CHAOS KARTS | A combination of Go-Karting and Augmented Reality
24-8-2021
Opened in Shoreditch London, UK’s first live action video game experience that combines real-life racing with augmented reality. This all-new attraction throws players into a virtual world, living inside a real life video game to race-battle their friends, family, rivals, colleagues and more. Engineered by The Ents Inc, CHAOS KARTS combines the worlds of Go-Karting and Augmented Reality. This new and highly innovative experience has players burning rubber around an infinite number of tracks in a digitally projected world, whilst their vehicle interacts with the virtual track, and any challenges other players might ‘launch’ their way.
We spotted CHAOS KARTS back in May and wrote about it in our ‘Trends we spotted week 21’ as a kind of new real life Mario Kart experience, but it even looks more spectacular. If you’re going to London with your family, a ride into the gaming world at this place might be lots of fun with older children! For those living in the Netherlands: we will be able to visit a Mario Karts like attraction in Utrecht as well! It will open in September 2021 in House of Karts and it will be named ‘Crazy Karts’.
Reading time: 2 minutes
A craft beer hotel in Manchester | The DogHouse Hotel by BrewDog
24-8-2021
Independent craft brewer, BrewDog, has recently opened its hop-ly anticipated immersive, craft beer hotel: DogHouse Manchester. Located in the city centre, just five minutes from the Northern Quarter, beer fans can enjoy 18 rooms of bespoke BrewDog touches, such as in-shower beer fridges, draught beer taps and fully-loaded mini-bar, plus an epic taproom with 30 taps of craft beer and a rooftop bar perfect for stargazing.
We love some of the features at the DogHouse hotel, like the free beer for reusing your room towels; the 24-hour hotdogs, orderable via WhatsApp and of course the lobby bartender to check-in each guest with a complimentary beer. Or the canine package for the more than welcome four- legged friends, we wonder if this includes a beer for the dog as well? Or check out the beer shower!
Reading time: 2 minutes
Grubhub and Yandex SDG launch robot delivery technology at The Ohio State University
23-8-2021
Grubhub, one of the leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform on college campuses, and Yandex Self-Driving Group (SDG), a leading autonomous vehicles developer inside Yandex, one of Europe’s largest internet companies, will roll out delivery via Yandex’s robots at its first college campus — The Ohio State University (OSU).
We also spotted a likewise system in China, where Alibaba is deploying 1,000 delivery bots across Chinese university campuses and urban communities this year. The bots, called Xiaomanlv or ‘small donkey’ in Mandarin, can deliver about 50 packages at one time and as many as 500 packages in one day, covering 100 kilometres on a single charge. Although the final robot delivery technology in our streets may differ from those some parties are testing, it looks like we will have to get used that these systems will integrate our traffic system. We can’t imagine what it will be like in Amsterdam, it’s already a big challenge to ride a bike here if you’re not used to drive here!
Reading time: 3 minutes
Chipotle tests Plant-Based Chorizo
20-8-2021
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) recently announced its latest menu innovation, Plant-Based Chorizo, is in test in Denver and Indianapolis. Plant-Based Chorizo is the brand’s first new plant-based protein option since the debut of Sofritas® in 2014.
Chipotle developed its chorizo alternative internally, passing companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible, which have several deals with other fast food-chains for meat alternatives on their menus. Let’s see if the plant-based Chorizo will become available in all their restaurants.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 33
20-8-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about the most spectacular off-menu dish at the rule-breaking Japanese restaurant Shuko in New York and to the ‘Cuisine Solaire’ by restaurant Le Présage in Marseille. It’s Europe’s first solar-powered restaurant.
In London you can enjoy cocktails and high tea’s at a disused train station, check out the great 1940s themed high tea video at Cahoots Underground in the article. Also opened in London: a new immersive cocktail experience, Mr. Tipsy’s Down The Hatch! With a lot of OTT-ness!
French food tech start-up Gourmey is working on lab-grown foie gras that could allow restaurants to continue to serve the highly-prized delicacy in an ethical way. Great news for foie gras lovers, it looks like it and the chef who tried it says it also tasted the same.
The new pizzeria Pazzi in Paris is staffed entirely by robots, from order-taking to prepping the dough to putting the pizzas in boxes. Check out the video, as guests you can follow your pizza being made!
We love the idea behind the ‘random acts of kindness’, as does Domino’s Pizza in the USA, they started their ‘Surprise Frees’ Promotion. Until November 21, 2021, they are surprising randomly selected fans with free menu items.
And a link to an article about the new ‘Taco Bell Defy’. The 3,000 square-foot restaurant concept located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, utilizes a two-story model for “the frictionless future of Taco Bell”.
Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Cannibale Royale & Two Chefs Brewing homebrew competition | Love for beer, craftsmanship and collaboration
19-8-2021
Disclaimer: more interesting for Dutchies or those living in or visiting Amsterdam.
