Cooking at solar power with the GoSun
27-2-2015
GoSun is the portable solar cooker for your nature outings and picnics.
About the GoSun
The Gosun crowdsourced through Kickstarter is available now. The GoSun manages to integrate its sun-powered technology in a highly-portable form factor, making it convenient to bring along. Designed for environmentally-friendly cooking, the stove uses nothing but sunlight as fuel, allowing you to cook a variety of food items, provided the sun is peeking from the sky. But you can use it next to your barbecue to make bread or prepare vegetables.
The GoSun is 2 feet long with a 2.25-inch diameter, it’s clad in the shape of a tube. To use, you place the food inside the cylinder-shaped cooking chamber, open the lid wide, and face it towards the sun. The mirrors retain the heat from the sunlight it catches. The only obstacle for the use of the GoSun is no sun, which might make it a problem in The Netherlands. Up to three pounds of food can be cooked at a time. The GoSun can be used for steaming, baking, frying, roasting and boiling.
The GoSun is trying to break the cycle of poverty
The GoSun is trying to save lives, protect the environment and empower communities around the World. Today nearly 3 Billion people cook with dirty fuel sources, such as wood, dung or charcoal. As a result, the second leading cause of death on earth is smoke inhalation related illness. With every 5 device sold, the people behind the GoSun donate 1 device to change the way they cook at poorer parts of the world. Check this video about the stove and their plans.
Creating great meals in the GoSun stove
As you can see in the video above they asked well known chefs to help them with creating new dishes with the stove. In the video above, the famous chef José Andrés is working with the GoSun.
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.
The Holland Food Valley house
24-2-2015
Thursday 26 February, the ‘Night of the Gelderland economy‘ will take place. Gelderland is located in the Netherlands. During this event, visitors can get acquainted with innovative products and ingredients. In the Holland Food Valley house guests can learn more about sport’s bread, European quinoa, Beeter and “Low-Cal” ice cream.
The house
This house is organized by Food Valley NL in collaboration with InnoSportLab Papendal , the top restaurant of Sports Center Papendal and some companies in Gelderland. In the Holland Food Valley house Erik te Velthuis, chef of the Topsport restaurant at Papendal shows sporty dishes based on innovative products and ingredients. Visitors can discover food innovations from Gelderland and start a conversation with the entrepreneurs behind these innovations.
Inspiration from the Holland Food Valley house
Energy efficient terrace
Holland Food Valley house is in the Innovation Garden, centrally located on the property. There is a heated, low-energy terrace in front of the house. Only when visitors sit on their cushions from Sit & Heat they will become warm, this to avoid unnecessary energy consumption.
Live e-Cooking
E-Cooking by IXL Netherlands, is a new, energy-efficient method to prepare tasteful dishes quickly. This method uses electrical pulses.
European quinoa
This whole wheat, saponin free quinoa was developed through conventional breeding by the University of Wageningen and has no bitter taste. These quinoa is cultivated by farmers in Northwest Europe. GreenFood50
Beeter®
The meat substitute Beeter is one hundred percent vegetable and has the “bite” of high-quality chicken meat. Like chicken Beeter can be used in all kinds of dishes, including salads and snacks. We wrote about Beeter in 2011.
Sports Bread
This bread from Sportgrain is the first bread product with sport-specific characteristics. The combination of farina and fruit provides an optimal mix of fast and slow carbohydrates. The bread is rich in fibers and sugars from fruits.
Creamy “Low-Cal ‘ice
The ice cream from NIZO tastes creamy, contains virtually no fat and 25% less sugar than just ice cream. We wrote about ‘Low-Cal’ ice-cream before.
Hospitality with a story at PRESSROOM
23-2-2015
PRESSROOM opens her doors in Amsterdam in the spring of 2015. The restaurant is located in the former building of the Dutch newspaper ‘De Tijd’. This was the place where stories arose, were written and were eventually printed in ink. These three themes: ‘time, ink & stories’ play a big part in the story of PRESSROOM and have been decisive for the selection of the staff, the interior and menu.
Hospitality with a story
PRESSROOM started looking for staff with an innovating recruitment campaign. Through this campaign, the restaurant has casted characters based on their personal and unique stories. The recruitment is completed, but they were looking for, among others, the following character’s; ‘The Mastermind’, ‘The Fortune Teller’, ‘The Flavour Maker’ and ‘The Brewer’. If you have to fulfil those functions, you do have to create a story around them. 😉 The interior is also based on a PRESSROOM with classic typewriters, ink bottles of glass and large rolls of printing paper.
All day drink&eat
PRESSROOM has selected an all-day drink&eat menu for every part of the day. Coffees are made with a machine of ‘Van der Westen’, also called ‘the king of the espresso’. With lunch and dinner it is all about sharing. The dinner menu is a combination of international cuisine with local produced products. You can drink a cocktail until late at the Library Lounge or the bar. PRESSROOM lives from early in the morning until late at night because the story must go on…
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!
