Process wine into…
1-12-2015
Bram Kosterink likes to drink or serve a fine wine! In this article he will give a few examples of how wine is used in an entirely different manner. He writes about Pinot Noir Sea Salt and Wine Ice Tea.
The fact that wine and the hospitality industry are friends is well known! Processing wine and using or selling it as an entirely different product is not well-known. In what ways can you use wine other than to support a dish or to use it in sauces? For inspiration he collected some examples:
Process wine into Pinot Noir Sea Salt
Prepare your own sea salt with the taste and colour of Pinot Noir. Creating your own Pinot Noir sea salt is easier than baking an egg. Use 5 till 10 ml Pinot Noir for every 50 grams of coarse sea salt. Let the Pinot Noir reduce to a syrup (will take about 15 to 20 minutes). Add the salt to the wine once it’s reduced, blend it well with a spatula and let it dry on a plate for at least 12 hours. The result: Your own Pinot Noir Salt! The salt tastes great on a sirloin or tenderloin! Read Brain Sullivan’s article in The Huffington Post for more details.
Tip: Prepare the sea salt with the same bottle of Pinot Noir you’ll serve during dinner.
Process wine into Wine Iced Tea
An iced tea made of wine grapes. The tealeaves are completely replaced by freshly harvested grape skins which gives the tea the sophisticated taste of wine. The Wine Iced Tea is available in the flavours Chardonnay, Cabernet or Pinot Noir. Each iced tea has its own ideal ‘wine’–food combination. For example, the Chardonnay goes great with salads and white meat. The Cabernet does taste great with hard cheeses, pâtés and stews and the Pinot Noir is perfect with baked salmon, lobster and paella’s. The iced tea doesn’t contain any alcohol, which makes it child friendly.
Tip: It would be nice to serve parents a real glass of wine, and their kids a Wine Iced Tea!
Other examples of products that relate to wine are The Real Wine Gum and Writing with wine.
Christmas decorations: the exterior of your building illuminated with a laser show
26-11-2015
Easy to use laser show for the Christmas season at the exterior of your restaurant or hotel.
Laser Show: Easy Christmas lights
Although the video at the article on toxel.com looks like an advertisement of a sales channel on TV (which it probably is), we still want to mention this awesome Christmas decoration.
Because it is a distinctive way to put your property in thousands of stars and the reseller tells you it’s more sustainable than the old fashioned Christmas lights we use today. Beside that we all know how long we are busy arranging those lights! The Star Shower laser projector covers the entire building with thousands of stars. See the photos in the video above and in the article on toxel.com. Online you will find different models and reviews. It’s a real eye-catcher for the exterior of your restaurant or hotel.
Experience retail
25-11-2015
Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters is getting more and more into the ‘experience retail’ with the acquisition of Philadelphia-based Vetri Family restaurant group.
Experience retail
As the writer of the article at Eater.com states: “Experience retail” swaps dinner-and-a-show for dinner-and-some-shopping. As a mother of a daughter who loves to shop at Urban Outfitters, I have to admit that it would be great to be able to say; “take your time while you’re shopping, I will be at the restaurant or at the nail studio”. Imagine all that within one shop.
As a response on their stock decline of 6,94% over the past three months they started as a clothing and home goods retailer. It expanded into a more general lifestyle arena, with concept stores including in-house nail bars and performance stages as well as restaurants from great American chefs, like Marc Vetri, Michael Symon and Ilan hall since spring 2014. In April 2014 Space Ninety 8 opened, the Williamsburg Urban Outfitters concept store that includes an auxiliary branche of The Gorbals, the restaurant of Ilan Hall’s.
Urban Outfitters has been experimenting with the ‘experience retail’ since 2008, at that moment their store in Los Angeles, Space 15 Twenty, including a nail art studio, a skateboard shop, a performance stage and an Umami Burger outpost.
Read the full article on Eater if you want to know more.
Inspiration
Is co-creating an experience with local restaurants, a benefit your shoppers can’t buy with a click on their mouse? Is it perhaps one of the answers to the growing e-retail business? In the Netherlands we currently have multiple chefs who fit the current retail concepts. However if we change it around and imagine that restaurant chains start selling clothing or other goods via shop-in-shop formulas is prohibited according to the Dutch government. With all the current developments in today’s world it is necessary to review the legislation as a response to the competition of the retail with respect to the hospitality industry. ^Marjolein
A pop-up space next to Osteria Vicini
24-11-2015
Osteria Vinchi has always been open for innovation, the space next to the restaurant will be the place to carry out new ideas from now on. They will start with Bar Vicini, a new pop-up cocktail bar.
