Dutch Street Food app
20-3-2015
‘Reizende Sterren’ introduces a street food app for the Netherlands. Soon the food trucks and festivals throughout the Netherlands can be found through the street food app.
The ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ provides an overview of Dutch street food
entrepreneurs, food trucks and other mobile kitchens. The recent pilot with food trucks by the municipality of Amsterdam shows that it’s the perfect timing for such an app. In addition to visibility at festivals and events, users of the app can see where food trucks are located in the city, at designated spots on the street.
The launch of the ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ will take place in May 2015
The street food app for consumers
• Free to download from the App Store (Apple & Android)
• Overview with foodtruck entrepreneurs, product information and their signature dishes
• Push notifications of promotions, recipes and tickets
• Current events calendar
• Information about festivals, markets, events, parties, permanent pitches
• Real-time locator with GPS
• Link with social media
• Consumers rating system
Statistics Data
With a consumer rating system within the app, it is possible to collect valuable data about consumer behaviour and appreciation that can help in the development of street food in the Netherlands. The street food app will collect data from every festival / event / food truck and ‘Reizende Sterren’ will provide an annual (public) overview of relevant information via an online analysis map.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop
20-3-2015
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop is a unique store in downtown Amsterdam. In the shop you can find pancakes and Belgian waffles made from certified organic ingredients that are freshly cooked.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop: Shop with breakfast bar
In the shop they make good old-fashioned Dutch pancakes and Belgian waffles with delicious fillings and toppings. The focus is on certified organic ingredients. Cooks prepare your dish right in front of you. Besides the pancakes and waffles they also serve organic coffee, tea, chai latte, hot chocolate and fresh orange juice. They have a breakfast bar, and if the weather is nice, you can sit on one of the benches outside. Of course you can also have your pancake for take-away as well. In the shop you will find organic snacks, drinks, coffee, honey and chocolate.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop in Amsterdam
Andrea Steinmetz, owner of The Happy Pig Shop, at the Rosmarijnsteeg in Amsterdam, notes that it is very busy since the shop opened in October last year. She has especially noticed that reviews on TripAdvisor have much effect on the people coming in. On her website she placed a prominent button from TripAdvisor:
Bravo: The Happy Pig Pancake Shop Amsterdam rated “excellent” by 25 travelers.
Our colleague Armand Sol experienced the influence of TripAdvisor himself recently, he wrote a blog about it (in Dutch). Inspiration: Is your business established in an environment where international guests pay a visit, ensure that are good reviews on TripAdvisor. A friendly request for a review can provide new guests though this channel.
Do you want to be an ‘innovative’ entrepreneur at ‘De Pier’ in Scheveningen?
19-3-2015
The iconic Pier in Scheveningen (near The Hague in the Netherlands) is completely rebuilt and is still looking for some enthusiastic entrepreneurs. Innovative entrepreneurs.
The now abandoned but soon completely revamped ‘Pier’ will be opened for the public this year after a major renovation. For young and old, locals and tourists, foodies and shoppers. ‘De Pier’ is an international hotspot at sea with a wide variety of contemporary and innovative concepts. For example with food trucks and catering stands but also with art and culture, festivals, events and (pop-up) stores. The last units will be available for driven and innovative entrepreneurs.
‘De Pier’ will be one of our national prides again
‘De Pier’ is a national icon in The Netherlands and defining the picture of the coastline of Scheveningen since 1901. With a completely new meaning and after a thorough renovation. ‘De Pier’ will reopen in 2015. According to Marius van der Werff, on behalf of ‘De Pier’, the iconic Pier isn’t only saved but also “transformed into a unique center for an international and diverse audience.”
Start a business at the Pier
At the Pier there will be a diverse range of restaurants, bars, shops and much more. Existing and new entrepreneurs can indulge themselves in a world of possibilities in the field of creative and innovative concepts; from ‘haute Friture’ shops and juice bars to ‘pop up’ and experience stores. Driven and innovative entrepreneurs now have the chance to be part of the catering, retail and other concepts at the Pier. The Pier has some unique stands and spaces available for the very best concepts. Interested entrepreneurs can submit their plan through the website until April 1, 2015. Find out more about the new Pier at their website as well.
