “We have this opportunity now.”
READ ALSO: The family wants to rebuild the burnt restaurant Nieuw Schaijk as soon as possible
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