Pop-up cocktail bar in Osteria Vicini
There appeared to be demand for a bar in Kralingen (Rotterdam) where you can drink good whisky’s, gin & tonics and cocktails in a stylish atmosphere. This atmosphere is created with a carefully selected interior with lots of velvet, shining elements, mirrors and a few special eye-catchers. For example, they use bar stools from an old Belgian casino and one can’t miss the giant bronze tusks from Spain. In a big box there are records from the sixties to the eighties, which will be played upon request. Another important aspect to the atmosphere is the barman, a professional who makes the finest cocktails without seemingly much effort. The bartender will occasionally make a round with olives, bruschetta’s, aged pecorino, prosciutto or oysters. Bar Vicini is accessible via the Osteria through heavy, red velvet curtains and has its own entrance.
Bar Vicini is part of the Dudok Group which is a leading company since 1991 in the hospitality, event and hospitality industry in the Netherlands.
Inspiration
Do you have a vacant building next to your restaurant and is it possible to make a good price and agreement with the landlord? The example of the Dudok Group to experiment with new ideas in a pop-up formula, is a pretty good idea.
Zen Tea, Chinese High Tea
20-11-2015
Lotus restaurant in Vlijmen offers a Chinese High Tea with six different kinds of tea. A Chinese tea ceremony with sweet and savoury snacks and a refreshing dessert. A real Zen Tea.
High Tea has been popular in The Netherlands for a while now, in several restaurants it’s even on the standard menu. Besides the ‘standard’ High Tea, we’ve never heard of a High Tea at a real Chinese restaurant in The Netherlands. Our colleague Lennert Rietveld from Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy met Willem Man while he was giving a presentation about culinary trends for Chinese entrepreneurs at Koninklijke Horeca Nederland. He enthusiastically told him about his High Tea service at his restaurant Lotus, the Lotus Zen Tea.
Lotus Zen Tea
Zen Tea was created during an inspiration session with the staff and it’s definitely a good way to fill up the less busy moments. Lotus Zen Tea starts with a refreshing towel, followed by a Chinese tea ceremony. According to the ritual, all the teacups will be placed on the table and the first cups of tea will be poured. Next to tea, guests will also get a glass of rosé. Then the sweet snacks will be served which were made in cooperation with de Vermeulen & Den Otter bakery. Think of macarons with flavours like lychee, ginger and green tea, diced coconut cake, lemongrass cookies and lightly salted cashew cookies. After a zen moment more savoury snacks will be served. Steamy baskets containing dainty dishes such as Sieuw Mai and Ha Kaauw, prepared by chef Tak Kee Yeung will be stacked on the table. The Zen Tea ends with ice cream made of red pepper and star anise with fresh fruit. The ice is specially designed for restaurant Lotus by ’t Heusden Ijshuys. The Zen Tea is also available in an completely vegetarian kind, it lasts about two hours and costs € 25,= per person. Restaurant Lotus also has designed special gift vouchers. Sounds great right? The magazine Pâtisserie & Dessert has also written an extensive article about the Lotus Zen Tea.
Pop-up winter chalet by York & Albany
18-11-2015
In the cosy courtyard of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant York & Albany, an alpine-style winter chalet is installed. If you’re in London this is a great place to share cocktails and a snack platter.
Pop-up winter chalet
This summer York & Albany brought the beach to downtown London. We wrote about their beach shack where seaweed Martini’s and Bacardi Rum slush in mini buckets and alcoholic popsicles with for example Pimm’s liqueur were served. This winter the beach shack is replaced by a pop-up winter chalet, complete with fairy lights, pine cones, lanterns, blankets to wrap yourself in and an open fire on the terrace. They will be serving a snack platter by chef Will Stanyer, raclette, venison Kromeski and rainbow trout with horseradish mousse, sweet treats like coconut and lychee snowballs and baked Alaska. All accompanied by hot or cold cocktails, including York & Albany’s own Winter Spiced Old Fashioned with home-infused vodka. The chalet is open from 30th October until the 28th of February 2016.
Inspiration
We read about the pop-up winter chalet in an article from The Telegraph about Christmas pop-up restaurants. We don’t have that many pop-up concepts in the Netherlands so we hope this pop-up will be an inspiration. If you check the website of York & Albany you can even find some great cocktail recipes.
