New York meets Brabant in café ‘De Vooruitgang’
23-1-2015
City café ‘De Vooruitgang’ (re)opened the doors in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) on 8 January 2015. A fire in the kitchen in April 2013 almost completely burned down the monumental building. Now the monumental façade is restored and the interior and layout are completely renewed.
City café ‘De Vooruitgang’
The new layout creates a lot of light in the building. This makes the café suitable for every moment of the day. The interior is based on urban influences from New York combined with the domesticity of Brabant (The Netherlands). This is created through the stairs behind the bar and the Dutch design prints at the kitchen wall. Other interior design elements: Persian carpets at the wall and there is a wall of plants with over 2.000 plants.
Eat, drink, read, meet, talk and listen
In city Café De Vooruitgang everybody should feel at home. In the middle of the big open kitchen there is a specially designed BBQ grill where the chef prepares his dishes. On the new menu of the café there will be dishes from the grill like burgers with bacon, steak and their specialty: chicken. Besides that, you can go to the café for a pasta or fish. The bar offers a range of specialty beers and wine.
During the lunch at café ‘De Vooruitgang’ there will be wraps, croques and sandwiches with salmon, cheese or a home-made meatball.
Dancing in the café
Every Friday and Saturday the café is opened till late. There will be DJ’s to create an ambiance to dance after dinner. Every Thursday night the DJ-wannabe’s can show their talent during the ‘Spin-inn’.
CORK2CORK sustainability initiative of the NH hotel group
22-1-2015
NH Hotel Group recycles two tons of cork in its hotels. The CORK2CORK initiative from the NH Hotel Group has so far yielded more than 1994 kilograms of recycled cork.
More than 75 hotels of NH Hotel Group in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Germany have collected corks from wine bottles since the start of the project, which were then used for the construction and isolation of hotel walls and floors. This CORK2CORK makes a substantial contribution to the realization of the sustainability goals of NH Hotel Group.
CORK2CORK
CORK2CORK is part of the sustainability policy of the NH Hotel Group and has been rolled out in cooperation with Amorim, a global producer of cork and building materials of cork. It’s their goal to give a second life to bottle corks used in hotels by reusing it as construction and insulation material. The collected corks account for 8000m2 of wall and floor space used for the construction and renovation of more than 300 hotel rooms.
“We are very proud of the result of this Cork2Cork program. We have given a beautiful natural product a second life. This is one of the example projects which shapes our sustainability policy towards internal and external stakeholders,” said Mónica Chao Janeiro, Director of Environmental Management and Sustainability of NH Hotel Group. “The enthusiastic response and the beautiful result of this action motivates us to continue on this path with sustainability projects in our operations.”
Natural cork as material
After recycling natural cork, it is excellent to use for the production of wall and floor covering. Thanks to its insulating effect, cork is capable to counter sound effects and contribute to energy-efficient heating or cooling a building.
Ice cream without fat and only 99 calories
21-1-2015
NIZO food research has produced a soft ice cream without fat. The unexpected creamy ice cream also contains 25% less sugar than other soft ice cream and contains only 99 kcal per 100 grams.
Properties of ice cream without fat
Regular ice cream has more than 160 kcal per 100 grams. The unhealthy characteristics are mostly caused by sugar and saturated fat. The reduction of these ingredients in ice cream normally have a negative effect on the texture and other properties. With the implementation of natural proteins, the creamy properties of fat and the body of sugar are replaced.
Horecava
During Horecava NIZO was present with the ice without fat at the ‘Innovation Lab’ and recently they’ve published an introduction video of the product combined with an explanation of the company which was partly made during the event. The research center has been researching proteins for more than 60 years now and is focused on creating healthier foods based on vegetable and animal protein.
Valentine’s Day at a restaurant
20-1-2015
The annual day of love declarations is in our sights again. Every year it’s an exciting day, especially for singles. Will they get an anonymous rose at work or in the classroom? As this year’s Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday, it offers a valuable opportunity for the hospitality industry. A lot of people will enjoy Valentine’s Day at a restaurant. Both for a romantic evenings eating out as well as for the bachelors looking for a singles-only dinner.
Valentine’s Day in the USA
Last year, Valentine’s Day was on a Friday and because many restaurants in America were fully booked, Wieden + Kennedy New York created a social media campaign on behalf of Heineken. By using the #DateInABox hashtag on Twitter women could provoke a declaration of love from their (future) boyfriend. The guys who received the social media love declaration had to share the message to all their Instagram-followers declaring their love via the channel like real romantic ‘softies’. With the hashtag #DateInABox the couples could win a surprise date for two.
