The memo board in his office does not leave a millimetre of blank space. The number of thank-you cards hanging from the clips is seemingly endless. Jim Boctor (30) removes the kraft paper around a porcelain plate painted with a chef who could have been Auguste Gusteau from 'Ratatouille'. Acquired from the mother of the bride who recently went on Kasteel de Wittenburg celebrated her fairytale wedding in Wassenaar. As a token of appreciation that her big day went off without a hitch.

As chef de chateau, Boctor leads both the white and black brigade. More than chef, he is host, logistics manager, listening ear, spider in the web. He sometimes has to switch gears faster than a chameleon can change colour. There are days when he has to shape a condolence, a company presentation, a silver wedding and stand his ground in restaurant Sophie.

'No' does not exist

For director Ralf Meppelder, Boctor is the dream general manager. In him he found his match three years ago, someone who goes for the highest quality and doesn't see any bears on the road. 'No' is missing from both their dictionaries. State visits, events à la the Star Preview and company parties with a pop-up amusement park around the castle pond with a thousand guests, the duo manages it all with apparent ease.

Boctor: "Have you heard? The Star Preview is coming back in 2025. It will even be expanded from two to four days."

Read also: Ralf Meppelder has breathed new life into Kasteel de Wittenburg, from decay to a vibrant event centre. The unprecedented transformation of Kasteel de Wittenburg

Big gastronomic names such as Erik van Loo of Parkheuvel in Rotterdam, Martin Kruithof of De Lindenhof in Giethoorn and Wilco Berends of De Nederlanden in Vreeland did not need any time to think about a joint cooking session in the majestic castle, which was built as a country house in 1899 by the wealthy Baroness Helenus Marinus Speelman of The Hague and his wife, Sophie Adrienne Baroness Sloet van Oldruitenborgh.

Mega kitchen

Kasteel de Wittenburg does not outsource catering, unlike most of its competitors in the country. It can do that because its kitchen is up to it. Mr and Mrs Speelman were bourgondians; on a regular basis they fêted their guests at lavish dinners. And so, when the castle was built, they had a mega-kitchen built in. Since the 1980s, this national monument has reportedly had the largest Molteni cooker in one piece in Europe.

Except for the bread, everything is prepared in that vast kitchen in the basement. Even the siu mai, which is quite a hand job, they make there themselves. At the restaurant, they top the steamed dumplings with jalapeño, togarashi and spring onion. Baroness Sophie not only loved to eat, she also loved to travel. The white brigade cooked in her spirit: generous and international. With less butter than before, though. And to each dish, Boctor adds a unique twist. "A runner up on the menu is the crème brûlée of pandan with ice cream made from coconut milk and gula djawa," she says. With him, you don't drink tjendol, you eat tjendol.

A story about Kasteel de Wittenburg cannot possibly fit on one A4 sheet. Dinner shows, concerts with artists such as Trijntje Oosterhuis in the garden, which, not unimportantly, are freely accessible, TV recordings including that of 'Farmer Seeking Wife', so much happens there. Meppelder: "I think we can say we are the most versatile castle in the Netherlands."

www.wittenburg.nl