KFC’s Kickass Christmas Dinner
31-12-2015
KFC organized a Christmas dinner in three restaurants in the Netherlands on Boxing Day, KFC’s Kickass Christmas Dinner. Together with chef Bert van Buschbach, known as ‘Chef Bertus’, owner of restaurant ‘De Compagnon’ in Amsterdam, they created a special Christmas dinner of four courses.
Chef Bertus about KFC’s Kickass Christmas Dinner
Guests got the KFC’s Kickass Christmas Dinner served at their table, in three locations of KFC in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam (Marconi Square), Nijmegen and Amsterdam (Foodstrip). Bert van Buschbach: “It was a kick to tackle this project with KFC. We had a look in each other’s kitchens and grabbed the best of both worlds. We made our guests happy with KFC icons combined with aspects from the haute cuisine. For example, we started with an amuse served on the finger of our guests, made of Pepper Mayonnaise and panna cota with truffle, crumb of the Original Breading and chicken with some grated truffle. We also served a crispy egg yolk in the famous Orginal Breading of KFC. When KFC approached me for this project I was immediately enthusiastic. It has been very instructive to work with KFC executives. We have learned a lot from each other.”
Thousands of entries
Marinho Bouwland, brand manager KFC Netherlands told that they received more than 2.000 entries, eventually 260 people were invited. “We wanted to do something back for our regular guests. Last year we organized our first Christmas dinner in Rotterdam. That was a great success. People even came from Hengelo to attend the dinner in Rotterdam. To give as many people as possible the opportunity to join us on Boxing Day we organized Christmas dinner 2015 at three locations.”
Honey Spoon
29-12-2015
The Honey Spoon is a small cup within a spoon, filled with 100% flower honey. An unique way to serve honey without any mess. Convenient, hygienic and unique.
Honey Spoon
Within the out-of-home shops and thus also in the hospitality, alternatives for sugar are increasing in popularity. Honey in the tea is getting more popular. In order to keep it simple and clean and don’t mess with a cup of honey they created a new invention, the Honey Spoon. A small plastic spoon, filled with flower honey. The only thing you have to do is, just like with a normal cup of honey, remove the plastic top. Then you just put your spoon in the tea, stir well and you have got a nice cup of tea with honey, without the mess.
Availability
The Honey Spoon is available in a luxurious dispenser with 125 spoons or in a silo with 20 spoons. It is possible to order a sample via this link. The Honey Spoon is available in The Netherlands at several wholesalers like, Sligro, Deli XL and VHC.
Valentine’s Day at ‘De Nieuwe Poort’
28-12-2015
On the 13th of February ‘De Nieuwe Poort’ in Amsterdam will host a Valentine’s Day meeting for young and old people. The moto for this event is; before you know it, you have got a date!
Valentine’s Day 2016
According to the organizers, young hard working adults do need some quality time to break the workflow. The young adults often don’t know how to do this. Experiences and memories from elderly people can help to have a relaxed afternoon. Elderly people on the other hand are sometimes fighting loneliness; regularly these men and women live without any family or friends. As the organizers already mentioned, elderly people do have a lot to talk about, especially the ones from Amsterdam take no mince matters. These different types of ‘problems’ can be combined perfectly in order to satisfy both parties. This is exactly what the organizers of the Valentine’s celebration do. Previous years both ‘seniors’ and ‘young professionals’ celebrated Valentine’s day, and experienced it as inspiring and fun to do!
Costs
The ‘seniors’ have free entrance, the organisation assumes ‘young professionals’ will pay for them.
About ‘De Nieuwe Poort’
De Nieuwe Poort is a house to meet and be inspired. They want to counterbalance the forces of the economy and politics, because they often prevail in society. De Nieuwe Poort helps the mild forces, in order to make us more human and richer. Whoever eats the dishes of Chef Marcel Johannes, or is just there to drink, they will always be surrounded by poetry and music. In short, De Nieuwe Poort wants to fulfil the role of a community centre and gather different types of people for different types of activities.
Wrong Christmas Sweater party
23-12-2015
On the Korte Heuvel in the Dutch town Tilburg, they celebrated the last Friday Afternoon Party before Christmas with a ‘Wrong Christmas Sweater’ theme.
