Get inspired by.. Spoon & Stable
1-2-2016
Leonie van Spronsen, lives and works in Paris and is infected with the foodiebug, in this blog she writes about Spoon & Stable by chef Gavin Kaysen. In particular about his ‘after hours specials’.
Fall 2014 Gavin Kaysen, former pupil of Chef Daniel Boulud in New York (restaurant Daniel**), took the jump back to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he originally came from and opened his first, own restaurant: Spoon & Stable. Since then the casual fine dining restaurants have been a grand success, being noticed from coast to coast in the USA.
Other than super fresh food, beautiful presentations and a great atmosphere there is something else that sets this restaurant apart; their ‘after hours special’.
This genius gimmick is what we would love every fine dining restaurant to do. Every day the restaurant features a ‘fancy fast food’-like dish that is only available at the bar and not before 22h30. This can be a creative bowl of ramen (Japanese noodle soup), duck-confit tacos, freshly made corn tortillas and basically any crazy/yum/exciting dish they can come up with.
Why is this special at Spoon & Stable so great?
There are so many reasons, first it makes your food accessible for many more people than it is now, without having to lower your dining room prices. Secondly the bar of your restaurant will be much more exciting, shooting up beverage sales. Third it gives your team a little bit of freedom to experiment a bit outside of the box. Gives them the opportunity to create and test all their crazy ideas. And last but certainly not least, it could help greatly in eliminating food waste.
Personally, I’m 25, live in Paris and infected with the foodiebug. I would love if some of the great Parisian chefs would open their minds to this idea. Imagine yourself, at a random Tuesday night, 22h30, having a cocktail and grabbing a grilled cheese reimagined by Alain Ducasse.. could it get any better?
Check out this video to get to know chef Gavin Kaysen. He spoke at the Terroir Talks in October 2015. It gives a clear insight in 17 minutes….
McDonald’s Next, is high-tech the solution to a healthier reputation and more sales?
14-1-2016
McDonald’s Next in Hong Kong; a new high-tech restaurant and a new experiment to revamp their reputation.
McDonald’s Next serves
The new high-tech restaurant, located in the Admiralty district, has touch-screen computers where you create and order your meal, so no more queuing in front of a counter. The new restaurant has a salad bar which is shown in the ‘theatre kitchen’. This allows consumers to watch the process of the making of their salad. Examples of the salad ingredients are asparagus, couscous, corn and quinoa. As you watch the video or check out the pictures in the article of the Daily Mail Online you can only conclude that the salad bar matches what you might expect in a deli. In addition they also serve fresh pastries and premium coffee in the McCafé style.
Besides the salad bar you can order from the regular hamburger menu or make use of the ‘Create Your Taste’ option, allowing you to build your own burger with gourmet ingredients. This ‘Create Your Taste’ option is already implemented at the McDonald’s in Australia and in New Zealand.
The Next interior
The interior; pleasant lighting for a relaxed atmosphere, long wide tables create a cafe / restaurant ambiance and like at many coffee shops chains they have wireless phone chargers. Furthermore the elements, wood, glass and stainless steel are used. They’re also experimenting with table service after 6 pm…
You will probably not recognize this McDonald’s except for the golden arches ;-). The Daily Mail concludes it’s a new attempt of McDonald’s to change direction and create a more healthier image. Well we would love to see a McDonald’s restaurant like that here in the Netherlands!
This is how we want to inspire …
13-1-2016
The BillyBird park at Hemelrijk has introduced his own Toilet Experience. They reacted to our questionnaire with an explanation how one of our articles inspired them to create a new toilet building at the park.
Inspire not copy.
Last week we included a questionnaire in our trendmail (only in the Dutch version). Ton Derks recreation-entrepreneur from BillyBird park reacted with a perfect example of how we want to inspire entrepreneurs. In March we wrote about the ‘Toilet Xperience’ on the Extrema Outdoor festival. The visitors of the festival could go to the Loo with a lot of extras. We published this article in our trendmail and Ton Derks got inspired to place three toilet units underneath the roof of a carousel. They created their own Toilet Experience, as shown above.
Did we inspire you? We love to hear it
A great example of how we love to inspire. We write 5 to 10 articles weekly with which we want to inspire entrepreneurs in the hospitality branch. It’s great to see a new twist to an old trend, we can’t all be innovators! Do you have similar examples, we love to write about it.
You can subscribe to our English trendmail here.
Burger Kitchen by New York Pizza
30-12-2015
Since yesterday (29 December, 2015), The Burger Kitchen, the hamburger by New York Pizza can be ordered in the Netherlands. During 2015 New York Pizza has researched and tested the way to deliver a perfect, warm hamburger. Having started as a pioneer in the pizza market (1993) New York Pizza is now going to create a market for delivering luxurious burgers. As the first chain in the Netherlands, New York Pizza has created a deluxe burger, made of pure beef with no artificial ingredients, to deliver.
