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Key Takeaways
- Training under Michelin-starred chefs in Belgium taught Bonnarens the value of discipline, composure and mastering the basics.
- Years of global kitchen experience, combined with becoming a father, shaped Bonnarens’ belief in trusting his team, giving them responsibility and helping cooks grow through real ownership.
Chef Bert Bonnarens fell in love with food long before he ever put on a chef’s jacket.
He grew up in the kitchen helping his grandmother and mother cook. “I was always hungry,” he says with a laugh. When he realized high school didn’t suit him, and he needed something more hands-on, a six-year culinary program in Belgium became the obvious choice.
It functioned more like an academy than a traditional classroom, with rotations through bakery, butchery and hotel classes covering cooking, serving and management.
“They train you like the military,” Bonnarens says. “Don’t walk like that, don’t do this.” If you made it through the first two years, you chose your direction and committed to the craft.
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Bonnarens thrived. His internships took him to the Belgian coast, where a chef with two Michelin stars demanded precision from every station.
Then he went to Bruges, where he cooked under the chef many consider the godfather of Belgian cuisine, a man who held three Michelin stars for 20 years.
“He had 30 years of Michelin stars and 20 years of three stars,” Bonnarens says. “He was just the best mentor I’ve ever had.” From him, he learned composure, consistency and why mastering the basics always comes first.
Those lessons carried him across borders. He cooked in the Netherlands, where innovation came naturally. He cooked in Mexico, where he ran a fine dining restaurant and discovered flavors he had never worked with before.
“It’s just this whole new world that opens up,” he says. And it was in Mexico where he met Heinrich Stasiuk, the South African restaurateur who later invited him to the United States to join Wild Thyme Restaurant Group.
Today, Bonnarens is based in San Diego at Shorebird, helping open new locations and train teams for one of Wild Thyme’s flagship brands. “My job here is I’m a corporate chef,” he says. “I oversee the new openings of the Shorebirds, and then I stick around to make sure everything goes well.”
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Morning market magic
On Saturday mornings at Shorebird, before the dining room fills, Bonnarens walks a few steps outside to the local fish market.
Small boat fishermen unload their catch straight from the water, and instead of keeping that moment behind the scenes, he brings guests with him.
“It’s a very nice experience to take some guests to the fish market,” he says. “I kind of go carte blanche. I either buy something I like, or I ask the people, ‘Is there anything you like or you haven’t tried yet?’”
Guests meet him at the pier, then follow him back to the kitchen, where he breaks down the fish, cooks it and serves it immediately. “We just take it back. I show how to cut it up, how to filet it, how to prepare it really, and we eat it right away,” he says.
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Inside Shorebird, he keeps the same mix of structure and creativity. The menu blends what the owner enjoys, what Bonnarens and culinary director Jay Bogsinske like to cook, and the hits from other Wild Thyme restaurants.
Each Shorebird location keeps room for local specials. “We want you to go to Shorebird in Sedona and get at least 90% of the same menu,” he says. “And that 10% is where we play around with it.”
As a leader, Bonnarens wants his team to take responsibility and enjoy the work. “Don’t be afraid of doing that and write things down,” he says. Becoming a father helped him trust his team more and step back when needed.
Technology supports that approach. Kickfin handles Shorebird’s tip payouts and removes the stress of cash handling. “Kickfin makes everybody happy because they get their money quicker, faster, in a better way,” he says. “And it opens up more time for you and less stress.”
Living in San Diego and helping grow the Shorebird brand, Bonnarens is doing the work he once imagined back in Belgium.
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Key Takeaways
- Training under Michelin-starred chefs in Belgium taught Bonnarens the value of discipline, composure and mastering the basics.
- Years of global kitchen experience, combined with becoming a father, shaped Bonnarens’ belief in trusting his team, giving them responsibility and helping cooks grow through real ownership.
Chef Bert Bonnarens fell in love with food long before he ever put on a chef’s jacket.
He grew up in the kitchen helping his grandmother and mother cook. “I was always hungry,” he says with a laugh. When he realized high school didn’t suit him, and he needed something more hands-on, a six-year culinary program in Belgium became the obvious choice.
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