Crowdsourced campaign by Grolsch
17-4-2015
This May Grolsch exists 400 years. To celebrate it, Grolsch organizes a crowdsourced campaign. The beer brewery is going to make an anniversary video and asks everyone from 18 years and older to upload a video of the ‘popping’ of a Grolsch bottle.
Crowdsourced video
We have seen a similar crowdsourced campaign in a different branch. New Balance asks their customers to make videos while running and upload it to the website Together We Run.
Participate in the Grolsch campaign
To participate in the campaign, you’ll need a swingtop bottle to pop. According to Grolsch, it will sound better if the bottle is at room temperature.
A video of popping a swingtop isn’t enough for the lead role in the anniversary video. A unique location is needed as well. The more unique your location is, the better your chances are to win a role in the video.
Grolsch advises to keep your phone horizontal. This makes the image better viewable and prevents the Vertical Video Syndrome (VVS).
In the hospitality industry, you can use the camera’s on the smartphones for your benefits as well. Organize for example an event with hundreds of livestreams from the phones of your guests through Periscope.
Easter campaign in Brielle
16-4-2015
We can’t say it often enough: if you do a sales promotion, point it at your potential visitor. After Easter we read about the promotional action of Sven Schreuder for his Brasserie Hotel ‘De Nymph’. Inspiration for Easter next year but in the way he implemented it could work for other campaigns as well.
Fans could hunt for giant Easter eggs in Brielle
Sven hid 10 giant chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday. He did this in Brielle, the town where his brasserie and hotel is located. From 8 o’clock in the morning enthusiasts could try to find the hidden eggs. Last year, participants tried to follow Sven while he was hiding the eggs. So this year he went out extra early! As from 8 o’clock he gave hints on his Facebook page.
The finder of the giant chocolate egg could of course keep it, all finders could get a free ice cream in his ice cream parlor ‘De Koele Kever’ (The Cool Beetle). In addition as an extra incentive Sven hid in one of the eggs a free night at his hotel ‘De Nymph’. A great Easter action and an example of how you can implement a local promotion: local press was involved (the newspaper ‘AD Voorne Putten’ paid attention to the promotion before Easter) and the fact that Sven also used social media to give hints and placed pictures of the ‘finders’ on Facebook. Next to the annual celebration of the Brielle capture by the Sea Beggars on 1 April 1572, the city now has a new tradition.
Peugeot designs an urban chic food truck 2.0
13-4-2015
Peugeot has its own food truck, a bistro on wheels, conceived and developed by the Peugeot Design Lab. A super modern food truck, striking because one of the characteristics of the current food trucks is the ‘old fashioned’ image. With ‘Le Bistro du Lion‘ Peugeot will attend the Milan Design Week 2015 from 14 April followed by the French Pavilion of the World Expo Milano 2015.
‘Le Bistrot du Lion’, a Food Truck 2.0
The food truck was invented and developed by the Peugeot Design Lab, the Global Brand Design studio of the car brand. Cathal Loughnane, Head of Peugeot Design Lab, comments, “The end-users are always at the heart of all of our designs. For the Peugeot ‘food truck’, we wanted to create a complete mobile cuisine experience, not only creating a kitchen for the chef but a restaurant and cafe for the customers. A lot of attention was given to opening up the kitchen and allowing the chef and food preparation to be as close to the public as possible. We also wanted to create a real sense of surprise as the compact Peugeot ‘Food Truck’ transforms into an amphitheatre-like dining space ‘Le Bistrot du Lion’.”
The dynamic ‘Le Bistrot du Lion’ is compact, featuring short front and rear overhangs to provide enhanced maneuverability, with a long wheelbase to offer considerable load volume. Once on site, the food truck spreads its wings to double its width. Accommodating 30 persons comfortably, with separate areas for food preparation, eating and refreshments as well as a DJ booth. On board, chefs benefit from two grilling plates and four induction burners as well as a deep fryer. The ventilation system ensures optimum air quality and a 400-litre refrigerated under-foot compartment allows food to stay fresh. A 350-litre refrigerator keeps drinks cold. Attached is a professional espresso machine, by Rocket Espresso. Not only does the Peugeot ‘food truck’ provide a one-of-a-kind dining experience, it does so at an environmental way, having been specially designed to recuperate and recycle all waste.