Valentine’s day at a restaurant and hospitality / leisure industry
In recent years we have collected inspiring examples for Valentine’s Day at a restaurant and in the hospitality / leisure industry. Some examples are a romantic egg , the ultimate attention as a gift (by putting your phone off) , running a race with your sweetheart or share a gigantic dessert .
The popularity of cotton candy
19-1-2015
Bon Puf is a new gourmet cotton candy company operated in Los Angeles. Cloë Lane company offers a modern spin on the classic cotton candy and shows the popularity of it.
Natural cotton candy
The modern cotton candy carts from Bon Puf are for hire for parties or events throughout California. The cotton candy is created with organic sugar cane and all natural flavours and colours like Mango chilli, Strawberry Lemonade, Salted Caramel and Honey Rose.
We have seen a lot of cotton candy creations in time. The first time I got a – very petit – cotton candy with my coffee was at restaurant ‘De Leuf’ in Ubachsberg, The Netherlands (1 Michelin Star). It was coloured orange because it was Queens Day, my kids loved it and the kid in me as well! A year later we saw a small pink one as promotion for a gay bar. We also saw ‘glow in the dark cotton candy’ on glow in the dark sticks. And only a couple of years ago Restaurant FG (which used to be restaurant Ivy) created a cloud of cotton candy.
Just like popcorn, a traditional treat, creatively adapted to the circumstances! ^Marjolein
See examples of the creations at the Bon Puf website.
The Six Friends Theory by Mercure
16-1-2015
The six-degrees-of-separation theory claims that everyone on this planet is connected with each other by a maximum of six people. Mercure hotels introduced a worldwide digital campaign: ‘The Six Friends Theory’ and is looking for the perfect candidate to test the theory. From 20 January till 20 February the perfect candidate can apply through a worldwide selection process.
Purpose
The purpose of the campaign is to select a candidate from somewhere over the world, then let him/her meet an Aboriginal of the Bundjalung tribe and prove that they are only six links away from each other. They don’t know each other but they will get together via friends and friends of friends whom connect them.
Participation
From 20 January adventurers are invited to post a video of themselves on the Facebook page of Mercure. In the video they have to tell who they are, what talents they have, what their motivations and passions are and why they are the best friend of the world in just one minute. A video can be posted till 20 February.
The 50 videos with the most likes are directly going to the finals. A jury that consists out of six people including Jean-François Julian (a Movie Director) and Isabelle Musnik (Editor-in-Chief of INfluencia) will select the winner in a final interview. The selection takes place between 20 January and 10 February 2015 and the results will be announced between 17 and 24 February.
The Six Friends Theory
The first prize of the campaign is a trip around the world with stays at several Mercure hotels. The winner will be on his way for seven weeks from the beginning of March. ‘The Six Friends Theory’ exists out of six meetings, six destinations and six Mercure hotels worldwide. At each destination the winner will hear where he is going to find the next friend. These friends will give him a local experience and guide him to the next assignment towards the Aboriginal.
The winner will be on his way together with a film crew, directed by Jean-François Julian. It is his job to capture all the meetings and experiences of the winner.
There are also different rewards for the other 49 candidates from the finals like overnight stays at Mercure hotels and Samsung tablets.
Nuna popsicle is art!
15-1-2015
Will Nuna be the next big thing in popsicle trends? Nuna is a popsicle created by a team of specialists in the disciplines of culinary art, architecture, design and science.
The Nuna Design, ‘Form follows taste’
Nuna popsicles are unique in the unwillingness to compromise while realizing a simple idea. The crystal/pyramid shape is just the starting element in the design language of Nuna. It’s supposed to reflect the sensation of ice crystals bursting on the tongue while causing a unique and intense tingling in the mouth. The visual experience of the crystal/pyramid shape thus continues as a sensory experience on the tongue. The crystal taste must be an adventure for the tongue. This is made possible with the help of the molecular cuisine. The internal product development theme was „Form follows taste“. The popsicle has a bamboo stick which provides a sturdier grip than the typical narrow wood one.
