pim’s potatoes

A well-known product from Dutch soil: the potato. The core: to create something special with an undervalued product. Down Town Gourmet Market was just a concept when Pim was introduced to the founders of DTGM. He talks passionately about his ideas. By applying different cutting techniques, weights and combinations, he succeeds in making a product that is not very sexy, sexy. “I then filled a large cake box with twenty different, small potato dishes and after the four of us had eaten that full box, the decision was made to go for it.”

Pim de Jong (55 years) has worked as a chef in classic kitchens for years and has been a household name within Down Town Gourmet Market for three years now with his own company: Pim’s Potatoes. “The first weeks were very turbulent. You step in with a product that has actually not yet been marketed. It is not a settled product like a pizza, sushi or a hamburger. In addition, I really had to adjust, because I was still very much working in restaurant style. You have to be able to think more in the street food style here.” His concept within these thoughts: fast, fresh and simple. Yet you can still taste that every dish contains personal attention and passion.

Does he ever find it difficult to be stuck with just this one product? “Sometimes I do,” he confesses, “because I am very creative, but it also forces me to think deeper and deeper about a very nice product which results in a lot of unique flavor combinations.” He thinks the great thing about working within the market is the direct contact with the guests, which is not possible in an old-fashioned kitchen, so that he immediately gets a reaction to his dishes. “In addition, it really feels like a community with the multiple entrepreneurs. You can learn from each other if you want. You stand for both your product and Down Town as a collective ”.