Peugeot has selected the talented French chef Sven Chartier, of Saturne and Le Clown Bar in Paris, as the first culinary tenant of ‘Le Bistrot du Lion’.
Ciel Bleu IPA made by Brouwerij ‘t IJ
13-4-2015
Three years ago, two-star restaurant Ciel Bleu launched its first IPA (India Pale Ale) in collaboration with the renowned Amsterdam brewery ‘Brouwerij ‘t IJ’. While the intention was a single collaboration, guests kept asking for a new beer.
The chefs Onno Kokmeijer and Arjan Speelman thus faced the challenge to brew a new gastronomical beer that would taste even better than the first IPA. After many sessions and trying all kinds of ingredients, they chose kaffir lime as the main element of the Ciel Bleu IPA 2.0 beer. This citrus fruit is also known as Djeroek Poeroet and is widely used in the Asian cuisine. The dry-hop with Waimea and Citra hops gives the beer a flowery, freshly bitter character.
Brouwerij ‘t IJ
The brewery of Brouwerij ‘t IJ has two locations, one in East Amsterdam, next to the Gooyer windmill. This is also where the brewery began and where the pub is located. The second brewery is located on the Zeeburgerpad. The pub is opened every day from 2 pm to 8 pm. All the beers are brewed in the traditional manner, without filtering or pasteurization.
Ideal food pairing and serving
In restaurant Ciel Bleu the beer is served in a wine glass at a temperature of 10 to 12 degrees Celcuis. Dishes with mostly fresh elements best match the Ciel Bleu IPA, such as citrus combined with sweet elements. Like any IPA beer, it tastes best within a couple of months after production. The beer is available at the Ciel Bleu restaurant and several specialty beer shops. Of course the beer is also available at ‘Brouwerij ‘t IJ’ itself, which is worth a visit as well!
Chef’s Table Netflix series
1-4-2015
6 episodes on Netflix
Netflix introduces a new culinary documentary series about chefs and their philosophy about cooking. The documentary will be split into six episodes. Moviemaker David Gelb will visit a few top chefs during this series and has a look at their kitchens and private life’s. The trailer of Chef’s Table went online last Monday.
Participating chefs at Chef’s Table
Every episode the viewers of Chef’s Table have the opportunity to dive into the life of a different chef. The chefs will show their kitchen and private life for the viewers to have an idea. The participating chefs are Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant in Stone Barns and in New York , USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia), and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen, Sweden).
Chef’s Table is produced by David Gelb, Matt Weaver, Andrew Fried and Brian McGinn. The series is directed by David Gelb, Andrew Fried, Brian McGinn and Clay Jeter.
Chef’s Table premieres 26 April on Netflix.
Joint venture ‘World of Food’ a new streetfood food hall in Amsterdam
26-3-2015
Throughout The Netherlands more and more food halls are rapidly created. Recently a joint venture in the Southeast of Amsterdam signed the papers to transform a former parking garage into the ‘World of Food’, a new type of food hall. Dozens of entrepreneurs joined forces and are collectively responsible for both cooking the street food and running the joint project. The ‘World of Food’ opens late May 2015.
3D printed snack with edible soil
19-3-2015
Project designer Chloé Rutzerveld creates a bridge between new production and traditional cultivation with the “Edible Growth” project. The 3D printer produces a food soil. Printing food with a 3D printer is not new anymore but printing edible food soils with seeds and spores is. The soil and the seeds and spores grow into living edible balls.
Edible growth
Rutzerveld studied Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE). For the Edible Growth project she works together with the TUE and knowledge institute TNO. The technology is still in development, the software, hardware and assembling the ingredients has yet to be optimized. Edith Growth, however, has had a lot of international attention.
