Inspiration from Retail
10-12-2014
What could the hospitality industry learn from the ‘Future of Retail 2015’ report of PSFK? Rehab Studio Ltd. has made a video with a number of recommendations from the report. The recommendations include:
- Retailers will be challenged to create custom tailored experience for every shopper.
- They need to create the technical ability to embrace this personal experience.
- The stores will increasingly need to focus on the fact that they need to be a hub for community involvement. That’s one of their benefits over online shops.
- Checkout must be faster and more easy; paying mobile could just bring that!
Inspiration from retail to the hospitality industry
Especially for larger catering and fastfood companies there are a number of recommendations in the movie of the rehabstudio Ltd. that can be inspiring for the future. Could it work for you if you would receive personalized lunch suggestions by ‘La Place’ if you regularly eat there?
For restaurants in smaller villages, it is important to be the community hub. More and more services disappear from the smaller villages, so you could start operating as collect point for the mail, the dry cleaners and so on. As long as a large part of your potential guests does visit your restaurant on a regular base!
The catering is of course faced with new payment methods, such as paying by mobile. However, many bar, restaurants and café still only accept cash payments! The video ends with a hospitable gesture: home delivery of the groceries! Why doesn’t the hospitality industry turn this around… Why don’t they deliver a custom-made meal at the home of their guest?
Self-skimming beer glass
8-12-2014
The innovative self-skimming beer glass from FndF is marketed by Triple S International. The self-skimming beer glass has a slightly bevelled edge, resulting in skimming being unnecessary and the lager always gets a firm head of foam. The design can be delivered in glass as well as in plastic.
The benefits of the self-skimming beer glass
The company explains the benefits of their innovative glass on their website. They created a list of benefits for the consumer, catering and the breweries. The main reason to start using this glass for your guests is the fewer hygiene risks due to a skimmer in stagnant water. For the hospitality industry the biggest advantage is that anyone can tap well in this glass, especially during peak hours. You also have less loss caused by bad tapping.
Nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2015
Like the Breathometer Breeze, these glasses are also nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2015 (The Netherlands). The glasses are just like the Breathometer nominated in the category ‘Equipment and Services’. Voting is possible here.
Designer table StayAwesome No.1
1-12-2014
StayAwesome is a young company that is constantly searching for original products to produce and to launch on the market. In this way they would like to create an awesome lifestyle for people.
Designer table StayAwesome No.1
StayAwesome No.1 is a designer table that people can use at the park, in the garden but especially on the beach. For the design of the table, StayAwesome joined forces with designer Rogier Daamen. The designer table looks like there is a shovel stabbed in the sand. Besides that, the table looks original, the table saves a lot of space and makes sure that food and drinks do not end up in the sand.
Production
StayAwesome works together with Inmade, that is a producer within the prison system in the Netherlands. It is a factory located in Alphen a/d Rijn where prisoners are responsible for the production of StayAwesome No.1. The prisoners are given the opportunity to improve their lives. StayAwesome No.1 is currently the only one of its kind and soon available in their webshop.
Free pizza slide with A-grades
1-12-2014
The Greenville House of Pizza in New Hampshire is offering its young customers the chance to earn free slices with homework and good grades. The strangest marketing actions are organized to inspire young people to earn a free meal at a fast food restaurant. Last year for example, we read in an article that girls could get a free slice of pizza if they showed their “boobs” in a Pizza Place in Illinois. (Not) a good example of trying to get more guests through community involvement. 
Stimulate students with pizza slices
The owner of the Greenville House of Pizza, a 28-year war veteran helps young people with their homework and treats free pizza slices if they get an ‘A’. In addition, students can do their homework in his “Study Hall Special“ until five o’clock in the afternoon and in the meantime enjoy a slice of pizza for only 35 dollar cents. The owner even helps with the homework, if he understands the subject!
Social commitment
My youngest daughter is currently in high school and sometimes I hear that she didn’t consume her lunch but ordered a pizza with friends instead. Knowing this makes the action above much more sympathetic and that occasional pizza slice is eaten anyway! ^Marjolein
Dutch Coffee Makers back in The Netherlands
28-11-2014
Coffee has gained a more exclusive status over the past years and there are a lot of connoisseurs nowadays. That said, most of the coffees are brewed hot and the (re)introduction of a cold brew method might bump into some doubts.
Dutch Coffee
The classical Dutch brewing method dates back to the Dutch East India Company period. With this method cold (ice) water drips through the ground bean reservoir. Making a pot of coffee takes four to six hours, the result is a less bitter and less acid coffee. The cold coffee barely oxidates and therefore has a longer shelve time. The Dutch Coffee contains zero calories because the fat in the beans doesn’t dissolve in cold water.
Design
The design of the classical Dutch Coffee machines, or installations, dates back to the trade of the Dutch East India Company. The elegant design is a fusion between Dutch stolidity and Asian craftsmanship.
Taste
The various tastes of the coffee bean are well preserved by the cold brew method. The founders of the ‘Dutch Coffee’ company, Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof, say it’s even strange that we’re brewing coffee hot. This tradition probably started back in the days when it was more hygienic and healthier to brew coffee with boiled water. It does have a negative impact on the taste though.
The website www.dutch-coffee.nl/en shows a variety of serving methods, brew-experiments and the machines of course.
Storytelling by Hotel Casa 400
26-11-2014
Hotel Casa 400 launches storytelling website ‘Home To 400’ and shares its history by the motto “Mi Casa es su Casa ‘.