3D printed snack with edible soil
19-3-2015
Project designer Chloé Rutzerveld creates a bridge between new production and traditional cultivation with the “Edible Growth” project. The 3D printer produces a food soil. Printing food with a 3D printer is not new anymore but printing edible food soils with seeds and spores is. The soil and the seeds and spores grow into living edible balls.
Edible growth
Rutzerveld studied Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE). For the Edible Growth project she works together with the TUE and knowledge institute TNO. The technology is still in development, the software, hardware and assembling the ingredients has yet to be optimized. Edith Growth, however, has had a lot of international attention.
The technology is used to optimize the natural processes and to make the soil and plants grow together into the final product. During the growth the structure, smell and taste changes and intensify. Like, for example, a blue cheese.
3D printed snack with the edible soil
It’s a new way of producing food that connects nature, technology, science and design. The whole food chain will reduce considerably and the concept brings consumers closer to their food. It facilitates growth and reduces the ecological footprint with less food miles, it also reduces waste and freshness is in your own hands.
Cold coffee from a bottle
18-3-2015
Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof penetrate the hospitality industry with their Batavia Dutch cold coffee. The cold brewing method from the Dutch East India Company era is now also available in a bottled series.
Jits: “In June 2014, we quit our jobs to enter a world full of specialty (ice) coffees. Batavia Coffee is a company with only one mission; To transfer our passion for Dutch Coffee to the Dutch people. ”
The cold coffee method
The method owes its name and origin to Dutch traders in the Dutch East India Company era. The brewers made their coffee with cold water back in the days, to make it sustainable and to cool off in the tropics. With this method they introduced coffee in North East Asia, where Dutch Coffee is still very popular.
Origin
Alike wine the origin of the coffeebeans has an influence on the taste of it. Coffee has a lot of diversity in taste influenced by the region where the coffee is grown, the climate and the type of plants used.
Diversities
The Batavia Coffee is available in three variants. An Ethiopian Limu (with hints of chocolate, caramel and citrus), the Colombian Santuario (a powerful and spicy coffee where nuts, roasted peanuts and flowers can be distinguished) and the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (a fruity coffee which has hints of melon and passion fruit).
Ingredients
The ingredients for a good Dutch Coffee are quite simple. Ice cold water and freshly roasted and ground coffee. Sugar, dyes, or E numbers are not needed, the coffee is naturally sweet and can be stored for 4 months if refrigerated.
Fiii Fun House, the place that has everything to make kids happy
17-3-2015
Fiii Fun House is a fun restaurant for kids. It has toys, swings, hanging hammocks (for the sleepy young ones), a coloring table, a ballroom, a play area for babies and an area for the parents and other adults to enjoy a meal while the kids play.
The interior of Fiii Fun house
Fiii house is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is designed by architect Iris Cantante, obviously with kids in mind! The environment is eco-friendly and a lot of wood was used in the design to create a calming atmosphere. The owners Mariela Vergagni and Diego Cores have an eatery that offers something for everybody from 0 till 99 years of age. The two-story space features a top floor designated for private events and a bottom floor with long communal tables, with for example swings as seats. So no more: ‘don’t rock your chair!’
Upselling with a luxury bathing service
16-3-2015
At the Ritz hotel in Kuala Lumpur, you can choose a bath ‘fragrance line’ from a Bath Menu. A luxurious gesture … We wrote about the Bath Menu in our publication ‘Royal hospitable gestures’ in April 2013.
Luxury bathing service at St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Recently we read an article on Luxury Launches that the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel is bringing back the Bath Ritual. This (free) service is only available to guests of the suites of the hotel. The guests can choose between 3 rituals: Journey to India, Journey on the Silk Route and Journey to Africa. The bath will be prepared while guests drink or dine. After returning to your room, your bath will be ready and you can bathe with a set of fragrances, body oils and unguents, while enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake or something healthy. After this relaxing bath you can use the lotion from one of the ‘ritual bath’ lines.