The Nuna taste experience, The flavours
The team that developed Nuna wants to offer an unlimited variety of flavours: seasonal, regional and depending on the kind of occasion and event. The popsicle is made with organic fresh fruits, fruit juices and selected spices completing each flavor. Some of the flavours contain alcohol – turning the frozen popsicle into a frozen cocktail on a stick.
The flavours that might go in production are at the moment; Framboise, Strawberry Mint, Pear Ginger, Muro (Blood Orange) Honey, Mango Lemon, Peach Lime, Matcha (Green Tea) Lemongrass, Red Starrenette (Apple) Cardamom, Cosmopolitan, Campari & Ginger Orange, Mojito and Vodka Lime.
Where can we taste Nuna?
This year Nina will have a slow launch and will be part of selected art openings (Nuna was exhibited as a design object at MART, Italy, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovere), fashion shows, music festivals and in selected clubs, (rooftop) bars etc. The possible cities where Nuna will be launched are Berlin, New York, Miami as well as London and Tokio.
This popsicle is art!
Cocktail presentation in a creative way
14-1-2015
Be creative and serve your cocktails in a flask or create your own merchandise. A great way of cocktail presentation!
Years ago I regularly went to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse in Houston that served cocktails in white Geisha or Buddha sculptures. In a bowl behind the sculpture, they put the cocktail in a plastic glass. The straw was placed through one of the nostrils (if I remember correctly). By paying a few more dollars, you could take your Geisha of Buddha sculpture home. A popular collector’s item amongst colleague stewardesses at the time.
Cocktail presentation in a flask
Recently I saw an article at Thrillist about cocktails served in a flask. They’ve posted eight different examples of cocktail presentation at their website. If you own a cocktail bar you can serve cocktails from these flasks, with the name of your bar on it. I suppose that a lot of people are willing to pay a bit extra to keep the bottle! And if more people are coming to your bar because of the delicious cocktails that you serve in these trendy flasks, you create your own merchandise!
Be creative…
This can also be done with other items, of course. If you have teenage daughters you probably know how popular the merchandising of the Hard Rock Café is. Wouldn’t you buy a cup of coffee (and the cup) if it’s served in a cup shaped like a wooden shoe? If you visited Amsterdam? Determine what you could offer to charm your guests! (And of course what brings them back more often) ^Marjolein
Second store for De Bakkerswinkel in Rotterdam
13-1-2015
De Bakkerswinkel opened the doors of their second store in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on 9 January.
Everybody can go to the bakery for breakfast, freshly made sandwiches, a high tea, cake, coffee or a drink with snacks. Besides a big restaurant there is a takeaway shop where you can get a quick coffee and different sandwiches but also buy a cake or marmalade.
Interior
The bakery is located in a former bank office. Designer Piet Hein Eek designed the bakery. De Bakkerswinkel creates new products with respect for the traditional ingredients, Piet Hein Eek designed the restaurant/store in the same way, with respect and understanding of the materials.
De Bakkerswinkel
De Bakkerswinkel is a growing company with eight locations in Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam (all in The Netherlands). ‘De Bakkerswinkel’ is not a chain, each location is unique and has its own atmosphere and identity tailored to the environment. Each branch contains a store, a restaurant, a traditional bakery and kitchen that can be seen by guests.
Piet Hekker is the founder and owner of De Bakkerswinkel. He wanted to create a place where people feel at home. The funding is realized through crowdfunding. With crowdfunding a lot of guests are participating in ‘De Bakkerswinkel’! We earlier wrote about De Bakkerswinkel in Amsterdam West who recently also opened in the evenings.
Dutch Stars Favorites
13-1-2015
The 4 favorite cresses from Dutch chefs who got a new Michelin star in the end of 2014.
The 2015 ‘Dutch Stars Favorites’ consists of Aclla Cress, Basil Cress, BlinQ Cress and Shiso Green. This is a balanced blend of subtle flavours according to Koppert Cress, however, each flavour has a distinctive effect on the taste experience of a dish. The ‘Dutch Stars Favorites’ includes 4 boxes of every kind, nice for smaller kitchens where a full box of one cress is too much. The selection is offered in a ‘Dutch Blue’ box.
Dutch Stars Favorites
The favorite cresses are selected by a number of chefs from Dutch restaurants who received a new Michelin star, end 2014. With the composition of the ‘Dutch Stars Favorites’, Koppert Cress starts a new tradition. Every year, after the presentation of the Michelin stars a new composition will be made by chefs. In the video François Geurts from Restaurant FG (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) indicates how he uses the cress.
