Maastricht pampers guests
10-6-2015
Several visitors of Maastricht were, totally unexpected, pampered last weekend.
Welcoming Maastricht
Last weekend some lucky visitors of Maastricht were unexpectedly surprised by two waiters. They placed a bistro set on various places in the bustling city and invited some visitors to enjoy a cup of coffee with the famous pie from this region and a musical performance. Watch the video impression here.
What you want?
With the “What you want?” campaign the city demonstrates that a visit or experience of the city doesn’t only depends on the hospitable services in hotels, restaurants and retail. The atmosphere and what you can experience are also very important. From arrival to departure, from cultural visitor to shopping lover, the city has to leave a lasting impression to everyone from young to old.
You don’t visit Maastricht, you experience Maastricht
John Aarts, alderman of economy from the city: “Maastricht has no clichés. Boring is a word that doesn’t exist here. Around every corner awaits a new impression, behind every façade a surprise. Although the city is small, it’s unique character is made by the atmosphere displayed throughout the city. You don’t visit Maastricht, you experience Maastricht.”
Kindle stylish patio heaters
10-6-2015
The Kindle Allison is a stylish patio heater with a dual functionality.
Stylish patio heaters
During ‘Taste of Amsterdam’ the stylish patio heaters at the Visaandeschelde booth were a real eye catcher. Just like the delicious Oosterschelde lobster “en brochette” that was served by this restaurant, but that’s just a mouthwatering side note to this article.
Kindle Living
The patio heaters are from America and were rented at Héman. Kindle Living from Los Angeles is the creator of the patio heater. The company describes the design process simply as “We saw a need and set out to fill it. No more goosebumps”. There are six different models including a limited edition with a production series of only 101 pieces and a useful dolly to move the patio heaters. Moving the heaters is not necessary with the slim model that can be connected to an existing gas line. Earlier this model was awarded two Silver A ‘Design Awards.
Lighting
Ugly and purely functional gas heaters are history and using these heaters adds style to the terrace. The bottom of the heater can be illuminated in eight different colors and can be equipped with a handy shelf for glasses. Although your cocktail will get warm before you know it 😉
Eastwood – assemble your own perfect dinner
9-6-2015
Last Friday Armand had dinner at Eastwood, the new pop-up restaurant from DoubleTree by Hilton which is within walking distance of the Central Station in Amsterdam. The restaurant officially opened on 22 May and the location has two functions. In the morning, it’s the breakfast restaurant of the hotel and every afternoon will be converted into a grill restaurant. The tabletops, chalk boards, paintings and lighting get another look. Even the clothing of the staff changes.
Eastwood
The restaurant is located below the hotel and has a great potential. Especially the terrace outside will attract passers-by, even though it is not on the usual route towards the center. The first announcement of the opening was focused on a ‘beer & grill’ concept, the description ‘assemble your own perfect dinner’ would fit better. It is not a restaurant for people that have difficulties with choices since there are so many personalization options possible to meet your unique taste.
Assembling the dishes
The menu includes various building blocks from which the dishes can be put together. Potatoes are served as mashed potatoes, thin fries or hand cut fries. There are several vegetables and other side dishes to choose from, like risotto. For the main course guests can choose between meat, fish or vega. For meat-lovers a great exclusive offer of proper serving up to 800 grams are available.
Choice palette for personalization
With a choice from five knives that are presented on a magnetic cutting board, even the most cynical knife critic will be pleased. Earlier we wrote about using a herb cart and the ability to cut some fresh herbs at the table yourself. Eastwood extends this service with a range of sauces in glass bottles on the cart as well.
Shared ice cream bucket with toppings
The dessert was served as a single bucket of homemade ice cream on the table accompanied with nine different toppings. It’s a feast to work on the dessert this way and share the bucket. It was difficult to keep the special toppings apart, so a stylish card with the ingredients would complete it.
Small details
At Eastwood every detail mentioned before is well thought of. Many of the trends and examples we’ve spotted and published about on this website are integrated in the restaurant. This in addition to details such as stamped paper bags for the bread, name badges for the staff, Amsterdam’s specialty beers, the convenient use of segments in the restaurant at the beginning of the evening (so it looks busy early on) and the view of the bustling city life through the glass walls. The menu is not yet available online (the website is still under construction) but the price level is very okay and it’s a convenient place if you want to adjust portions and styles easily.
