Food on the rails in the Panorama Rail Restaurant
8-9-2015
With the Panorama Rail Restaurant train lovers and enthusiasts of culinary cooking can enjoy a train ride in the West of the Netherlands and a dinner, every Saturday.
Every Saturday evening the Panorama Rail Restaurant offers a trip by train through the heart of the Netherlands with Amsterdam Centraal as starting point. The train takes you along typical Dutch villages, rural landscapes, the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Haarlem, Gouda and the ‘Green Heart’ of the Netherlands.
The train
These dining cars from the sixties (the TEE trains Rheingold and Rheinpfeil panorama coaches) have a rich history and were originally used in European luxury travel industry. Recently they have been fully refurbished. The train can accommodate about 100 guests and has tables for two, four and six people. The historic trains of the Panorama Rail Restaurant comply with the strictest standards imposed from both the EU and the Environment and Transport Inspection.
The Panorama Rail Restaurant
The unique train restaurant is developed by Promo Rail, a leading provider of charter transportation by train in the Netherlands and Europe. The four courses menu which is served during the train ride will be specially developed by a Michelin-starred chef, each quarter another one. Currently by Edwin Soumang of restaurant One in Roermond. The menu of Edwin Soumang is based on the New Dutch Cuisine. The food is prepared and served by an experienced catering team led by Roland Vos of Buitenpoort Catering Amsterdam. Especially for tourists a nice way to see and taste a piece of Holland in two hours and three quarters.
Royal De Ruijter opens pop-up sandwich restaurant in the Netherlands
4-9-2015
Royal De Ruijter opened its first sandwich restaurant in the Netherlands. In the 9 Streets district of Amsterdam, restaurant Struisvogel temporarily transformed into a cozy breakfast and lunch restaurant. The sandwiches restaurant is dedicated to special sandwiches and pastries. Guests can use various sandwich spread products of Royal de Ruijter to create their ultimate sandwich.
Two kinds of spreads
The reason for opening the pop-up sandwich restaurant is a recent research showing that most Dutch people eat a lot of bread, but vary only little with two types of spreads. Moreover, the sandwiches are routinely eaten in fifteen minutes according to the research. This while variety and attention are really important in enjoying food. Despite the popularity of the sandwich, it does not get the attention it deserves. With the restaurant Royal De Ruijter wants to change this and inspire people to make sandwiches special again.
Pay with #broodjebijzonder at sandwich restaurant
The sandwich restaurant in restaurant Struisvogel runs for one week from Friday 4 September onwards and is open between 9:00 and 14:00. Anyone can walk in from 9.00 am onwards for a creative selfmade sandwich until 10 September. Fresh bread, fruit and Royal De Ruijter products like Vlokfeest (chocolate flakes), aniseed sprinkles, Fruit- and Strawberry-Raspberry sprinkles, ‘Gestampte muisjes’ (crushed aniseed sprinkles) and Bebogeen are yours to use. There is no menu and no price list. Guests pay by sharing a photo of the creation on social media with #broodjebijzonder.
A very Harrods Christmas at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
26-8-2015
Although it’s still Summer, we’ve spotted the first hotel with a great new luxury package for Christmas. The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London launched its Christmas Season 2015 with Harrods.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in the windows of Harrods
The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London is partnering with world famous department store Harrods to celebrate Christmas 2015. The hotel will be showcased in two of the Harrods festive window displays. The windows will be unveiled on 1 November 2015.
Teddy Bear Tea
In honor of ‘Benedict’, Harrods 2015 Christmas Teddy, the head pastry chef Heather Kaniuk will make petit gâteaux, macaroons and handmade chocolates for a Teddy Bear Tea. The tea will be served at The Rosebery from 23 November 2015 through to 10 January 2016.
A very Harrods Christmas in the lobby
Harrods will transform the public spaces at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, including the marble Lobby and The Rosebery, with a red and gold colour theme. They will create a huge Christmas Tree in the lobby which will be unveiled on 27 November 2015. (with a ‘tree lighting party’?)
Guests will be able to book a ‘Very Harrods Christmas accommodation package’, based on two rooms for two adults and two children. The package includes: one night accommodation, full English breakfast in the dining room overlooking Hyde Park, a Christmas Welcome gift on arrival and presents in the guestroom including the Harrods 2015 Teddy Bear and a VIP appointment with Harrods Gift Bureau to find the perfect gift for your loved ones. A Very Harrods Christmas accommodation package is valid between 23 November 2015 and 30 December2015, and is subject to availability.
