Tosti van Josti
26-2-2015
Tosti van Josti, a new breakfast & lunch restaurant, will open her doors at the centre of The Hague at the end of February. A concept that is different from all the other lunchrooms. The ‘Tosti’s’ (sandwiches) will be served and made by people with a mental or psychological work limitation.
Tosti van Josti
‘Tosti van Josti’ works with organic and healthy products as much as possible. The assortment will exist out of sandwiches, yoghurts, soups, salads, juices, homemade lemonades and organic soft drinks.
In the Netherlands we have a band with boys and girls who suffer from down’s syndrome they are called: ‘The Josti band’. To give the word ‘Josti’ a positive vibe and to show that people with a work limitation can function well in a lunchroom, the founders came up with the name ‘Tosti van Josti’. Check out their website, there is a countdown until the big opening at 28 February. We wish all the staff a lot of fun with working at Tosti van Josti.
About the ‘Bakkerswinkel’
24-2-2015
This is an interview with a Dutch entrepreneur and is only published in Dutch. You can read more articles about his lunchroom/bakery store on our website. The first article is about the second store of the ‘Bakkerswinkel’ in Rotterdam and the second article about the ‘Bakkerswinkel’ in Amsterdam who started serving dinner as well.
The icons of McDonald’s: continuing the ‘No Logo’ strategy
20-2-2015
One of our readers e-mailed us a picture of an advertisement with a simple icon, seen in a bus shelter. He suspected that the icon was an advertisement of Mcdonald’s? And he was right. McDonald’s in the Netherlands lets these icons speak for themselves without adding any text.
The ‘No Logo’ strategy
In 2014 McDonald’s USA started the champagne ‘No Logo’. This campaign shows that the products of McDonald’s became brands. Above you can see the first original TV-commercial that was made for this campaign. It was directed by agency TBWA Paris. Now McDonald’s in the Netherlands goes an extra mile by changing its products into just Picto’s. This way they show the Dutch audience that even if their products are advertised as Picto’s, they still are recognizable.
Picto Puzzles based on the Beacon-technology
Besides the pictures you can find on billboards, advertisements in bus shelters and on posters, you can find them as well at more famous places, like the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam and the subway station ‘Beurs’ in Rotterdam. By scanning these Picto Puzzles with the McDonald’s app, you receive a notification to play Picto Puzzle. Mcdonald’s is the first advertiser in the Netherlands who inserts the Beacon-technology.
The AntiCafé – more comfortable & cheaper than holding office in the Starbucks
20-2-2015
Leonie van Spronsen, lives and works in Paris and visited the AntiCafé. At this place you pay for the time you spend there!
In big cities most people have small homes and big dreams. To make these dreams come true you need to make long hours of studying/working/meeting and with those small living situations and high rents, finding a place to work can be challenging.
This fact has made it completely acceptable to work in your local Starbucks/McDonald’s/Coffee shop but obviously this is not ideal, the manager does not appreciate you being there all day, the F&B is expensive and the furniture was not set up for comfort on the long haul.
This is where the AntiCafé comes in, a concept where you are at a hospitality outlet and pay for time instead of per item. For a couple of euro’s you receive;
• coffee and tea
• snacks and fruits
• fast Wi-Fi
• access to a projector, printer, scanner and board games
• in addition, you are welcome to bring in your own food/soft drinks
You come in, receive a keycard that you need to hold onto until you leave, then when you are ready to leave you ‘check-out’ and pay per hour (€4 for the first hour, €3 per hour for the following hours and a maximum of €16 per day), that’s how easy it is.
Weekend days all Parisian locations fill up completely, you really have to be early to get a good spot!
The idea is to create a shared space where people can work, inspire each other or just have an extension of their living rooms. Maybe the mission statement is somewhat idealistic, dare I say hippie, but the practicality of the concept is very convenient. You are working between people from all over the world, hearing a plethora of languages, have access to unlimited drinks & snacks and you are comfortable in a beautiful, light space. I hope the AntiCafé will take the world by storm!
Editor’s Note: In the Netherlands we have a meeting concept, Seat2meet. You can work here and get free Wi-Fi, coffee, tea and lunch. Their business model is renting meeting rooms: premium spots for flexible workers who want a little more quiet, and meeting rooms for groups. The only conditions if you want to work here; you need to show your ‘social capital’ meaning, everyone present is aware of your expertise and if possible you help each other. Meanwhile Seats2meet has quite a few branches. Perhaps an idea for Paris?