Wrong Christmas Sweater party
Last year, the largest Friday afternoon party from Tilburg has been a huge success as well and they had the same theme; Foute Kersttrui (Wrong Christmas Sweater). Hundreds of people gathered at the party area of the Korte Heuvel to kick of the holiday season with colleagues and friends. Santa and his Christmas wives were present and there were torches everywhere. One could eat our famous Dutch pea soup (snert) and there was plenty of glühwein (mulled wine) and beer. This year the ‘Wrong Christmas Sweater’ party was held on Friday 18th December as from 17:00 everyone was welcome. With a wrong Christmas sweater you received free mulled wine at Polly Maggoo. Initiators are the owners of Polly Maggoo and it is now adopted by a number of cafes in the area.
Inspiration
Come up with a nice theme and prolong the festivities surrounding Christmas. Since 18 December, the Christmas Season started and there is no one available for work-related Christmas parties so this initiative in Tilburg is a lovely way to throw a party and to generate additional revenue. Win / win for participants and entrepreneurs. Just as the ‘Kerstmiddag’ (Christmas Afternoon) on 24 December in Hengelo.
Sommelierwijnen; a new Dutch initiative for sommeliers with guts
22-12-2015
Sommelierwijnen (Sommelier Wine) is making exceptional wines from small, but very good winemakers available for the Dutch gastronomy. Sommelierwijnen is an initiative of eight wine importers who have joined forces to sell all their wines through one contact. Various sommeliers from Dutch Michelin starred restaurants already work with them.
Collaboration to make wine from small but major wineries accessible
The founders of Sommelierwijnen are all importers with great skill and passion for wines that are being delivered to restaurants. By combining their offerings they make it possible for sommeliers to work with several wineries that would otherwise be inaccessible or impractical. In plain language: you’re not waiting for yet another wine supplier where you might only buy 60 bottles a year or even less. Even though the wine is very special! Thanks to this initiative, sommeliers are now able to order wines at 8 different importers with the benefit of just one contact and one invoice.
One-stop-shopping at Sommelierwijnen
These importers offer many unique wines from the Jura, Corsica, India and even Thailand. Even from within Europe, they sell classic wines made from unknown grapes like Tibouren, Elbling, Frühroter and Roter Veltliner and unknown wines from for example Madeira, Serbia and Bosnia. The 8 different wine suppliers do introduce themselves at the website, each with two of their so-called ‘signature wines’; wines that are an example for their vision and quality.
Roast Chicken Bar, a hip chicken concept
17-12-2015
On Sunday, 13 December a new restaurant, the Roast Chicken Bar has opened in Haarlem (The Netherlands) on the Turfmarkt. A hip chicken concept with rotisserie chicken!
The initiators and owners of Roast Chicken Bar, Bas Lammersen and Michael Kras want to create a place where you can eat the best chicken of Haarlem and surroundings. The hen and her eggs are the highlights on the menu. The eggs are served in many ways, for example as ‘Egg Store Sliders’ (in a brioche bowl) with names like ‘The Hangover’ (egg with bacon and gorgonzola). And ‘The Eggsperience’ including an Avo & Egg combination which is really appealing! In addition there are some classics on the menu such as Egg Benedict and Florentine and snacks, salads and sides such as bio chips with homemade mayo. We think that the menu sounds good. When we are in Haarlem, we most certainly will visit the Roast Chicken Bar!
Hip chicken concept
In March 2015 our colleague Guido Verschoor wrote in his blog (unfortunately only in Dutch) that he expected a revival of chicken concepts in the coming months. Partly based on rotisserie chicken concepts in New York, such as Papa Poule, but also closer to home, Poule Poulette in Antwerp. This is what happening now, in a fairly rapid pace! Even in Haarlem they have a second chicken concept: De Kippenhal.
We wish Michael and Bas lots of fun in their new business and success of course! ^Marjolein
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
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
The croquettes in the leading role
4-12-2015
Kroketten (or croquettes) and Bitterballen (small croquettes) are a real Dutch treat. The last two years we spotted a couple of tasty varieties appearing in the market. We have made a list of them.
For years I used to make this Dutch treat at home, using recipes from the book ‘The great culinary croquettes cookbook’ by Edwin Kats, and of course I always got compliments! Truly amazing are the game croquets from this season but the croquettes with smoked eel are very special as well. We even wrote about croquettes with snails and goose meat on Horecatrends, both of whom are no longer for sale, but it truly indicates that the possibilities are endless! ^ Marjolein
Our list; croquettes in the leading role
1. CROQUÉTJE! a pulled pork-croquette
Sausage-maker Paul van den Hooven from Wild Vleesch in Rotterdam, has developed his own croquette under the name of CROQUÉTJE! The first CROQUÉTJE is a croquette with pulled pork which contains meat that is smoked low & slow on a barbecue.