Inspiration for our Dutch department store the ‘Bijenkorf’ and the luxury hotels in their vicinity? And what will your hotel offer for Christmas? Today the 26th of August, it’s only 120 days till Christmas!
Pantone Café: color on the menu
24-8-2015
Inspired by the Pantone colors the Monaco Restaurant Group opened the Pantone Café in Monaco near the Grimaldi Forum, on the 14th of July. The exterior, interior, trays, chairs, napkins, tables and the food, everything has a color code matching the Pantone colors. Color is on the menu here!
Pantone
The Pantone café is inspired by the Pantone color matching system. Lawrence Herbert started in 1963 with the Pantone color systems company and in the meantime the system has become a cult. In 2010 we wrote about the Pantone Hotel in Brussels. And now the Monaco Restaurant Group (they’re the group behind Song Qi, the Beefbar and Le Bouchon in Monaco) realized the Pantone Café.
About the Pantone Café
The café serves sandwiches, salads, ice cream, drinks etc. and every food item is matched with a Pantone color. You can order a chocolate éclair (Decante Chocolate 19-1625) or a prosciutto sandwich (Parma Brown 18-1531), the packaging is tailored to these colors. You can order an Aperol Orange which is served with the colors 17-1464. The Pantone Café is open until 9 September, so if you go to Monaco ……
Great pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pantone-Cafe/1668295040069683
Culinary inspiration from Barcelona and New York around the Nikkei kitchen.
20-8-2015
Pakta restaurant in Barcelona combines Japanese and Peruvian cuisine, called Nikkei. Peru is the cradle of this popular and inspiring cuisine. In New York, a pop-up Peru Show was organized which included this Nikkei kitchen.
Over 25 years ago, I had the pleasure to visit Peru (especially the capital Lima) several times. Even then, I frequently experienced the influence of the many Japanese people who live there. You could have sushi and other Japanese food specialties for example. Over time, the mix between these two kitchens, Nikkei, became very popular. One of the first great chefs who made Nikkei very popular was Nobu Matsuhisa. Nikkei is already a source of inspiration for chefs for several years.
Pakta restaurant in Barcelona
For Ferran Adrià, former chef of El Bulli and his brother Albert Adrià, the Nikkei kitchen is also inspiring. In their restaurant Pakta in Barcelona they are experimenting with unlimited Nikkei since 2013. In Peruvian ‘Pakta’ means ‘union’, so in this case two cultures with their respective kitchens that melt together. Pakta is the first Peruvian-Japanese restaurant in Barcelona. They serve two menus, we enjoyed the surprising and delightful dishes of the Fujiyama menu, the cocktails and their hospitality. The video shows you what to expect when having dinner at Pakta.
Meanwhile in New York
‘The Peruvian Business Council’ organized the Peru Show in collaboration with the Consulate of Peru in New York, in the Chelsea Market from 27 July to 2 August. This pop-up show was made possible with the help of some Peruvian chefs and artists. They showed Peruvian products, cocktails, gourmet cuisine and fashion. This pop-up show was a preview for a permanent showroom about Peru which is planned for 2017 at the expansion of the Chelsea Market. Read more about the Peru Show on thefoodpeople.
Nikkei, inspiration for a small festival in the Netherlands?
Since a large number of chefs in the Netherlands are inspired by the Nikkei cuisine as well and there certainly are a lot of fans, wouldn’t a small festival or a themed room in one of our new food halls in Amsterdam or Rotterdam be a good idea? And if we could get an international inspirer to the Netherlands such as one of the chefs of Nobu or Pakta, it would be a must visit for all foodies in the Netherlands! ^ Marjolein
Mini Fashion Bar by Pimkie
14-8-2015
The Banks Hotel in Antwerp has the first Mini Fashion Bar from fashion brand Pimkie. Pimkie has adopted the mini-bar concept to bring its latest collection of clothing and accessories to the woman.
Mini Fashion Bar in Hotel Banks
The fashion brand aims at fashionistas who forgot to bring some garments. In their little ‘Mini Fashion Bar’ several items from the Pimkie collection are available, for example a raincoat, comfortable shoes and sunglasses. The collection is depending on the location, the weather and events. The Mini Fashion Bar is integrated in the closet of the hotel room, guests can fit and ask for other sizes via the dedicated fashion concierge. You can pay when checking out. There are plans for Mini Fashion Bars in hotels in Milan, Barcelona, Berlin and Paris.
