This is Niven Kunz

For him, vegetables have never been a side dish. They are where every dish begins. Long before plant-forward cooking became common, he built his menus around the 80/20 philosophy: 80% vegetables, 20% meat or fish. His aim was to show how much flavor, depth, and variety vegetables can add to the plate.

 

Take his carrot tartare: a signature dish that takes five days to prepare. Through careful preparation and layers of flavor, he transforms a familiar root vegetable into something unexpected. It captures his approach: start with the vegetable, then see how far it can go.

 

At just 24, Niven opened his first restaurant, ’t Raethuys, and earned his first Michelin star. In 2009, he opened restaurant Niven, further refining his vegetable-led approach. Today, he runs Triptyque with his wife and business partner, Virginie van Bronckhorst-Kunz. She brings her own perspective to their shared vision, and her Indonesian roots add another cultural influence to their cooking. Together, they combine their strengths, creativity, and ambition to shape Triptyque.