The recipes have been critically examined one last time; every bottle has been carefully checked. And the entire competition stock is perfectly cooled. This is not just any beer tasting. This is the Finals of the Cannibale Royale & Two Chefs Brewing Homebrew Competition! Five talented amateur brewers will compete at Cannibale Royale Du Nord on Sunday August 29 for the ultimate award. If the expert jury decides their beer comes out as the winner, Two Chefs Brewing will brew no less than 2.500 liters of that beer according to their original recipe. And to top it off, the beer will be sold in all five Cannibale Royale locations!
Do you want to be there and be part of the public jury? The finale of Homebrew Competition Extraordinaire will take place at Cannibale Royale Du Nord (NDSM), on Mt. Ondinaweg 21. The event on August 29 will start at 12:00 noon and last until 4:00 pm. Book a table quickly via the reservation system on their website. If you want to stay for dinner afterwards, reserve a table separately for dinner.
Reading time: 2minutes
Little Caesars® unveils their new Crazy Calzony™ | Combining Calzone and Pizza
17-8-2021
The new menu item at Little Caesars combines Calzone and Pizza for a delicious fusion of two classic pizzeria favourites. Crazy Calzony features a pepperoni pizza with a Parmesan and buttery-tasting calzone-like crust filled with garlic white sauce, cheese and julienne pepperoni, served with Crazy Sauce® for dipping. The product is available to order online for delivery or pickup starting August 16th, and available as HOT-N-READY® item starting August 23rd. Crazy Calzony is only available for a limited time.
Inspiration for pizzeria’s worldwide? It does look delicious, don’t you think? We spotted the stuffed crust by Pizza Hut back in January, a kind of calzone crust. They even sold a limited-edition ‘Nothing But Stuffed Crust’.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Late Rooms | Willy Wonka-inspired hotel room at the Chocolate Box Hotel
16-8-2021
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, a holiday booking site has paired up with one of its hotel partners to create a Willy Wonka-inspired stay. Guests can expect the full experience in the novelty room at the chocolate-themed hotel, including lickable wallpaper, unlimited in-room treats including a chocolate fountain and if they wish, a chocolate bath.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Trends we spotted | Week 32
12-8-2021
At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about the announcement that a visit to an indoor restaurant, gym or theater in New York will only be allowed for those vaccinated as of August 16. All in a dramatic step to fight rising Covid-19 cases.
Alain Ducasse and Albert Adrià to open an 100-day trial restaurant in Paris and more and more luxury brands are accepting cryptocurrency. The Dolder Grand hotel in Switzerland and BitLux private jets have teamed up for the world’s first crypto-based luxury travel partnership.
Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels have teamed up to create Panera Brand, boasting nearly 4,000 locations and 110,000 employees across 10 countries. All three brands are owned by Luxembourg based JAB Holding Co.
Interesting development: startup Cecilia, the interactive bartender for airports, VIP lounges, stadiums and venues or even hotels. Cecilia mixes 120 cocktails per hour! And an article about 3 robots that can tap beer: Ebar, Revolmatic and Macco Robotics. In the article a video from Ebar.
The Raffles Hotels & Resorts continues global expansion with new openings in 2021 and beyond. With this year their second hotel in Dubai, Raffles The Palm. Check out the other openings in the article.
IKEA in the USA is going to sell candles that smell like Swedish meatballs and another great example of how to use TikTok. The chef of the Italian Embassy in London, Danilo Cortellini spotted pasta chips and decided to upgrade the recipe!
Klimato from Sweden lets restaurants calculate their CO2 emissions per dish, interesting development! And we spotted shampoo bars, a completely plastic-free alternative in bars. A distinctive, sustainable alternative for your amenities!
For fans of the series La Casa de Papel, Netflix and Fever created the immersive experience that is located in the French ‘La Monnaie de Paris’, the institute of the French currency.
Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
S.Pellegrino® Destination Dining | A culinary series exchanging iconic dishes between world-famous restaurants
12-8-2021
S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water’s Destination Dining program returns this fall with an expanded series to connect more communities through culinary cultural immersion, one dish at a time. S.Pellegrino has partnered with restaurants across the U.S. and Latin America — in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York, and internationally in Argentina, Brazil, Panama and Peru — to exchange their most iconic dishes, bringing a taste of a new community to food lovers.
It remains a nice idea to swap places for a short period of time, as has been happening for years at the Grand Gelinaz, or to work together in a different way. The nice thing about S. Pellegrino® Destination Dining is that it fits in perfectly within this period, the chefs create each other’s dishes. I imagine that you could taste vegetable dishes from Alain Passard at a restaurant of a chef in the Netherlands. Many foodies must be enthusiastic about that, right? You can also do this locally like the 010/020 dinners, get your local press involved and create a buzz. ^Marjolein
Reading time: 2 minutes