Burger Kitchen
According to the CEO of New York Pizza, Philippe Vorst, is their hamburger, which they called ‘Burger Kitchen by New York Pizza’, made of 100% top quality beef, pepper, salt and love for the profession. At New York Pizza the delivery process is one of the core activities and this process is well managed. This allows them to ensure that they deliver a hot hamburger.
For the Dutch hamburger market Philippe Vorst foresees a big growth. According to the latest Foodshopper Monitor by FSIN (FoodService Institute Netherlands) the Dutch eat on average 25 hamburgers a year. The average American in contrary eats 150 hamburgers a year. In addition, the Monitor reports a sharp increase and continued demand for honest and fresh fast casual food, which include hamburgers.
#RFWinterTale storytelling around the Christmas Season
18-12-2015
The winter tales about Rudy the elk’s journey celebrating Europe’s Festive experiences. His journey is made even more special by the Rocco Forte hotels. Creating storytelling with the #RFWinterTale.
At the website of the Rocco Forte Hotel chain, you can find different stories about Rudy the elk, who is experiencing different elements of all the cities where the Rocco Forte chain has a residential hotel. In short all the stories are about Rudolph, the elk’s adventures while he travels through Europe. Every winter, he suffered the humiliation of being mistaken for a reindeer. So Rudy packed his bags for a grand tour through Europe, in order to educate the world about the mighty elk, which is definitely not the same as the reindeer. Even though his parents called him Rudolph….
Create your own story aroundRudolph, #RFWinterTale
As we write Rudy has already visited the Rocco Forte Astoria hotel in St. Petersburg, the hotel Savoy in Florence, the Villa Kenedy in Frankfurt and hotel Amigo in Brussels. Nice short bedtime stories to tell your kids, especially if they love to travel! At the website of the Rocco Forte chain you can create your own Winter’s Tale about Rudy. After sharing your tale at your social media channels, you can enter to win a 6-night stay at three of their luxurious properties, for two nights each.
About the Rocco Forte Hotel Chain
Established by Sir Rocco Forte and sister, Olga Polizzi in 1996, Rocco Forte Hotels is a family of 10 individual hotels and resorts in Europe. Located in Edinburgh, London, Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Florence, Rome, Sicily and St. Peterburg. Each hotel is a landmark and they’re all individual hotels with exclusive design and distinctive dining and service. The hotels are member of The Leading Hotels of the World.
CityHub, a capsule hotel in Amsterdam
15-12-2015
Last month CityHub opened its doors on Bellamystraat in Amsterdam’s Oud West district. Fifty state-of-the-art sleeping units, a ‘digital first’ lobby and an app that familiarises travellers with the city.
We spotted CityHub in 2012 when they got the idea and were exploring the possibilities. CityHub is an initiative of college friends Sem Schuurkes (32) and Pieter van Tilburg (29). The young entrepreneurs set themselves the goal of improving the traditional hotel experience in line with the current zeitgeist and technological capabilities. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, they opened a small pilot branch, ‘CityHub Beta’ in Amsterdam’s Oud West neighbourhood in July 2012. With an average occupancy rate of 95% and enthusiastic reviews on Booking.com, Airbnb and TripAdvisor, the pilot was hailed as a great success. Their popularity and success also resulted in a private investor (angel investor) and ABN AMRO coming on board to help Schuurkes and Van Tilburg set up the location with 50 Hubs on Bellamystraat.
So last month the CityHub opened its doors enabling their guests, mostly the travel-savvy Generation Y, to explore Amsterdam, socialise with friends and share experiences online. According to the owners a new kind of traveller has emerged: 20- to 35-year-old digital natives. For them, ‘discovery’ is the key: five-star hotels and stereotypical tourists spots don’t make them tick; they want to hear about the city’s hotspots from people in the know and enjoy a personalised travel experience instead. They are connected 24/7 and expect information on the go: a principle that is not optimally utilised by many traditional hotels. CityHub builds the entire travel experience around these new developments in the travel industry, through a city app, an online chat platform with a personal host, and unique Hubs in which to sleep.
Christmas afternoon party Hengelo’s peak of the year!
15-12-2015
Bram Kosterink blogs about a tradition of his native region Twente, in the east of the Netherlands. An inspiration for cities all over the world.
Most Dutch trends are made and tested in the western cities of the Netherlands, like Amsterdam. Something which was mentioned during one of my trend presentations last Tuesday. This remark set me thinking, which cool successful initiative is conceived in my native region Twente? The first thing crossing my mind was ‘kerstmiddag’, our Christmas afternoon party! No it isn’t Christmas eve or a Christmas diner but ‘kerstmiddag’. For several years a successful tradition in my hometown Hengelo. The initiative was conceived by an entrepreneur with a restaurant in the city centre of Hengelo. After he initiated this event, many hospitality companies followed his idea. Nowadays almost all hospitality companies within the city centre are joining this event.