Wild Dining
9-6-2015
Recently, a small collective started organizing luxury dinners at extraordinary locations. By the name of Wilddineren (‘Wild Dining’) a train compartment, the attic of the Beurs van Berlage (Amsterdam) and the red toilets of the Patronaat in Haarlem were used for surprising dinners.
Unique Wild Dining
Each dinner has a unique location, unique chefs and a unique dining concept. At the Beurs van Berlage guests were eating between the old boilers at the attic, but everyday locations like a train and a toilet can be transformed into an unusual dinner location as well. Earlier, the guys from Gastrovan, Masterchef cook Elise Calkoen, Seats2Meet, ‘Catering aan huis’ and Patronaat participated in Wild Dining.
Contrasting experiences
In addition to culinary delights, there are presentations, interesting guests, table roulette and live music during the dinners. The organization finds it addictive to surprise guests and bystanders. They want to amaze people and to confront them with activities outside their own paradigm. The organization indicates that the dinners are a reaction to the current overload of parties in old warehouses, food truck festivals and pop-up initiatives of shops and restaurants. The focus is primarily on creating contrasting experiences. With these dinners they aim to compete with theater, cinema’s and concerts, rather than to compete with regular restaurants.
There are a number of dinners scheduled, but the specific time and place will be revealed on the day itself.
Periscope live video’s by Jonnie Boer
8-6-2015
Recently it was possible to virtually join Jonnie Boer in his daily activities via Periscope.
Periscope
For anyone who wants a peek into the world of a Michelin star chef (and who doesn’t?!) Jonnie Boer provides the possibility to access his mobile camera through the Periscope app. We witnessed him in a broadcast on a boat while collecting different products. The past week a dozen other live broadcasts were shared through his Twitter channel.
Citizen journalism
The Periscope app has been gaining more and more momentum in the recent months. It’s a tool that enables live citizen journalism within a few clicks on your mobile phone. When a recent bomb alert was issued at Jumbo Supermarket in Groningen, ‘ordinary citizen’ Rianne Schuurman instantly became the most important information channel for the Netherlands. One of the major Dutch news outlets (NOS) described the whole happening in retrospect (translated article in Google). It states that local news station RTV Noord saw the value of the broadcast and came to help when the battery of Rianne Schuurman’s phone was running low and made sure that she could remain in the ‘press area’.
For Android devices it’s only possible to connect via Twitter, iPhones can log in with a phone number as well.
Getting started in the hospitality industry
8-6-2015
SVH has developed a game for newbies in the hospitality industry.
Getting started in the hospitality industry
We cannot stress enough that the personnel in the hospitality industry in general and at the terrace in specific is very important. It can be difficult to find the time and resources to train personnel in the right way. For (potential) personnel with little or no experience in the hospitality, SVH will launch the game ‘Getting started in the hospitality industry’. With the app, newbies can learn and test their knowledge and skills. Additionally, a restaurant owner or manager can prepare them for future situations that could occur on the terrace. The app will be launched officially on 22 June, we’re looking forward to testing it.
Hospitality
Because a satisfied guest often means word-of-mouth advertising and a disgruntled guest the opposite, training is important, especially during busy periods. This app is an accessible way to teach and test basic skills. Besides training of the personnel, small welcoming gestures can make a difference as well . Read more about small welcoming gestures in the hospitality industry.
Games
The municipality of Utrecht developed a game last year to positively impact the hospitality as well.
Fooji avoids stress by ordering with emoji’s
5-6-2015
By tweeting an emoji to Fooji you can order food with a simple picture.
Ordering with emoji’s
Although the emoji ordering initially sounds like a joke, it makes the choice for a meal delivery quite easy. The stress that a regular meal order causes can be quite torturous. It takes a mouth-watering struggle browsing through the websites of local restaurants, when you just want the best and most delicious food on your plate as quickly as possible.
Updated weekly
In the Netherlands we are lucky with Thuisbezorgd.nl, that makes the choice much easier. But even on that website it can be quite difficult to select a specific dish. That where Fooji comes in with a matching $15,- dish for every food emoji, delivered by a top rated local restaurant. The restaurants that are chosen by the emoji service vary weekly.
Background and availability
Fooji was invented by Gregg Morton and Erik Zamudio and is initially only available in New York. The app stimulates local economies by including local restaurants and getting them into the mix with the big players. They also want to simplify the ordering process by ordering with emoji’s. The app doesn’t take any special dietary wishes into account.
Geef Café comes to Amsterdam with “pay as you can” restaurant
5-6-2015
Social enterprise Geef Café wants to make healthy and fair food accessible for all the people in Amsterdam.
