A social dining app: Chattable
4-2-2015
Chattable is a social dining app which brings people together in a whole new way.
Social dining app
With the Chattable-app on your phone you can see which restaurants are affiliated with Chattable anywhere in the world. You can see the affiliated restaurants in the overview screen with the opening hours, type of kitchen and the distance from your current location. You can also see if someone already made a reservation or if there are people waiting in the restaurant. Your table guests will not know your name, your gender and your appearance until they sit down with you at the table.
Chattable restaurants have a special ‘Chat-Table’ reserved for people who are coming alone, and like to eat with company. According to Martin Opdam, cofounder of the app, a lot of the people who eat alone grab their phone, tablet or eat in their hotel room. Millions of people all over the world are eating alone. The app is developed to bring these people together.
Increasing sales for hospitality businesses
The amount of business stays and single person households increases, this makes that more and more people are having dinner alone. Next to this there is an increasing need or face-to-face contact instead of digital contact. Research of The University of Hotel Management Maastricht, commissioned by KHN (Royal Dutch Hospitality Association), shows that the expenditures are higher when people eat together. The restaurant owner has more tables for other guests if he brings the people who are eating alone together, which creates a win-win situation.
The restaurant owner pays a low pay-per-use rate for everyone who sits down and checked in through the app. The margin of the owner remains guaranteed.
The app went live on 12 January 2015.
The Apothic Crush letter generator: you’re my crush for Valentine!
4-2-2015
Writing somebody a love letter for Valentine is difficult! But what if a pro did it for you, would you dare send it to your crush? As owner of a restaurant or hotel you could use the tactic this winery did! They made a limited-edition red wine called Apothic Crush and help with writing a love letter.
The Apothic Crush letter generator
The Apothic Crush Letter Generator is now online. So think about somebody you want to write a love letter and go to the Apothic Crush letter generator and answer a few simple questions. A computer operated by a handful of poets will take your longings, your emotions and deepest desires and translate them into an electronically delivered, handwritten letter you can give with a bottle of Apothic.
About the limited edition wine Apothic Crush
The people behind this initiative make wine. Red wine, more specifically, smooth-drinking limited-edition red wine called ‘Apothic Crush’. Tasting notes include: chocolate, caramel, luscious red fruit and endless possibilities to combine with food.
Inspiration
Why not create a possibility to have poets writing poems or love letters to go with an original invitation for a Valentine’s dinner at your restaurant or a night out in your hotel? Ask a couple of insights and create one of the greatest gifts you can give to your loved one, a poem or love letter.
Random acts of kindness for Valentine’s Day
3-2-2015
McDonald’s uses the ‘random acts of kindness’ marketing technique from 1 February until Valentine’s Day. All over America their guests may be randomly selected to pay for their meal with selfies, hugs, high fives, and other forms of love.
Random acts of kindness
In 2009 we already wrote about the unexpected friendly gestures the Hyatt hotel group did to their guests. They gave away free massages, offered breakfast and randomly selected guests that didn’t had to pay the bar tab. Also companies like KLM used acts of generosity in the past. With the prominent position of social media in our lives these unexpected gestures are a strong stimulant for positive mouth-to-mouth or ‘mouth-to-media’ advertising.
The effect of the gestures by McDonald’s
On the internet more and more videos and pictures with the responses from guests who are offered a free meal are posted. This works out great. The company invests in an advertising campaign and free meals, their guests talk, write and share videos with their friends about it.
At the website of RAK, random acts of kindness, you will find a lot of inspiration for your act of kindness. They even have their own #RAKweek2015 for stories about random kindness from 6 to 15 February.
Hart & Ziel competition
2-2-2015
The Mariënhof in Amersfoort (The Netherlands) challenges start-ups, entrepreneurs, everyone to come up with the ultimate hospitality concept for the conservatory and adjoining terrace. The Hart & Ziel (translated as Heart & Soul) competition is the chance to start your own company at the Mariënhof. A wine tasting concept, a tapas bar, a combination of a book store and coffee company, anything is possible. In the first two year you don’t have to pay the rent and with a starters budget it’s the chance to chase your dreams.
Competition
The competition exists out of three phases. In the first phase of the challenge the participants make a creative concept. The concept has to be a proper description of the idea and must include a moodboard to give the jury a first impression.
At the second phase the best 8 till 10 participants will be chosen. These participants will develop their concept into a complete business plan. The participants are offered two training sessions to support writing a good business plan.
