Mini Pancakes
31-3-2015
Mini Pancakes has been chosen as pancake supplier by the Dutch pavilion at the World Expo 2015. During this edition of the world international exhibition in Milan, food plays central role. That’s why the traditional Dutch dish, the mini pancake, can’t be left out. In countries where this company from Bunschoten (NL) is active, including the Gulf States, the mini pancakes turn out to be very popular. So popular that Mini Pancakes recently opened a store in Dubai.
Dubai
Through the activities that took place in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Kuwait and the United Arabic Emirates, Mini Pancakes became the market leader in selling freshly baked mini pancakes. Mini Pancakes is a part of Global Village, the annual international festival in Dubai where over the 5 million visitors pay a visit to. Mini Pancakes received the Best Retail Award last year from Global Village. The youngest son of the sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum handed out this award. With the opening of the permanent Mini Pancakes establishment, the mini pancakes are available in Dubai throughout the year.
Modern form
Mini Pancakes aren’t only served with a simple knob of butter and some sugar. This is just one of the many choices. Other options are white chocolate, Nutella, a variation of syrups, lime and even spreadable cheese as topping. According to Tomek Aalders, director of Mini Pancakes, the mini pancakes aren’t old fashioned but tasty and nice.
World Expo 2015 is from 1 May until 31 October in Milan.
10 tips for small gestures that make a room more welcoming
31-3-2015
A hotel room is a room where you sleep when you are traveling. Whether this is for business or pleasure, it doesn’t really matter much. The guest pays for the luxury he or she wants to experience during the stay. Yet there are those little gestures you can use to pamper the guest just a little extra. We have collected 10 examples of small suggestions to spice up your hotel room.
Hotel amenities
We all know the standard of soaps, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bathing caps, toothbrush sets and shaving kits by now. Many of these amenities disappear in the suitcase and are a lasting reminder of your hotel in the bathroom of your previous guests. Definitely keep the standard amenities as a giveaway. I must say, I’m still positively surprised if I find mini packs makeup remover wipes. Hoteliers, this is highly appreciated by women!
Bath Menu and sunscreen
At the Andaz Hotel in San Diego they have a bowl at the front desk with sunscreen sachets that have a high protection for your face! What a great service. At the Surf & Sand Resort Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) there are cheerful messages on the amenities of the hotel. Texts that make you happy when you walk into the bathroom in the morning.
More and more hotels are offering some kind of a Bath Menu: you can get an extended bath treatment from top soap brands. This can be a form of upselling, recently we wrote about it on horecatrends.com.
Magazines or other books besides the bed
At Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles next to the Getty Museum, the nightstand contains a book with uplifting and cheerful texts and drawings next to the traditional Bible. Guests can buy the book downstairs in the shop as well, along with other fun books in this series! You see more and more luxury hotels that present a selection of magazines in the room. And if you do it, do it right. At the Schloss Bensberg in Bergisch Gladbach we received a daily selection of various magazines!
Children in the hotel room
It always amazes me that there is so little attention to detail for (parents with) children. Occasionally we’ve encountered some toys at a room, a simple gesture which makes a child happy and the parents as well. At Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica they have a box in the bookcase with a yo-yo and three juggling balls. For the little ones, they have also a small whale for in the bath! But even older children find these toys fun, is my experience! A beach ball in a seaside hotel or some traditional Dutch games like the reversed buckets that you keep under your feet while walking by two strings in your hand. A doll in traditional costume for the toddler could be fun too, and so on.
Even adults like to play …
Adults also love to play as well, they know that at Shutters on the Beach. At the bathroom they have locked some guilty pleasures in a bathroom cabinet. More hotels are offering excitement in this form, sometimes in collaboration with well-known adult shops like Christine le Duc.
Yoga offer in your hotel room
At LUXURY Sunset Boulevard hotel a yoga mat in your hotel room is ready to use. There is a business card attached to it that says “Decompress with my yoga works” and it includes a code for a month of online yoga classes. Guests can also attend a complimentary yoga class at a location nearby. It could be interesting to collaborate with a local yoga teacher on this. Or if you haven’t got a gym at the hotel, working together with a gym nearby can be an option as well.
Use a minibar in a charming way.
In a number of luxury hotels the minibar is already free of charge. Given the prices you pay for the room, the cost is often negligible. It is really charming to offer some drinks for free in any case, even a simple bottle of water on the nightstand is appreciated by your guests. Every day the Andaz Hotel in San Diego offered some drinks and snacks for free. They would put these on top of the mini-bar with a friendly note attached.