And while we’re at it: look at DrawAttention. You can buy whiteboard stickers here to stick on your laptop cover, on which you can advertise your expertise or say you don’t want to be disturbed!
Instock Toko & Truck on the barricades against food waste
19-2-2015
Instock comes up with a new take away shop (Instock Toko) and a mobile food truck (Instock Truck) to reduce food waste. The first initiative of Instock, a pop-up restaurant in Amsterdam, opened in June 2014. Like in this pop-up restaurant, the food served at the Instock Toko & Truck are made from products that otherwise would be wasted.
Instock Toko & Tuck
At the new take away shop, Instock Toko, they will offer warm meals, salads, soups and juices every day. They don’t work with a standard menu as the meals are made from the harvest of the day. Customers help to reduce food waste by buying a meal at the Instock Toko. The take away shop will open the doors tomorrow (20 February 2015) in Amsterdam.
The Instock Truck is an old Mercedes Benz fire truck that has been turned into a green food truck. With this truck, the Instock team is able to make people aware of the food that is being wasted throughout the Netherlands. The food truck will be participating in several festivals this summer.
Food waste
Research shows that about 30 till 50 percent of our food is wasted. Throw away food does not only costs money, but also the energy consumed in the production, packaging, transportation and food preparation gets lost. Selma Seddik, Bart Roetert, Merel Laarman and Freke van Nimwegen, four employees of the Dutch supermarket chain ‘Albert Heijn’, came up with a plan to reduce food waste. While under employment at ‘Albert Heijn’ they got the opportunity to realise their plan. Now cars are driving along a number of AH supermarkets every morning. At those supermarkets they collect all the products that cannot be sold anymore, for example bread that’s one day old or fruit, vegetables and potatoes in a packages with damages. We wrote earlier about the pop-up restaurant, so if you want to know more about their pop-up restaurant, read this.
The Burger Club – Brings burgers to life through thoughtful ingredients.
17-2-2015
At the Burger Club at the Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam you can choose between three types of meat for all the burger they serve; MRIJ (Dutch) beef, USA Wagyu beef and Iberico pork. Difficult to choose.
Burger brought to life through thoughtful ingredients
Burgers like a Classic, BBQ, Greek, De Luxe or a juicy burger (the latter with gorgonzola in the meat) can be served with all the above types of meat. The MRIJ (Dutch) beef comes from butcher Piet van den Berg and is made from cattle grazing on the banks of the Meuse, Rhine and Ijssel rivers. For those who can’t choose, you can taste all three varieties if you order the sliders.
Owner Luis originates from Spain and you can trace back some Spanish influences in the menu. He serves a burger with chorizo and jalapeno peppers or one with Iberico ham and aioli. The fries are fried in olive oil, which clearly reflects on the taste. But they also serve a ‘Dutch Weed’-Burger, a vegetarian burger with seaweed as main ingredient. And a burger from grilled farm chicken combined with mango chutney.
Gin + Tonic at the Burger Club
Besides wine and beer the Burger Club also serves gin & tonics. Guests can choose from four types of tonics and eight varieties of gin, including Bobby’s, Hendricks and the German gin, Monkey 47.
Burger bars/restaurants are popular in the Netherlands
Hamburgers from fine quality beef remain trendy. The last couple of years we saw a rise in the number of burger bars or restaurants. If you as a restaurant owner would like to offer your guests more choice in the type of meat, check out the choice from The Frozen Butcher .
Foodtruck special | Heet Brood
11-2-2015
The Summer of 2014 was one of thriving food festivals. With several events focused on mobile kitchens and a lot of food trucks on smaller festivals throughout the country, the open air food offer grew tremendously. This was partly due to the efforts of The Food Line-Up, ‘Vleesch Noch Visch’ and ‘Rollende Keukens’.
Dutch food truck in Amsterdam
Recently an article on Dutch news website Nu.nl announced that the municipality of Amsterdam starts with giving out permits for food trucks on the streets of the Dutch capital. A great trigger to start a food truck special at Horecatrends.com and highlight some of the food trucks mentioned in the (Dutch) book ‘Reizende Sterren’ (Travelling Stars).