Noma is selling the cutlery and tableware from their pop-up restaurant
18-2-2015
A new development in the restaurant pop-up scene. The Danish restaurant Noma that was relocated from Copenhagen to Tokyo (at the Mandarin Oriental hotel) from early January until 14 February now sells all the chopsticks, forks, bowls and plates online.
About the cutlery and tableware from the pop-up restaurant
René Redzepi had 14 local Japanese artists and potters asked to create tableware and cutlery for his pop-up restaurant that is locally sourced. The result is a collection of artisanal and beautiful but expensive earthenware plates and bowls and organic lacquer forks, spoons and chopstick. The collection was co-curated by the designer and Arts&Science creative director, Sonya Park.
And now the collection is sold through the website.
The Bustronome experience: delicious views of Paris
12-2-2015
Discover Paris on a gourmet escapade during lunch or dinner in a bus, the Bustronome experience. Just like the elegant dinners on the Parisian sightseeing boats, the Bustronome invites everybody to discover Paris aboard a double-decker bus converted into a fancy restaurant.
The Bustronome experience
The Bustronome, is a high-end double decker bus which is offering striking views across the French capital thanks to its panoramic glass roof. At the panoramic upper deck, passengers can enjoy a great lunch or dinner while enjoying Paris. A guided tour in a chic, cosy atmosphere.
Delicious meals while enjoying the view
Two of the menus they serve are ‘all inclusive’ with a selection of wine served by the glass to accompany each dish: champagne (dinner only) / white wine / red wine / mineral or sparkling water / tea or coffee. The tour takes 2h15 for lunch and 2h30 for dinner. At the moment we are writing this article, you can enjoy a Valentine’s day menu up to 14 February. Prices range from 65/85€ (for lunch) and 95/125€ (for dinner).
Bustronome offers an inventive cuisine. Specially invited grand chefs regularly offer new culinary experiences. Some examples of what they serve: Chestnuts’ “bonbonnière” / Poultry stuffed with ‘foie gras’ and season vegetables with hazelnuts sauce / Pineapple mille-feuilles / Scallops carpaccio with pistachio and grapefruit / Shoulder of lamb ‘Grand Veneur’ / Brie de Meaux cheese and caramelized apples.
Inspiration
Why don’t we do the same in Amsterdam? Only instead of preparing the food, we could also stop at a couple of those great restaurants we have in Amsterdam and pick up a dish! Imagine, starters, main courses or desserts from Librije’s Zusje (**); Ciel Bleu (**); &Samhoud Places (**), Bord d’Eau (**) Ron Gastrobar (*) and Rijks restaurant. Wouldn’t that be great? #stealmyidea ^Marjolein
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.
2-course dinner within 60 minutes!
11-2-2015
During the TEFAF (13-22 March in the MECC venues in Maastricht, the Netherlands) the visitors can eat a 2-course dinner within 60 minutes at a selection of restaurants, they will even receive the bill within this time.
TEFAF
The TEFAF in Maastricht is universally regarded as the world’s leading art fair. During the fair, 275 works of art from the worlds 20 leading galleries will be presented. The TEFAF is offering a wide variety of classical modern and temporary art, photographs, jewellery etc. that you can see or buy.
A 2-course dinner within 60 minutes
The initiative for the ‘60 minutes dinner’ is created for the visitors of the TEFAF Maastricht. This way they can also enjoy the city itself. The restaurants who participate are identified by the ‘60 minutes dinner’-logo. Reservations are required under the name of ’60 minutes dinner.’
Italian restaurant ‘modern style’ in Leiden
9-2-2015
From the walls The Godfather and Berlusconi (in graffiti form) look down on the tables with bright red chairs. Zucca is an Italian restaurant in Leiden (The Netherlands) but slightly different than a more traditional Italian restaurant. But they serve artisanal pizzas and dishes created with real Italian ingredients and love for their origin.
Graffiti as art
The staff wears shirts with ‘I’m Italian, what’s your super power?’ And a classic work of art as the Mona Lisa now wears an eye patch and the Venus by Botticelli wears sunglasses. In short, no classic design for this Italian restaurant but graffiti and a contemporary decor. An artists collective created the artwork on the walls that can best be described as a mix of classic and now, with a big wink. The Madonna by Rafael carries a baby in soccer outfit and Botticelli’s Venus is surrounded by graffiti figures and angels on a Vespa scooter.
Italian restaurant ‘modern style’
The interior may be anything but traditional Italian, their dishes taste like they are served in a trattoria in Italy. The pizza crusts (thin!) are made in a glowing stone oven and their pasta’s, anti pasti and secondi are made from fresh ingredients.
New offshoot
Zucca is part of Witteman Hospitality Management, led by Ruud and son Singha Witteman. They now have six restaurants, five of which are located in Leiden. They are known for their accessible hospitality concepts, aimed at a large audience.
Spin to win
These entrepreneurs continue to innovate. Often by thinking and acting ‘out of the box’. Like everyone who will be eating on a Tuesday or Wednesday at Zucca’s; can give a twist to the ‘O Fortuna Rad’ after checking out. There can earn prizes for their return visit, like a complimentary bottle of wine or even up to 50% off on the next dinner.