Inspiration: More luxury hotels offer a ‘bath butler’ service. The butler comes to your room with the luxury bath products the hotel offers, you choose the one you prefer and buy it. If a hotel offers the right products this might be a form of upselling.
Corn Cobs as yellow submarines
16-3-2015
The barbecue season is almost there and what tastes better than corn on the cob? The Spredo, a dual-purpose butter and salt dispenser is fun and easy to use. It makes your corn cob look like a little yellow submarine!
The Spredo is designed for corn cobs
The dual-purpose butter and salt dispenser is designed by Avichai Tadmor for Monkey business. It’s playful and designed for the Beatles fans ;-). The Spredo’s curved bottom is shaped to rest flush on a cob’s surface. It comes with two compartments: one at the bottom for the butter and another at the top for salt.
Book about wine adventures + B(u)y the Barrel
13-3-2015
Jacqueline van Liere, owner and wine-food-specialist of restaurant & foodbar SchultenHues (*) in Zutphen (The Netherlands), is going to write a series of wine books, together with wine importer Robert Benier. The series is called ‘The Great World of Amazing Wines’ and Jacqueline and Robert write about their travels around the world and they show us the amazing world of wine. During the journey, big chefs will be visited, to prepare and taste the most favorite wine-parings with them. Back in Zutphen, the wine will be tasted with Peter Gast (chef and owner of restaurant & foodbar SchultenHues), friends and colleagues.
In the first book of the series a dish of Peter Gast will be combined with a few wine-discoveries. Besides that pretty pictures, rare wine pairings and a great story about the wine-maker Martin Steinmann.
B(u)y the Barrel
Jacqueline and Robert are going a step further…. They want you to taste along with their discoveries! That’s why they create their own, quirky, wine in every country they will visit. They create the wine with one of the nicest and best winemakers from that country. There will be created one rare ‘barrel’, which has maximum of 600 bottles. These rare bottles are exclusive available. The first wine is made of the Chardonnay grape and are vinified on the Schloss Sommerhausen in Franken, Germany. Created by Jacqueline, Robert and Martin Steinmann. There are different offers, such as one of a bottle + book but you can also order 6 bottles. You can find the offers here.
Popup Melksalon
13-3-2015
A milk bar (de MelkSalon) will pop up in Amsterdam. The MelkSalon is a temporary pilot and design room where the value of milk will be rediscovered. From 1 to 30 April at the Oude Spiegelstraat 6.
The Melksalon brings consumers, dairy farmers, dairy processors, designers and scientists together, to rediscover the value(s) of milk. Amongst other things they will organize lectures, design sessions, movie nights and walking tours. The full program is available here (unfortunately only in Dutch). With as highlights some Milk Talks and design sessions under the guidance of experts, an Old Amsterdam Milk Tour and some dinners with catchy titles such as Milk Unchained! And Milk Multi Culti! The dinners are in cooperation with Gilbert Kolff. The pop-up Melksalon is both a shop and a milk bar where you can walk in to taste special kinds of milk.
Why a Milk bar?
Around 1900, the streets of Amsterdam knew many milk parlors, where inhabitants could buy a glass of milk of local farmers. Today we buy milk in the supermarket, but milk still holds an important role in the Dutch history, (food)culture, economy, innovative spirit and in the countryside. Yet, many know little of this rich influence of milk. Milk in the supermarket has become an anonymous bulk product. At the same time there is a strong public debate about the consumption of milk, the impact on the environment and landscape, and the price one pays for it. With the pop-up MelkSalon they want to remove milk from the anonymity, and start a dialogue about the meaning of the product for our culture and society.
The pop-up Melksalon is an initiative of Sietske Klooster and Food Cabinet and is supported by the Dutch Dairy Association, The Milk Story, Triodos Foundation and the Committee Agricultural Innovation North Brabant.
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