At the time, van den Winkel was required to do a stage as part of his hotel management studies as well as enlist in the military for a year. Unlike his peers who went off to work at high-end hotels, van den Winkel joined the armed forces to serve his country (and his school) as a cook as part of a unique stage program his school had with the navy. "I did it out of laziness, to be honest. I didn't even know we'd be cooking Indonesian food in the navy," he says. "I thought I could do my stage and my military service in one go so that I'd save myself a year. I had no desire to be in the military." You'd think a dad would be proud to see his son enlist, but in van den Winkel's case, being a naval cook is less than stellar in the eyes of a father works in the restaurant trade. "My dad didn't like this at all. He wanted me to go into the nice fine-dining restaurants like he did, but this was my first choice."