If you love to start your day with a good breakfast you are in luck at Calabas restaurant, located at the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort on Bonaire. Though cooks rarely leave the kitchen and become known to diners, it’s high time we introduced you to Jeanette Winklaar. She’s been in the Divi kitchen there for a very long time. Jeanette can tell you the very day she started cooking for guests at Divi Flamingo: April 29, 1994. That’s 20 years, now going on 21.

It’s always beneficial to have a happy cook, especially at breakfast. Some say it’s the most important meal of the day. And, what a way to start the day at Divi Flamingo – a traditional feast of hearty fare with a bounty fresh tropical delights served in the open air with a view of the glistening Caribbean. Every day she’s in the kitchen there, Jeanette is a happy cook.

When she’s not at the resort, you can find her enjoying happy hour, mostly for the chatting with friends. Karel’s is one of her favorite places for these get-togethers.   On the flip side – for serenity, she’ll head to Te Amo Beach. For romance, she goes camping on Klein Bonaire.

This native Bonairean is proud of her home and heritage. She invites visitors to get to know her homeland by visiting Washington Slagbaai National Park tour and doing the shore drive around the island. If you are lucky to spend a Sunday in Bonaire, Lac Bay is a wonderful slice of life on the island. Locals gather there for the beauty and the great mariachi band that comes to add a festive soundtrack to the scene.

Food is just one way Jeanette loves helping people. She’s all about friendship, family and chatting.  One thing that would make her even happier is an expansion of Calabas restaurant. More guests, more meals, more cooking – that’s what Jeanette loves to do.