Do not disturb sign
The Marriott hotel in Dana Point California has a special ‘do not disturb’ sign: Gone Surfin ! It’s definitely responding to local conditions ;-). The Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) has a ‘do not disturb sign’ sign that you put into the keyhole. That will keep the maid out if you want to sleep..
Local hints in your hotel room
It’s old fashioned but at the luxury hotels it’s certainly still common, a box of stationery and postcards. Yet there are more and more people who just send postcards from their holiday address. The Surf & Sand Resort has put a handful of shells from the beach in their box which can be added to your letter. What is a local element at your location? If it’s the view, provide a binoculars for your guests.
Responding to special circumstances for your guests …
Nothing is easier than a guest who indicates that he or she is at your hotel to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or something else. An opportunity to score for an open goal. And yet many hotels miss this! A small cake with a personal congratulation can sparkle a miracle and is often shared via social media. It is not really about what you do, as long as you do something.
Marjolein van Spronsen
BunnyChow Experience food truck
30-3-2015
BunnyChow Experience
The Bunny Chow is a South African ‘fast food’ dish that originated in the ‘40s. The South African Njabulo Ndlovu gives the Dutch an opportunity to enjoy this delicacy with the ‘BunnyChow Experience’ food truck.
The Bunny Chow
Bunny Chow consists of a hollowed bread stuffed with a filling such as curry. The curry is made by Njabulo with fresh products, the organic bread is made by Bakery Paul Annee.
Bunny Chow’s origin
In the ‘40s a large number of Indians went to live in Durban and roti and curry became very popular in South Africa. The curry was popular because of its taste, but also because it was an affordable dish. The Bunny Chow was a good solution to serve curry as take-away through the back of a restaurant for people who were not allowed to enter during the Apartheid era.
Social
The South African culture is one where food and especially ‘eating together’ is very important. The BunnyChow Experience therefore focuses on both the quality of the food as well as the quality of the experience around it. The slogan ‘Food is a social event!’ underlines the goal of this experience.
The Duchess
27-3-2015
Restaurant ‘The Duchess’ in the former KAS Bank and the new W Amsterdam opens this summer. It’s just a short distance away from the Royal Palace at the Dam square. Founder Yossi Eliyahoo of ‘The Duchess’ calls the restaurant a luxurious retreat in the crowded heart of Amsterdam.
The Kitchen
All the tastes are prepared in a handmade Molteni kitchen. This kitchen has been designed specially for the restaurant. An exclusive table is located in middle of the kitchen, The Duchess Table. The menu is inspired by the tastes that are characteristic for countries such as France and Italy. The restaurant uses products like artichoke, zucchini, lemons, olives, tomatoes, truffles, a variety of seafood, meat and fresh pastas. These are all local products from France and Italy.
The ‘Afternoon Tea’ is an important part of ‘The Duchess’. During this light meal there will be a variety of small pastries and scones served with signature marmalades. Besides that, the restaurant also serves one of its many tea blends and champagnes. Adjusted to the ‘dining experience’, the drink menu consists of different drinks, cocktails and punch.
Interior
Yossi Eliyahoo is inspired by the history of the former bank and combined this with the character of ‘The Duchess’. The interior has been brought into balance with the elegance and refinement of a royal past and with the comfort and intrigues from this time. The hall is decorated with a ceiling that is made of glass surrounded by marble details and handmade floor tiles.
Joint venture ‘World of Food’ a new streetfood food hall in Amsterdam
26-3-2015
Throughout The Netherlands more and more food halls are rapidly created. Recently a joint venture in the Southeast of Amsterdam signed the papers to transform a former parking garage into the ‘World of Food’, a new type of food hall. Dozens of entrepreneurs joined forces and are collectively responsible for both cooking the street food and running the joint project. The ‘World of Food’ opens late May 2015.
Feed your appetite with food search suggestions
25-3-2015
Suggesto.be is based on a simple principle. On this website you have an online overview that makes the menus, dishes, breakfasts and brunches of the affiliated restaurants accessible. Those who fancy a particular dish, can get food search suggestions from the website and find restaurants that match their appetite.
Food search suggestions based on your appetite
Tim Prys, initiator of suggesto.be: “It is more than just an online menu. The suggestions of restaurants you don’t always find online. Those menus become very accessible on my website. Today it is a must to inform people about what you have to offer, without having to consult dozens of individual websites. Currently a large number of restaurants and brasseries in Hasselt are part of my project. However, the intention is to expand to (Belgian) Limburg and Flanders on the short term. The period in which we achieve these objectives depends, of course, on the growth of users.”
