“Perth has grown from a mining town and we weren’t sure of how the concept would be received, but people absolutely loved it. The response has been amazing," he says.


Designed and built by his own hands – and a trusty team of eco-workers – the Greenhouse concept embodies all of Joost’s strongly-held beliefs of what a sustainable business should be.


ORGANIC PROCESS The reclaimed steel-frame structure is naturally insulated with straw bales and all the furniture is made from an eclectic range of recycled materials (see information box). In the restau- rant, whole wheat from a local farmer is freshly milled on site, milk from the dairy farm is delivered daily in buckets to be turned into yoghurt and butter, there's a home-grown worm farm for composting organic waste, and the menu is a simple collection of fresh, local wholefoods, and the staff wear eco-friendly clothing.


Sustainable and 'pop-up’ restau- rants are flavour of the month in many culinary hotspots around the world, but it is clear talking to Joost that his


ISSUE 4 2011 © cybertrek 2011


Prime location: The Greenhouse by Joost pop-up restaurant stood on the Sydney harbourside for six weeks, with stunning views of the iconic bridge and opera house


Greenhouse concept is an inevitable culmination of his life experiences, and comes from the heart. Farming, nature, art and recycling – all elements intrinsically bound up in the Greenhouse – have had a major part to play in his life and career path. The son of a Dutch farmer, his fam- ily emigrated to Australia when he was nine, where they settled into a farming community in the Yarra Valley. “In Holland, Dutch flower growers lived next door to other flower grow- ers – in Australia we were surrounded by Italians and Vietnamese who all brought their own farming cultures. The diversity was enormous compared to back home,” says Joost. As a young boy he dreamed of becoming a farmer, but at school Joost’s artistic talent came to the fore, and it was clear that his future


endeavours would feature both. “I’ve always been interested in the soil and how things are grown, built, what materials are used, and where those materials come from,” he says. After school he decided not to enter the family farming business, instead setting up as a flower importer, shar- ing a warehouse with a friend who imported exotic mushrooms. He says: “It was here that I first got to meet restaurateurs who came to the warehouse to buy mushrooms.” Before long, Joost was not only supply- ing exotic flowers to those restaurants, but doing displays for them as well. It was to be some years before Joost entered the restaurant world himself. He says: “Jenni [his wife] and I lost money with the flower business when the Asian crisis hit. I had always enjoyed the artistic and creative stuff, so decided to pursue this instead.”


ARTISTIC NATURE With his natural talents clearly being employed, Joost became a sought- after installation artist and furniture designer, with private and commercial commissions across Australia.


Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 47


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