Philosophy - Origins

After having finished his hotel studies in Luzern, Switzerland, back in the 1970s, Freddy Berends decided to return to his native island Curacao. Being an passionate lover of the French-Swiss cuisine, he dreamed of running his own bistro on the island. Having grown up in the area of Otrabanda, he had always been fascinated by the Rif Fort. At that moment the Rif Fort, which had lost its military function since 1928, was an abandoned and neglected place, inhabited only by vagrants (clochards in French).

But Freddy Berends had a vision of what lay ahead for this fortress and decided to settle his bistro in two of the former vaulted bunkers, that had formerly served as military barracks. It was in this rough, historic setting, that Freddy welcomed his first guests, in May 1978.

The clochards found their refuge elsewhere and other businesses also ventured to settle in the Rif Fort. The bistro proved a success, as one of the few places on the island, offering authentic European dishes of a gourmet quality. Quite soon an expansion was needed in order to increase its original capacity of 35 chairs. By adding the stübli (Swiss for living-room) and the rain cistern, literally one of the former rain cisterns, the restaurant's capacity was augmented with 50 chairs.

After a few years, a new extension was realized, in the form of an outside seaside terrace: the place to enjoy a magnificent view of the harbor and marvel at the size of the ships, entering the bay. The most recent expansion was the construction of the serre or indoor garden, connecting the restaurant with the rest of the Rif Fort center.