A top three will be chosen from the submitted business plans. These are the three finalists who have the chance to win. At the final day on 15 May 2015, the finalists will pitch their plans for the judges and the audience. The winner will be announced on the same day. The winner will be selected by three parties: the jury, the audience and the opinions of the people of Amersfoort.
Review
For the review of the concept there will be looked at the creativity, the promotional benefits for the Mariënhof, the connection with the core value of the Mariënhof, the addition for the City Amersfoort and the feasibility of the concept.
Location
The conservatory and the terrace of The Mariënhof are at the side entrance near ‘Kleine Haag’. The conservatory is offering approximately 35 seats and the terrace offers around 45 seats, both depending on the concept. The winner can use the wine cellar as well if it fits the concept. The wine cellar could have another 30 seats.
Participation
Anyone can participate from the age of 18. A starter who just came out of school, someone with years (hospitality) experience and a dream, The Mariënhof is open to anyone with a good concept.
By participating in the contest it is important to bring the necessary permits/documents into which are needed to start a business. The winner is expected to provide this by his / herself.
The concept can be submitted until 17:00 on February 6, 2015.
Tap Takeover Oedipus Brewing
30-1-2015
The Amsterdam brewers of Oedipus Brewing will take-over the draft at Café De Kaapse Brouwers in Rotterdam on 6 March. They will have a number of 17 beers on draft and will be the bartenders themselves.
Kaapse Brouwers
The Kaapse Brouwers is part of the Fenix Food Factory in Katendrecht, Rotterdam. They proclaim to be the first to bring the craft beer revolution to Rotterdam. The Fenis Food Factory houses culinary entrepreneurs with love for honest products and craftsmanship. Coffee, cheese, beer and many more products are locally produced and sold on premises.
Tap takeover
With many upcoming specialty breweries this tap takeover is a cool development that happens more often. There is for instance a tap takeover by Brew by Numbers at café In De Wildeman.
We are curious which café or bar will dare to continue this evolution of young enthusiastic breweries.
Food films are popular
30-1-2015
Food films are popular. We have the Food Film Festival in Amsterdam since 2011 and at the Berlinale they will also exhibit various food films during the Culinary Cinema program. Including the documentary ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’.
Last Tuesday we wrote about the popularity of food films in an article about the trailer of the film ‘Fucking Perfect’ of Sergio Herman. We used various examples from the past, but recently the program of the Culinary Cinema at the Berlin Film Festival (known as the Berlinale) was published. Which includes the documentary about the owners of El Celler de Can Roca, entitled ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’ which will premiere on 10 February.
Trailer of ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’
The documentary was directed by Luis Gonzalez and Andrea Gomez and is about Summer 2014 when Josep, Joan and Jordi Roca closed their restaurant for a period of 5 weeks. In these 5 weeks, they did a tour of the American continent: Roca n’Roll World Tour 2014. They visited six different places; Houston, Dallas, Monterrey, Mexico City, Lima and Bogota.
Food films are popular and easy to combine with a good meal
In Amsterdam we have the Food Film Festival and we hope that during the next edition they run most movies that are exhibited at the Berlinale. During the Berlinale the Michelin-starred chefs Paco Pérez and Christian Lohse (amongst others) will serve menus inspired by the films. The American chef Alice Waters and the president of the Slow Food movement Carlo Petrini will be honored during this Culinary Cinema. We wonder if it will be such a great tribute as Alain Passard received in 2014. And whether the menus that are inspired by the movies will be prepared by the chefs at the Berlinale as original as the chefs at the Dutch Food Film Festival did during last year’s lunch (Proefwerk). In the article from the website Fine Dining Lovers you can see the list of all the culinary movies shown at the Berlinale. You can book tickets on the website of the Berlinale.
Watt a Hub!
29-1-2015
We Watt is a professional and original charging place for your restaurant. Give your guests the ability to charge their mobile or laptop while cycling and let them do what is good for their health!
In more and more articles we are kindly notified that sitting is the new smoking. We’ll explain what that means later on but in short it means that we have to get moving! As the owner of a restaurant or grand café you can motivate your guests to do so by placing a We Watt table in your company. Your guests can charge their mobile phone or laptop and charge themselves as well while enjoying your coffee or lunch.
Watt a hub in practice
We Watt offers the opportunity to combine to multitask; chat with friends or work while you recharge your device and move! The installations from We Watt are currently mainly found in businesses, public spaces (for example in France at various stations) and in a couple of restaurants. For example in one of the Amsterdam locations of Bagel & Beans, at Schiphol and in the Utrecht Medical Centre (UMC). With the latest version of the ‘Watt a hub’ – table you have a 500W generator, LiFePO4 battery 12.8V 10AH, 4 USB ports (5V) + Qi charging (19V) and your guests are able to set their own resistance. Watch the video of the launch of We Bike at the Belgian company Telenet.