In 1957 Gabbe Scheltema, Frits Bolkestein and the late Nol South took the initiative to introduce a successful student hotel concept from Copenhagen in Amsterdam in Copenhagen. They wanted to offer a solution to the lack of student housing and wanted to solve the increased demand for hotel rooms in the peak summer season as well.
“With us behind every room a story”
The hotel pays tribute to the founders and 57 years of history by launching a unique website with stories from students, staff and visitors of Casa 400. The accompanying video for instance tells the story of the housekeeping staff, but there are also extensive written stories about (former) residents.
Expanding the storytelling website
Besides stories that are published already the website will gradually be supplemented with stories of all students, employees and guests. It is one of the best examples of storytelling in the hospitality industry nowadays.
Breathometer Breeze; a mobile breathalyzer for smartphones
25-11-2014
Breathometer Breeze
The first mobile breathalyzer for smartphones is now available in the Netherlands. Through the Breathometer app the Breeze informs users quickly and accurately on their blood-alcohol results. The Breeze is designed to stimulate occasional drinkers to maintain control over their alcohol consumption and make safer and healthier choices.
User friendly gadget
The Breathometer Breeze turns a smartphone into an accurate breathalyzer within seconds. The Breeze works through a wireless Bluetooth connection, has no warm-up time and is always ready for use. The advanced sensor technology allows precise and fast results possible. If used daily, the battery will last for about 16 months. The Breeze comes with a money belt clip, a key ring holder and a separate mouthpiece for hygienic sharing of the Breeze with friends.
A combination of ‘nice and need to know’
Distributor Tipping Valley BV introduces the Breeze from Breathometer Inc. The Breeze is a nice gadget. A combination of ‘nice to know’ and ‘need to know’. The Breathometer app provides the blood alcohol level quick and accurate on the smartphone screen. In addition, the app provides the function ‘home safely’. The app shows how long it takes until the alcohol is gone from the blood and when people are sober or ‘back to zero’ again. The app can even assist in arranging a taxi through Uber or a local taxi company. In the future, it is also possible to find local restaurants via this app or book a night in the nearest hotel. The app is available for iOS and Android smartphones.
A Christmas wreath as dessert for the whole table
24-11-2014
Desserts shared by the whole table, like a Christmas wreath from meringue, is one of the fine examples you can come up with for Christmas. If you have great examples you’re willing to share, we love to mention it as inspiration.
On a regular basis we hear that the ideas we show at our website are not in line with the daily reality of the restaurant or hotel entrepreneur. There is too little time to bring ideas, with your own twist, in practice. Earlier this year we have written about the trend in Bistros to serve desserts for the whole table. Like a giant profiterole or chocolate balls which are broken at the table. It provides a lot of commotion at the table and is very easy to adapt to your own capabilitees!
Inspiration from colleagues and Pinterest
Chefs with Michelin stars are sharing inspiration, Grant Achatz (among others from Restaurant Alinea in Chicago) for example inspires us regularly with video’s like this one about his menu with as dessert the chocolate ball. Inspiration other chefs can use for their own dishes. Pinterest can be another source of inspiration.
A Christmas wreath as dessert
Wherever you look for inspiration, sharing a dessert with the whole table is special and cozy in the Holiday season. Last month I made a huge long profiterole, filled with lemon curd and sour cream and fresh fruit for a party. Profiteroles can be made in all kind of shapes, so it’s easy to adapt it to Christmas. Last weekend, I made a Christmas wreath from meringue with raspberry sauce, fresh red fruit and some holly leaves as decoration. Easy and fun to eat! ^ Marjolein
A magnifying spoon
20-11-2014
Designer Ernesto D. Morales has designed a spoon made out of magnifying glass as part of a series of absurd products for his fictional company Object Solutions. The spoon is intended to enable the user to inspect each area of a meal prior to consumption to ensure the absence of glass, hair, bugs or other contaminants. The food can be eaten using the same implement. Restaurant owners worldwide shouldn’t be surprised if their guests start scanning their dishes before they start eating with this magnifying spoon, if the spoon goes into production! At this moment the only possibility is to subscribe for a limited edition at his webshop.
Ernesto D. Morales about the magnifying spoon: ““You may be the victim of needless contamination, but you’ll be damned if you’re ever caught eating it.”
This Thursday; the Beaujolais Primeur will arrive!
18-11-2014
The Beaujolais Primeur/Nouveau is becoming popular again. Do you already treat your guests to a Beaujolais menu?
Mid October, I went to Paris for a long weekend and I noticed that there are many restaurant announcements for a Beaujolais Primeur / Nouveau menu on November 20 around the ‘déblocage’. I still remember the years that certain Beaujolais Primeur wines often sold out in advance! Due to various scandals the popularity of the Beaujolais Nouveau dropped rapidly. But the Beaujolais is gradually becoming more popular again, thanks to the quality improvements that growers in the region have implemented.
The third Thursday of November, Beaujolais Primeur menu
People start celebrating The ‘déblocage’ again, so owners of restaurants dedicated to the French cuisine should celebrate this as well! Another reason for a party! Marc Cruellas, owner of Bistrot de la Place in The Hague remained faithful to the Beaujolais Nouveau, every year he treats his guests after the ‘déblocage’ with dishes from the wine region. This while enjoying a ‘pot of Beaujolais Nouveau’ and live French music.