Prys is convinced that Suggesto.be has the potential to become an indispensable tool. “The feedback from both the restaurants and the users is very positive.”
Inspiration: we have often indicated the importance of the accessibility of your menu. It seems strange that these are often hidden in PDF format on most restaurant websites. This young Belgian startup puts these data in the spotlight. You can contact Tim Prys through tim.prys@suggesto.be
Going to the loo is a party at the Toilet Xperience!
25-3-2015
At the festival ‘Extrema Outdoor’ visitors can enjoy the ‘Toilet Xperience’ this summer. Going to the bathroom in a small festival village, with the accompanying animation.
Scoop toilet Xperience during the festival Extrema Outdoor
Visitors of Extrema Outdoor (Houthalen (Belgium) from 22 to 24 May 2015), will be able to enjoy the Toilet Xperience. It’s the first festival in the world to host the Toilet Xperience. Visitors will receive a VIP treatment, with the cleanest toilet seats, 3D images in the toilet cubicle, urinals that turn into a video game, so you can play a game with your urine! In addition, you can buy small festival gadgets. All this in an odorless and silent space. Visitors of this festival are the first place to enjoy this Xperience and no longer need to use dirty and smelly rows of toilet booths. After Extrema Outdoor the Toilet Xperience travels around Europe.
Signature cocktails or mocktails, with a spoonful of jam
24-3-2015
Are you already busy determining your terrace menu? Will you serve the popular cocktails and their non-alcoholic alternative, the mocktail? It might just be the 2015 hit, bartenders on the terrace shaking signature cocktails and mocktails. Latest trend in cocktails: serve a spoonful of preserves with your cocktail.
Cocktails and mocktails are hot
This past year we especially noticed a rise in the cocktails with beer in America. But mocktails are on the rise in popularity as wel. Women like to quietly sip on a cocktail and for girls who aren’t allowed any alcohol yet, a mocktail is a delicious and trendy alternative.
Various liquor brands invest in bringing cocktails to the crowd, last year we spotted the cocktail truck from Grey Goose Vodka for example. This is the most intimate cocktail bar in the world on four wheels (a Citroen H van) and part of an advertising campaign.
A cocktail with a spoonful of jam
The jam cocktails are being served in Madame Geneva, one of the most popular cocktail bars of New York City. It’s located in the back of restaurant Saxon + Parole of chef Brad Farmerie. According to the guys behind Tasting Table, the cocktails with jam aren’t even on the menu but they are so popular that the bartenders often make them on request. They are simple to make, vodka, sugar syrup and lime juice with a spoonful of jam to top of it. The jam taste is up to you, ‘choose your own sweetness adventure’. Because of the thicker consistency of the preserves, you’re able to decide whether you want to sip your cocktail quite sweet (keep stirring) or just only dip the jam, making the taste of the vodka more important. Take a look for a recipe by bartender Brett Hughes (working at Madam Geneva) at the website of Tasting Table.
That’s one way to avoid taking the stairs, take the slide!
24-3-2015
Rapidly from the second floor to breakfast? At The RedDot hotel in Taiwan you can take a slide! Hotel guests go back to their childhood, smiling on their way down.
The slide in the RedDot Hotel
General Manager Stephen Wu of the RedDot hotel in Taichung City invented the slide, inspired by the open slides at Google headquarters. Costs: 100,000 US dollars for the 30-meter stainless steel tunnel slide. The slide consists out of 102 stainless steel parts! Watch the video for more great details in the RedDot hotel like the barber chair in the lobby and the neon lights art… Which hotel in The Netherlands is going to install a slide?
Daalder mobile payment app
23-3-2015
The Dutch company Daalder launched its mobile payment Daalder app last week, an independent e-wallet for mobile payments in the Netherlands.
About Daalder
Daalder is an Amsterdam based start-up founded by entrepreneurs Renz Millenaar, Reinhard Spronk and Romke de Vries. Thomas de With, former director of the Global Transaction Bank at Deutsche Bank in the Netherlands is member of the Daalder Advisory Board. Business that are connected through Daalder receive payments via the ‘Daalder Webkassa’ (freely translated as ‘Daalder webbased cash register) which makes payments immediately visible. In addition, it is possible to send live updates and special offers to Daalder users.