Launch Primedinners “Business, Friends, Romance… it’s all on the table”
17-11-2015
Horecatrends was present at the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam to attend Primedinners’ official launch. The evening, which was entirely devoted to the global top of gastronomy, started with a walking-dinner. You can watch a video about the event here.
Eleven international Michelin star chefs, ranging from one to three Michelin stars, with a total sum of 18, each prepared their own signature dish. The sous-chefs of famous Dutch restaurants, appraised with a Michelin star, were also present to support the international chefs. The eleven chefs and their dishes:
- Peter Armellino * – Smoked salmon mousse-cannelloni with caviar
- Fabio Bragagnolo ** – Slowly cooked John Dory, quinoa, clip fish and horseradish
- Cornelius Speinle * – Langoustine tartare, cream of fruit and sour vegetables and caviar
- Peter Rudolph * – Poached rabbit loin, celeriac, truffle, chanterelle and burnt bread
- Yusuke Takada ** – Smoked eel with Japanese spices
- Viki Geunes ** – Foie gras, North sea crab, miso, celeriac and buckthorn
- Matteo Ferrantino ** – Black Cod “Caldeirada” -style
- Jarad Gallagher * – Foie gras, roses, apricot, brioche and chocolate bottom.
- Mitsuru Konishi ** – Beef & carrot
- Phillip Foss * – French fries and a Frosty
- Jacob Jan Boerma *** – Happy Berry, citrus, mango, yuzu, blueberries and goji berries
About Primedinners
Primedinners will be the new connection between Michelin star restaurants, suppliers and guests. The international network founded by Chanine Steffers and John Rietdijk offers the Michelin star chefs the platform that is so desperately needed, says Jacob Jan Boerma. On the website, that launched yesterday, you can book at the affiliated (Michelin star) restaurants and buy products from renowned suppliers.
The evening came to an end with the official Dutch premiere of the movie Burnt. The movie is about chef Adam Jones and his struggle to achieve three Michelin stars. It contains a lot of action, humour and love. Whether it actually reflects the truth is debatable. Despite that it’s a fun movie for people that love the culinary world, as well as people who don’t!
We really enjoyed it and wish Primedinners all the best! ^Bram Kosterink
#tousaubistrot Parisian hospitality industry reacts to the attacks
17-11-2015
#tousaubistrot by ‘Le Fooding’ is an initiative calling all people in Paris to return to the bistros, brasseries and restaurants tonight (November 17). In order to join in a minute’s silence in memory of the victims. The occasion will be held in their establishments and on their terraces at nine o’clock.
Le Fooding initiates #tousaubistrot
The gourmet magazine ‘le Fooding‘ invites, through social media, all his friends, partners, followers, visitors of Paris and all the french who can afford it to go out for dinner tonight. Besides the minute of silence in memory of the victims of the attacks of last Friday #tousaubistrot also aims to provide help to those working in the hospitality industry. In addition, the founders of ‘Le Fooding’ also want to show that Paris is Paris and it won’t be changed by fear. As one of the cartoonists from Charlie Hebdo so clearly implied in his view of the events of November 13: “Friends from the whole world, thank you for #prayforParis but we do not need more religion. Our faith goes to music! Kisses! Life! Champagne and joy! #Parisisaboutlife. ”
What should a restaurant owner do if there is shooting in the neighbourhood?
Since my daughter lives and works in Paris, I hardly slept the night of 13 November. Luckily she was at home and we soon had contact. However it took a while to locate friends and colleagues. This process was accelerated through WhatsApp and social media. The safety check of Facebook was a great initiative and provided incredible support. Yet the whereabouts of one female colleague remained unclear until three o’clock in the morning. She was visiting a bar that night and the bar owner closed the doors and barricaded them, as soon as they heard that shootings took place in other bistro’s. He tried to protect his guests this way and because her mobile phone was not charged, it was impossible to have contact. I am certain that there are many more stories in which owners of French restaurants have undertaken action or were just unable to do so. What would you do?
The French have a saying that will certainly describe the atmosphere tonight at nine o’clock, ‘Chantons sous les armes’ roughly translated as ‘Lets sing, despite the tears’. We wish all the restaurants, many guests and we will be with them in our thoughts at nine o’clock tonight. ^Marjolein
The iSommelier by iFavine
13-11-2015
The iSommelier filters oxygen from the air and herewith the decanting process is being accelerated, reducing the time from a few hours to minutes. The iSommelier is a product of iFavine.
Glass carafes fit in the neatly designed device in which purified oxygen is added to the wine. In the corresponding mobile app the knowledge concerning thousands of wines from around the world is collected. The device is programmed in a way that the winemaker tells the user how the wine should be drunk.