Sitting is the new smoking.
We are already banning smoking from our environment. The new mantra for the next few years will be starting to move. Various studies show that if you as an adult sit more than four hours a day behind a computer screen, you’re 50 percent more likely to get sick. You burn less calories and the blood flow through your body diminishes while sitting behind your desk, which increases the risk of heart disease, vascular disease and diabetes. But apparently, the fact that we get more and more jobs where we sit behind our desks also affects our evolution! It’s recommended to walk when you can, regularly stand up from your chair and now you can also go to a restaurant where you can charge your mobile or laptop while you treat your body to some movement and a lunch!
Fucking Perfect
27-1-2015
The trailer of the film “Fucking Perfect’ about master chef Sergio Herman is released last week. The film runs in the Dutch cinemas as from 19 March.
Films about chefs
We have already seen a few great examples of films and documentaries with chefs in the leading role, like “The taste of the soul‘ about chefs Erik van Loo and Cees Helder and their restaurant Parkheuvel in Rotterdam (Cees Helder was the first Dutch chef to receive 3 Michelin stars in the Netherlands). Great examples are also the movie about El Bulli and the documentary about Michel Bras. All wonderful movies where the chef and his passion are playing the leading role. The chefs often give the viewer an insight into how they work, but also in their life and their passion for the products they work with. The trailer of ‘Fucking Perfect’ promises this as well.
Fucking Perfect is about ..
The film ‘Fucking Perfect’ follows Sergio Herman from March 2013 until the summer of 2014 and shows the enormous drive of the chef. The pursuit of perfection and the sacrifices he makes to reach his goal. The trailer promises an intimate and honest portrait of Sergio Herman with a peek into the kitchen, his private life and shows the choice he made to start making new dreams come true at the peak of his culinary career. In 2003 he closed his 3-star restaurant Oud Sluis, to start building a new ‘dream’ in Antwerp (Belgium), restaurant The Jane.
Build your own pop-up restaurant
27-1-2015
Soullmate pop up furniture offers every catering entrepreneur or enthusiastic home cook the opportunity to open their own pop-up restaurant for one day or longer. Without having to invest in a kitchen or furniture.
Build your own pop-up restaurant with the Soullmate Event Truck
The trailer of the truck is filled with a complete restaurant for at least 60 people. This consists of seating and a professional outdoor kitchen. The idea behind the seating is based on old fruit boxes, with Sit & Heat, an energy efficient outdoor heater in the form of a cushion providing warmth and comfort. The trailer optionally provides the ability to be used as a stage.
Do you like to show your cooking skills or culinary art to people in other parts of your country? This truck will be easy to use as handy pop-up location! You can quickly calculate how many guests you have to welcome to earn enough: the truck has 60 seats and the rent will be € 1.750,= a day. Great to use at festivals or company parties as well!
New York meets Brabant in café ‘De Vooruitgang’
23-1-2015
City café ‘De Vooruitgang’ (re)opened the doors in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) on 8 January 2015. A fire in the kitchen in April 2013 almost completely burned down the monumental building. Now the monumental façade is restored and the interior and layout are completely renewed.
City café ‘De Vooruitgang’
The new layout creates a lot of light in the building. This makes the café suitable for every moment of the day. The interior is based on urban influences from New York combined with the domesticity of Brabant (The Netherlands). This is created through the stairs behind the bar and the Dutch design prints at the kitchen wall. Other interior design elements: Persian carpets at the wall and there is a wall of plants with over 2.000 plants.
Eat, drink, read, meet, talk and listen
In city Café De Vooruitgang everybody should feel at home. In the middle of the big open kitchen there is a specially designed BBQ grill where the chef prepares his dishes. On the new menu of the café there will be dishes from the grill like burgers with bacon, steak and their specialty: chicken. Besides that, you can go to the café for a pasta or fish. The bar offers a range of specialty beers and wine.
During the lunch at café ‘De Vooruitgang’ there will be wraps, croques and sandwiches with salmon, cheese or a home-made meatball.
Dancing in the café
Every Friday and Saturday the café is opened till late. There will be DJ’s to create an ambiance to dance after dinner. Every Thursday night the DJ-wannabe’s can show their talent during the ‘Spin-inn’.