Pay as you can
The concept is based on the ‘Pay as you can’-model where the guest decides what he or she pays. This allows people with less money to spend to visit Geef Café as well. After several successful pop-ups and an extensive trial period, it is time for the next step: a permanent location in Amsterdam. Therefore, the founders start a crowdfunding campaign and get help from Ben & Jerry’s.
Poverty
The Netherlands has many people who have little money to spend. As a result, these people often have no access to healthy food and eating out is an unaffordable luxury. Hence Judith Manshanden decided to establish the Geef Café with Laura Schön and Rogier Charles in 2013.
Trial and target price
Inspired by the pay as you can-movement in the US, the founders of the Geef Café wanted to open a restaurant in the Netherlands where everyone is welcome. The concept proved to work very well in Rotterdam and generated a lot of positive reactions. Over 80% of visitors were paying more than the target price. “Now is the time for a permanent location in Amsterdam, to inspire so many more people from The Netherlands and abroad,” said Manshanden. The Geef Café is supported by Ben & Jerry’s through the ‘Join Our Core incubator’ program.
Food Waste
Geef Café cookes with vegetables that are normally discarded. During previous pop-up dinners in Amsterdam and during the trial in Rotterdam, a total of 2.500 kilos of waste products was collected from wholesalers and used in their meals.
With the support of Triodos Foundation and the DOEN Foundation they’ve already built a budget. The last push is needed to provide a green light to the Geef Café, therefore they’ve started a crowdfunding campaign at the Doorgaan.nl platform. Donators get various rewards in exchange for a donation. For example, € 150,- gives you a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream party for 50 people.
The campaign ends on 16 July and after that the Geef Café hopes to open as quickly as possible at a permanent location. With 42 days to go they’ve acquired 55% of the targeted goal.
Philips’ lighting technology for indoor navigation
4-6-2015
A new LED lighting technology from Philips provides indoor location determination.
Light used for indoor navigation
In a Carrefour supermarket in Lille (France), Philips tests with LED lights that can be used for indoor navigation. They call it ‘light beyond illumination’ and in addition to the energy saving characteristics of LED light the technology also sends signals that can be used to find your location. All installed LED’s feature the visible light communication technology (VLC) which is invisible to the eye. If a user opens the associated app and holds the phone horizontally, it can read the VLC via the camera. If the software has located the device it tracks the location by using the lights on the ceiling.
Application
Especially in (mega) stores this can be a huge advantage. In addition, the implementation of the LEDs resulted in a saving on the energy bill by 50 percent. The navigation method can improve the shopping experience, searching for products in the supermarket could end up as a short chapter in the history books.
Other features for indoor navigation
It is a completely different approach than using iBeacons for navigation, which now is often used when indoor navigation is applied to catering businesses. Earlier we wrote about an application that uses the iBeacon technology during the Sneekweek.
NH Hotel Group presents VIP Level in NH Collection Eurobuilding
4-6-2015
NH Collection Eurobuilding in Madrid officially launched the VIP Level service concept
VIP level in the hotel
The VIP Level offers guests a range of services and privileges at the hotel itself, including a private reception and guest relations desk, a VIP Breakfast Room with high-quality a la carte offerings, early check-in from 12:00, late check-out until 14:00, unlimited access to the luxurious Metropolitan Fitness & Wellness Centre, access to the Executive Lounge on the fifteenth floor and priority if you want to reserve a table at the 3 * Michelin Restaurant Diverxo, also located in the building.
Privileges outside the hotel
Outside the hotel the VIP level offers more privileges, such as a Personal Shopper, premium shopping services at El Corte Ingles and Las Rozas Village, the Europcar Prestige Service (where premium cars are delivered to the hotel), quick access to the Prado Museum and the Thyssen museum and the option to reserve a VIP box at the nearby stadium of Real Madrid.
For guests who expect something more
According to Hugo Rovira, Managing Director of NH Hotel Group Spain, Portugal and Andorra, the VIP Level fits seamlessly into the existing services of the hotel: “Since the reopening, the NH Collection flagship in Spain NH Collection Eurobuilding has become one of the best business and leisure hotel in Europe. It offers the guests that expect ‘something more’ from their journey everything they need to make their stay a memorable experience.”
credits Jean Pierre Geusens
credits Jean Pierre Geusens
credits Jean Pierre Geusens
credits Jean Pierre Geusens
credits Jean Pierre Geusens
