XpBonaire IslandLife Feature Story
At the end of November, 2019, Stadscafe het Consulaat, a grand café style restaurant opened its doors. Located in the heart of Kralendijk at Kaya L.D. Gerharts 9, opposite Exito, het Consulaat is housed in a traditional Antillean building surrounded by old tropical trees which gives the location a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Jeroen van de Boom became the proud owner of the location in March, 2019. A veteran in the hospitality industry as the previous co-owner of several restaurants in the Netherlands, his favorite activity is to create a concept that fits a location and then successfully put those ideas into practice.
Jeroen was born in Congo, Central Africa and traveled the world with his missionary parents at an early age. At age 6, he moved with his family to the Netherlands. During his art academy studies in Belgium, he entered the hospitality industry and never left. At only 24 years of age, he opened his first small restaurant with his friend and business companion and this was followed by several more to come in the future.
Return to the Palm Tree
Jeroen always wished to migrate to another place. When he was introduced to Bonaire in 2015, he fell in love with island. As he stated, “ I was born under a palm tree and I want to grow old under a palm tree!” As a sailor and windsurfer, Bonaire seemed to be the perfect place. After a tough 2 years in the Netherlands, Jeroen decided it was time to move.
Even though he planned to start a restaurant on Bonaire, he took his time to get to know the island and its people before making a choice on the location. At last he found the down town location that inspired him immediately.
Het Consulaat
After some setbacks in the construction phase, het Consulaat was ready to open its doors at the end of November, 2019. From the moment you step into the tropical garden setting with its rustic grand café interior, you feel the welcoming atmosphere. Its open kitchen and center point bar always gives you something interesting to watch and smell.
Successful start
Still not completely finished, the outside garden area was enthusiastically appreciated by this guest. The food selection and preparation stands out and the price range gives many people the opportunity to give it a try. The shared dining concept with smaller portions lets you taste a variety of dishes. The selection on the food and wine menu gives you a choice to make your dinner as exclusive as you wish, or exactly the opposite with menu items ranging from mom’s meatball, fried bar snacks to goose liver, oysters and duck.
Covid-19 on Bonaire
…. And then Covid 19 came to Bonaire. A tough time for most of us and, as you can imagine, especially hard for a business still in its start- up phase. Jeroen and his team closed the doors for 7 weeks to reopen again in May.
Understanding the need to still have some social interaction and a change in surroundings combined with a good meal and drink, Jeroen and his team have created a menu that gives you more affordable options including a $10 daily special, new creations using what is locally available, more vegetarian options, big size salads and delicious soups to name just a few. The same applies for the drinks. From a tap beer for $2 or a glass of wine for $3.50 to an exclusive bottle of wine, it is up to you to create your night out.
Right now Het Consulaat is open Thursday to Saturday night, starting at 4 pm. The is kitchen open 5pm to 10 pm. Taking the social distancing into account, it is advised to make a reservation. Opening hours and days will expand as soon as it is safe and possible.
What’s to come?
Of course there is more planned for the future. The inside of the house will become home to a second bar, a lounge corner and whiskey lockers for the future whiskey club now being planned.
The menu will be consistently updated and special items will be back the moment flights return bringing fresh produce.
An air conditioned conference/meeting room will give up to 14 people space to have a meeting while enjoying good service and delicious food and drinks.
In the future het Consulaat will be open all day, opening at 10 am until around 11 pm at night.
NOTE : Menu and opening hours will be changing as island circumstances change, please check on Facebook, Stadscafe Het Consulaat for updates.
INFO
Het Consulaat
Kaya L.D. Gerharts 9
Open thu- sat 4 pm – 11 pm
Kitchen 5 pm – 10 pm
Phone + 599 700 5820