Heet Brood
The pictures on this page belong to ‘Heet Brood’, a food truck owned by Josine Beugels. It’s more than a food truck, it’s better described as theater-art-caravan where you can find some cheesy cooking skills with bread.
‘Reizende Sterren’
The book ‘Reizende Sterren’ is only available in Dutch. If you want to show your (favorite) food truck at the website please write to tip@spronsen.com. If you’re interested in the Dutch food truck scene we can definitely recommend the annual ‘Rollende Keukens’ event in Amsterdam in May with over a hundred trucks on one location.
Foodtruck special | Crêpes-mobiel
11-2-2015
The Summer of 2014 was one of thriving food festivals. With several events focused on mobile kitchens and a lot of food trucks on smaller festivals throughout the country, the open air food offer grew tremendously. This was partly due to the efforts of The Food Line-Up, ‘Vleesch Noch Visch’ and ‘Rollende Keukens’.
Dutch food truck in Amsterdam
Recently an article on Dutch news website Nu.nl announced that the municipality of Amsterdam starts with giving out permits for food trucks on the streets of the Dutch capital. A great trigger to start a food truck special at Horecatrends.com and highlight some of the food trucks mentioned in the (Dutch) book ‘Reizende Sterren’ (Travelling Stars).
Crêpes Mobiel
The pictures on this page belong to the Crêpes Mobiel. A typical French foodtruck where you can make your order in the language of love. The truck is owned by French chef Frédéric Holaind and nowadays his whole family is involved in the foodtruck. His son Wojtek built the website, his daughter Nina bakes the small pancakes almost as perfect as her father does and his wife Marjan quit her job to help managing the truck. With a new paint-job and check-up the truck and its crew is totally ready for the new season.
‘Reizende Sterren’
The book ‘Reizende Sterren’ is only available in Dutch. If you want to show your (favorite) food truck at the website please write to tip@spronsen.com. If you’re interested in the Dutch food truck scene we can definitely recommend the annual ‘Rollende Keukens’ event in Amsterdam in May with over a hundred trucks on one location.
Fancy kebab – fancy fastfood taken to a whole new level!
10-2-2015
We have seen it all in the fancy fastfood trend; gourmet burgers, luxury pizzas, crepes galore and the biscuits and chicken wings that you can get in all shapes & sizes in the States these days. However in Paris they have taken it to another level; fancy kebab!
Fancy Kebab or ‘un kebab quasi gastronomique’
Whilst in line you can see the pita’s being freshly baked in the corner, after which it will be filled with fresh meats from Desnoyer, one of the most well-known quality butchers in Paris, fresh herbs galore and two types of freshly made sauces!
The unleavened pita is kneaded and baked in front of the customers from wheat flour and organic spelled wheat. The recipe is developed by Jean-Luc Poujauran, an artisanal baker.
Because the pita is probably not enough they also sell freshly cut & spiced French fries from bio-potatoes that complement the luxury fast food experience. To top it off they sell a selection of exquisite juices, like pêche de vigne Lyonnaise, pamplemousse rose d’Israël or Cassis noir de Bourgogne, different waters, beers & sodas.
Even the biggest snob can’t wait to be in line for this doner kebab! And like the French say; At Grillé they innovated and introduced; ‘kebabs quasi gastronomiques’ ^Leonie van Spronsen
Wheelys, a full service café on wheels
5-2-2015
Wheelys is a full service café on wheels. The bike serves coffee, tea, cold drinks, juices, pastries, fruits, salads and sandwiches. Everyone can buy the bike and ride through the city, the only thing that you have to do is to pay a small monthly fee. We wonder how how it is regulated in these countries with the licenses.
Wheelys
There are several advantages of the café on wheels. You will have minimal startup costs, minimal running costs, it is ECO-friendly, healthy and very profitable. With one single Wheelys you can earn up to $700,= in one day. In the first four months that Wheelys has been around they sold more than 30 cafés to more than 10 countries.
The café was founded by Thomas Mazetti, former head of a successful advertising agency. He brought other thought leaders from Scandinavian superbrands like IKEA and H&M in to his team. Together they created Wheelys.