2. Croquette made of Shiitake mushrooms
A croquette with Shiitake mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms are healthy, delicious and a good substitute for meat. FungiFuturi grows delicious and super nutritious mushrooms in the cellar of an abandoned office building in Eindhoven. They are crowdfunding an innovative snack line of mushrooms. The first product of the line is the shiitake croquette, they presented these croquettes during the Dutch Design Week last October.
3. Bieterballen, croquettes with beetroot
The vegetarian Bieterbal, from Jonathan Karpathios of restaurant Vork & Mes. It’s content? Beet, beet and even more beet! The Bieterbal is available in wholesale at: Deli XL, De Kweker, HANOS and VHC de Jongens. The Bieterbal has also been nominated for the Dutch Horecava Innovation Award 2016 in the category Food & Beverage.
4. Bitter Balzz, a bitterbal with insects
At BUGZZ they make food with insects. Their goal is to bring the durable snack, the ‘Bitter Balzz’ in production. They reached their target amount by 117% on their crowdfunding page. We recently ran into them on the Foodfestival in Amsterdam, where they were already completely sold out halfway Saturday evening.
5. Croquette made from 100% organic spelt
The first croquette and bitterbal worldwide made from 100% organic spelt. Prepared with fresh spices, vegetables and the best organic beef, made by Royal Spelt.
6. Restaurant Valuas’s gluten free croquette
Star restaurant Valuas (*) in Venlo has developed a gluten free croquette. The gluten free croquette is made from ragout of corn, rice and 36% pure beef and contains a crust made of rice.
7. Croquette made from the queen of vegetables
Kwekkeboom introduced a croquette made of the queen of vegetables, the asparagus, in 2013. Since I regularly make a variety of the bitterbal with asparagus in the leading roll, this croquette proves that you can make endless variations with the salpicon of the croquettes and bitterballen.
8. Arancini, the Italian bitterbal
Lightly fried balls made from risotto with a core of mozzarella and smoked ham. Simple and a delicious appetizer! Italian restaurants would have their own variation of ‘our’ bitterbal.
9. Sichuan Bitterballen
For her Sichuan bitterballen Robin Kok used ‘Sichuan style red boiled beef’ that includes ingredients like ginger, chilli bean sauce, rice wine and Chinese dark soy sauce. The Asian bitterballen.
10. Chef Thor
Chef Thor makes bitterballen with different flavours and flavours you won’t expect, such as spinach with Dutch blue cheese, coconut curry with peas or scrambled eggs with porcini mushrooms and truffle. The traditional Dutch concept of a kroket, but just something different and delicious without meat. Chef Thor has been around for six years and have seven different flavours, all vegetarian.
11. Fingerfoodballs
Scelta Mushrooms is the founder of a healthy alternative for the snack range: the Fingerfoodballs. The Fingerfoodballs are vegetable snacks that doesn’t contain artificial colors or flavors.
The ‘Schroefkurk’, the innovative wine cork
4-12-2015
‘The luxury of the cork, with the ease of a screwcap’ that is the slogan of the newest invention in the world of wines. The ‘schroefkurk’ (a screwcap made of cork) can easily be opened and the wine bottle can, contrary to the traditional wine cork, easily be closed thanks to the subtle designed screw technique in the cork.
The ‘Schroefkurk’
Many wines come with a screwcap nowadays. Which hurts in the hearts of wine and innovation lovers, Sharan Visser and Arjan Bomkamp. “Of course it’s nice to be able to close a bottle of wine that is half empty without any effort, but the pop sound that is associated with uncorking a bottle is also part of drinking wine.” Says Visser. When he wondered if there wasn’t another possibility to open a wine bottle, he discovered the ‘schroefkurk’. ‘The luxury of the cork, with the ease of a screwcap’, says the slogan of the newcomer in the world of wine. ‘Besides it is user friendly, the ‘schroefkurk’ is also more durable compared to the screwcap’, says Bomkamp, because of the fact that cork is very recyclable and it helps to decrease the Co2 emissions.
Schroefkurk.nl
Right after the discovery of the ‘schroefkurk’, the idea for schroefkurk.nl was created. Schroefkurk.nl is the first wine shop that focuses on quality wines that all come with a ‘schroefkurk’. At this moment, the red and white wines are exclusively bought from the wine house ‘5 Estates’. Sharan and Arjan are hoping to expand their assortment into a big selection of quality wines soon.
