Cornelia Johanna Wannée: The woman behind our name

Restaurant Wannee isn’t just a name, but a name with a special history. A story we’re proud to tell. Let us take you back to where it all started. 

Who was Cornelia Johanna Wannée?

There is a reason we are called Restaurant Wannee. We are named after a woman who transformed Dutch cuisine more than a century ago. 

Cornelia Johanna Wannée was born on 22 September 1880 in Rotterdam, where she had a bright future ahead of her. In 1899 she passed her final exams at the Amsterdam girls’ HBS (High school), after which she decided to pursue a career in home economics, which was at the time a highly respectable line of work. In 1901, she enrolled for a two-year teacher training programme at the Amsterdam household school, studying under Martine Wittop Koning, who would later publish a cookbook of her own.

By 1904, Wannée was teaching cooking and nutrition, and within a few years she rose to become the head of the school. Then in 1910, she published her defining work: the Cookbook of the Amsterdam Household School, which contained around 900 recipes she’d carefully chosen for taste, nutrition and thriftiness. It would stay in print for over a hundred years.

A cookbook with a mission

With nearly 900 recipes, it might sound like a simple collection, but it is much more than just a collection. Cornelia Johanna Wannée wanted good, honest food within everyone’s reach, not just for the selected few. It was meant as a guide for daily life. In the preface to her cookbook, she also mentioned that the meals in the Dutch household had fallen into “chronic monotony”. The book received fantastic reviews, which were reflected in the sales: all 6,000 copies sold out within a single year.

What not many people know is that the book almost never made it to print. Despite the demand from her own students, most publishers turned it down. They believed there were already enough successful cookbooks. However, publisher Becht saw the potential where others merely paused to consider it. But the deal came with a price: Cornelia Johanna Wannée gave up her copyright for 400 guilders (gulden) and agreed never to publish with another publisher again. 

Why we carry her name with pride

Restaurant Wannee is named after Cornelia Johanna Wannée, because she contributed to the foundation of Dutch food culture as we know it today. In her honour, we still build our kitchen around the same principles as she advocated: honest, flavourful, local and free from artificial additives, with vegetables and seasonal products taking centre stage. 

But her cooking book is only half the story. Just as important is the connection to her role as a teacher. Cornelia Johanna Wannée did not just teach, she was actively committed to education and consciously passed on her knowledge to the next generation. That same philosophy lies at the heart of Restaurant Wannee. We, too, are a place where education and practice converge where students learn the trade under the guidance of experienced instructors, just as Cornelia Johanna Wannée did for her students back then. 

September | The month of Wannée

September is a special month for Restaurant Wannee. It is the month when autumn arrives and summer produce gives way to the first harvest of the new seasonal moment of transition from one to the other. 

It is no coincidence that we are highlighting this subject a little more this month; after all, not only is it a month of seasonal transition, but it is also the month in which Cornelia Johanna Wannée was born and the month she passed away on September 29, 1932. In September, we celebrate not only the changing seasons but also the life and legacy of the woman who laid the foundation for everything Restaurant Wannee stands for.

Cornelia Johanna Wannée
Rotterdam, 22 September 1880 – The Hague, 29 September 1932