The Christmas afternoon party is an event which all citizens of Hengelo are looking forward to. Students who left their parents homes, citizens who emigrated to other parts of the country, all come back for this special event! Weeks in advance tickets are sold by several hospitality companies. Prices are ranging from € 15,=, some included entrance fee, other companies include drink vouchers.
Christmas afternoon party
What is the meaning of ‘kerstmiddag’? From eleven in the morning the real diehards are gathering together, others will join during the day. Meetings are set with family, friends and relatives to gather over drinks in several cafés and restaurants, just to meet. At four/five o’clock, after a full day of singing, dancing and talking, people are heading home (mostly a little tipsy). They quickly refresh, take a powernap or start drinking again, all to prepare for Christmas eve.
Annually 20.000 till 25.000 partygoers meet in the city centre of Hengelo, a huge success! The commonly support is the major strength of this event, almost every citizen and hospitality entrepreneur joins the festivities. Curious about the event? Join me at the 24th of December. If you are looking for a ‘good’ conversation, you can find me at café ‘t Uurwerk.
I am very interested in your Christmas tradition. If you have one, please share at tip@spronsen.com and I hope to inspire other hospitality entrepreneurs with your story! ^Bram Kosterink
A small hospitable gesture: Children’s buffet
14-12-2015
The 5-star Brown’s Hotel in London, is not only entertaining for parents but for the children as well. Brown’s Hotel offers, besides the normal buffet, a full equipped children’s station on the buffet during breakfast.
Children’s buffet
The children’s buffet at the Brown’s hotel can only be used by children, ‘no parents allowed’! Equipped with a selection of cereal favourites, fresh fruit, pastries and even reading material for when they are waiting for mum and dad to finish their breakfast and newspaper.
The Italian Baglioni Hotel Regina offers a small buffet especially designed for children as well. One of our followers sent us the pictures, as can be seen above, of the hotel situated in Rome. The Brown’s Hotel and the Baglioni Hotel Regina are both member of The Leading Hotels of the World.
If you spot nice hospitable gestures, please let us now and send an email to tip@spronsen.com.
A guide for child-friendly hospitality industry
The children’s buffet could have been mentioned in the guide for a child-friendly hospitality industry named ‘Kinderen aan tafel’, published in Belgium. The booklet provides a self-test for restaurant owners, practical checklists, tips & tricks for child-friendly service, menu suggestions, tips for plate decoration and additional services. Unfortunately it’s only available in Dutch.
Prêt-à-Portea delicacies with a fashionista twist
11-12-2015
The Berkeley London has been serving a designer afternoon tea, Prêt-à-Portea, for almost 10 years. It’s inspired by the themes and colours of the fashion world. The menu follows the seasons in fashion, changing every six months. Hence, a tea with a perfectly worked out theme.
Although we already spotted the Prêt-à-Portea in 2007 and wrote about it back then, we never got to experience it first-hand. This tea is an inspiration for other hoteliers, merely because of the perfection of the theme which is amazing. Every detail is right: a shoe at the table as a ‘reserved’ sign, colourful and specially designed chinaware, a colourful menu with fashionable quotes, champagne of course, miniature savoury canapés, skewers and tea sandwiches followed by the specially designed sweets. Oh, and don’t forget the fashionable doggy bags!
A fashionista twist
The Autumn/Winter 2015-2016 Prêt-à-Portea collection takes inspiration from a lot of distinguished fashion designers. Taking centre stage is Dolce & Gabbana’s popular pink rose dress from their ground breaking ‘Viva La Mama’ collection, as seen on recent covers of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. This dress is translated in a yummy lychee and almond mousse, set upon pink pâte sablée topped with light pink chocolate and delicate rose detailing. The striped shoulder bag by Valentino tasted delicious as well, sponge cake with cranberry compote amidst multi-colour striped chocolate, finished with a golden handle.
Check out the website of The Berkeley for more details and if you’re in London, I would recommend to indulge yourself with a cozy, delicious tea here. ^Marjolein
Virtual Reality Cinema will be shown all over Europe
7-12-2015
An update regarding the Virtual Reality Cinema we wrote about back in October. The tour throughout The Netherlands sold out really quickly. &Samhoud media will now organise futuristic cinemas in Berlin, Munich, Zürich, London and Copenhagen in January and February.
Business model for the Virtual Reality Cinema
Initiator Jip Samhoud: ‘We can see that our cinema sells out time after time and we sense that there really is a market for Virtual Reality. We noticed that a real business model can be made for VR cinemas. We’ve received more than 2500 visitors, the first few days that we’ve been open.’
The success of the Virtual Reality Cinema will also be continued in The Netherlands. During the Christmas Season, the cinema in Amsterdam will open again! In this special Christmas edition the Virtual Reality cinema can be found at the Passeerdersgracht 19a in Amsterdam from the 18th of December till the 23th. Opening hours and tickets can be found at vrcinema.samhoud.com.
In October we wrote about the first Virtual Reality Cinema.