We have already seen great initiatives of stores or brands teaming up with hotels, like for example Room Shopping at the Dylon hotel. Room Shopping is a co-creation by the hotel and www.9straatjesonline.com. Where guests have the opportunity to browse online through the range of 40 boutiques in the streets. We’re curious whether guests will appreciate and use this extra service of Pimkie and the hotels.
Ripples coffee printer
10-8-2015
With Ripples coffee printer, you can print images and text on cappuccinos or lattes.
Ripples coffee printer makes latte art
The Ripples coffee printer can personalize a cup of coffee. The printer can print messages on the coffee like for example birthday congratulations or your name.
Within 10 seconds
The machine costs about € 915, – and combines 3D printing with an ink-jet system. The ink is made of natural coffee extract and is available in so-called ‘Ripple Pods’. The images can be chosen from the online Ripple library or uploaded via the Ripple app. One print takes about 10 seconds.
Wifi
The Ripples coffee printer has a WiFi connectivity and automatically prints on coffee cups up to 17 cm high and 11 cm in diameter. Printing Latte Art was seen earlier in Taiwan, at the Lets Caffe. However, that system was based on printing with cocoa and was not available to third parties. Additionally Ripples focuses its marketing much more on printing catchy messages rather than portraits alone.
Buiten Adem: A sports festival for adults that leaves you breathless
7-8-2015
The Buiten Adem festival (translated Breathless Festival) is a sports festival for adults in Park Transwijk Utrecht on 29 August.
Breathless at a sports festival
There are many festivals this summer, at outdoor locations the weather plays a significant role and one weekend excluded, this is a perfect festival summer so far. All the festivals do their very best to be distinctive, but a handful are another league. Sometimes they literally jump across boundaries, with Jumping Fitness on the line-up for example!
New sports
The festival offers challenging new sports and workouts like XCORE and BRN, CrossXVest, Slackline, Jumping Fitness, High Intensity Impact Training (HIIT), but also good old favorites like yoga, boot camp, kickboxing, power lifting and hula hoop are part of the program as well. The day is filled with music from the emerging DJ’s La Fuente, Tim Hoeben and The Bear is Square.
Healthy eating and drinking (and a beer after the exercises)
Buiten Adem festival is a kind of sports day for adults, where alcohol is only allowed from 17.00 o’clock. The rest of the day there are plenty healthy snacks and juices from Grizzl, Sla-Gerei and the Aloha juice truck.
Earlier, we wrote about the sold out inflatables festival taking place in Amsterdam at the same weekend, that will be a sporty weekend!
Kornuit puts modern craftsmanship in the spotlight
6-8-2015
The brewers (and marketing department) of Kornuit work with the new generation of craftsmen and puts the spotlight on modern craftsmanship.
Modern craftsmanship
Kornuit works together with sausage maker Erik Waagmeester and blacksmith Joram Barbier and has made beautiful videos about them. Under the heading of ‘modern craftsmanship’ Kornuit will give them and other craftsmen the attention they deserve.
Sausage and upcycled beer opener
Waagmeester developed a sausage based on Cascade hop specially for Kornuit. The sausage is available at selected bars. Barbers has designed a bottle opener from an old beer barrel. The opener which is available at a number of supermarkets in the Netherlands.
Unrecognizable 1RDJ plays one track and flies away
4-8-2015
It sounds bizarre. A DJ who will fly on stage with a jet- pack, plays one track and then runs off again. Then you probably haven’t heard of 1RDJ yet.
1RDJ
By spinning a few tracks from other producers you won’t make it as a DJ anymore. Basically all DJ’s produce tracks and scream for attention with crazy gimmicks like throwing cakes (Steve Aoki), wearing a large mouse mask (deadmau5) or robot masks (DaftPunk). Now a new phenomenon can be added to that list. A DJ / producer who is unrecognizable flies on stage at a festival with a jet pack, plays one track and then disappears. On the Facebook page of 1RDJ and on his clothes there is a clearly recognizable reference to the beer brand Bavaria. This might be a winning ‘summer 2015’ formula for the brand and the artist.
Spinnin’ records
The first track by 1RDJ is called ‘First’ and is quite catchy. The single is released by Spinnin’ records from Hilversum, one of the major dance labels in the world.