The iSommelier by iFavine, a perfect balance between oxygen and wine.
That is the effect of the iSommelier, which excludes all the limitations of traditional decanting. Several natural elements in the air can affect the quality of a wine when it is traditionally decanted; pollution, odours, moist, differences in air pressure or temperature. This first ‘smart decanter’ uses new technology to provide solutions to these problems. Three filters purify the air and increase the oxygen content from the average of 21% to a maximum of 90%. Moreover, it removes pollutants and moist. The device isolates oxygen from nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. The iSommelier includes a patented glass carafe. This carafe is specially designed to distribute oxygen evenly throughout the wine. This results in a constant level of oxygen in the wine which makes tannins rounder and the wine tastes more elegant. As a result of this method all flavours will be enhanced and the full potential of the wine will be revealed.
According to the Dutch ambassador of the iSommelier by iFavine, Edwin Raben (famous Dutch sommelier) each restaurant should have a iSommelier. “Restaurants will be able to decant their (arrangement) wines by the glass. Moreover, also young wines can be consumed much earlier because of the softening effect at the tannins. The effect on white wines is also huge, think for example of young Riesling.”
There are already a couple of Dutch restaurants working with the iSommelier: for example FG restaurant and FG Food Lab by Francois Geurds (Rotterdam), restaurant Beluga (Maastricht), Restaurant Fred (Rotterdam), Wolf Atelier (Amsterdam) and the Sotto Wine Lounge (Ermelo).
Alain Rosier (sommelier restaurant FG & FG Food Labs) over the iSommelier
“We started working with the iSommelier last week and we are experimenting as we speak. This week we opened a great Château Mouton Rothschild 1985 (see photo) and we were able to serve the wine after 30 minutes with a great bouquet. With the iSommelier you can act quickly if a wine needs a little more oxygen to make the wine more tasteful. Heavy tannins as in wines with 100% Tannat grapes, break down easily with the iSommelier. Additionally, you can serve wine more quickly and you do not have to decant the wines for hours if they are ordered beforehand.”
The iSommelier by iFavine is sold from 24 November at the Makro and for consumers in the Netherlands at Oldenhof Kookwinkel.
Dorset’s culinary food plaza along the highway
13-11-2015
A collaboration between AVIA and Willem Dankers’ restaurant Dorset creates a gastronomic experience in their food plaza along the highway, A1 (Lonnekermeer).
The term full service gas station takes on a whole new dimension. Thanks to a unique partnership between AVIA and restaurant Dorset in Borne, a visit to the renewed gas station along the A1 will become a gastronomic experience. Homemade pasta, stewed veal cheeks or fresh baked sourdough bread instead of a simple meatball. Gastronomy along the highway!
Dorset’s culinary food plaza – service, convenience and quality
The renewed AVIA gas station will be reopened by the end of this year. Willem Dankers of restaurant Dorset in Borne was asked to create a new concept regarding the food-related activities. AVIA’s Niek Weghorst: ‘A full service gas station is all about service, convenience and quality. Our customers, no matter how diverse, should experience a moment of rest like at home. In our vision this includes tasty and healthy food.’
Truckers eating stewed veal cheeks?
The concept, a food plaza with a spacious kitchen and a counter with a variety of fresh products, meals, fruits, delicacies and snacks. Both to take with you or eat in, says Willem Dankers: “The concept is based on fresh, healthy products and meals with a lot of variation, taste and of course quality. For example customers can order a fresh, homemade pasta, lasagne, hot chicken, stewed veal cheeks or an organic cappuccino with a warm muffin. Fresh fruit and delicacies. In other words, a complete assortment of food with with plenty of choice with an international look and feel. Of course, everything is top quality, delicious and tasteful.”
All products get a Dorset quality label, the restaurant has recently been awarded a Bib Gourmand, and is listed in the top hundred best restaurants of The Netherlands and a member of the Alliance Gastronomique.
Culinary take-a-way or the classic meatball
Dorset’s food plaza is not only for visitors. Next to the standard assortment, there are also ‘take-a-way’ dishes on the menu. The menu will be updated regularly. “We want to offer as many variation and surprises as possible, in fact the same way we work in our restaurant.” Says Willem Dankers.
Inspiration
An unique collaboration between a gas station and a local restaurant. In 2011 we spotted collaborations between supermarkets and local restaurants in England. Look around in your surroundings with whom you can collaborate and both profit from it!