The technology is used to optimize the natural processes and to make the soil and plants grow together into the final product. During the growth the structure, smell and taste changes and intensify. Like, for example, a blue cheese.
3D printed snack with the edible soil
It’s a new way of producing food that connects nature, technology, science and design. The whole food chain will reduce considerably and the concept brings consumers closer to their food. It facilitates growth and reduces the ecological footprint with less food miles, it also reduces waste and freshness is in your own hands.
Cold coffee from a bottle
18-3-2015
Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof penetrate the hospitality industry with their Batavia Dutch cold coffee. The cold brewing method from the Dutch East India Company era is now also available in a bottled series.
Jits: “In June 2014, we quit our jobs to enter a world full of specialty (ice) coffees. Batavia Coffee is a company with only one mission; To transfer our passion for Dutch Coffee to the Dutch people. ”
The cold coffee method
The method owes its name and origin to Dutch traders in the Dutch East India Company era. The brewers made their coffee with cold water back in the days, to make it sustainable and to cool off in the tropics. With this method they introduced coffee in North East Asia, where Dutch Coffee is still very popular.
Origin
Alike wine the origin of the coffeebeans has an influence on the taste of it. Coffee has a lot of diversity in taste influenced by the region where the coffee is grown, the climate and the type of plants used.
Diversities
The Batavia Coffee is available in three variants. An Ethiopian Limu (with hints of chocolate, caramel and citrus), the Colombian Santuario (a powerful and spicy coffee where nuts, roasted peanuts and flowers can be distinguished) and the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (a fruity coffee which has hints of melon and passion fruit).
Ingredients
The ingredients for a good Dutch Coffee are quite simple. Ice cold water and freshly roasted and ground coffee. Sugar, dyes, or E numbers are not needed, the coffee is naturally sweet and can be stored for 4 months if refrigerated.
Book about wine adventures + B(u)y the Barrel
13-3-2015
Jacqueline van Liere, owner and wine-food-specialist of restaurant & foodbar SchultenHues (*) in Zutphen (The Netherlands), is going to write a series of wine books, together with wine importer Robert Benier. The series is called ‘The Great World of Amazing Wines’ and Jacqueline and Robert write about their travels around the world and they show us the amazing world of wine. During the journey, big chefs will be visited, to prepare and taste the most favorite wine-parings with them. Back in Zutphen, the wine will be tasted with Peter Gast (chef and owner of restaurant & foodbar SchultenHues), friends and colleagues.
In the first book of the series a dish of Peter Gast will be combined with a few wine-discoveries. Besides that pretty pictures, rare wine pairings and a great story about the wine-maker Martin Steinmann.
B(u)y the Barrel
Jacqueline and Robert are going a step further…. They want you to taste along with their discoveries! That’s why they create their own, quirky, wine in every country they will visit. They create the wine with one of the nicest and best winemakers from that country. There will be created one rare ‘barrel’, which has maximum of 600 bottles. These rare bottles are exclusive available. The first wine is made of the Chardonnay grape and are vinified on the Schloss Sommerhausen in Franken, Germany. Created by Jacqueline, Robert and Martin Steinmann. There are different offers, such as one of a bottle + book but you can also order 6 bottles. You can find the offers here.
Popup Melksalon
13-3-2015
A milk bar (de MelkSalon) will pop up in Amsterdam. The MelkSalon is a temporary pilot and design room where the value of milk will be rediscovered. From 1 to 30 April at the Oude Spiegelstraat 6.
The Melksalon brings consumers, dairy farmers, dairy processors, designers and scientists together, to rediscover the value(s) of milk. Amongst other things they will organize lectures, design sessions, movie nights and walking tours. The full program is available here (unfortunately only in Dutch). With as highlights some Milk Talks and design sessions under the guidance of experts, an Old Amsterdam Milk Tour and some dinners with catchy titles such as Milk Unchained! And Milk Multi Culti! The dinners are in cooperation with Gilbert Kolff. The pop-up Melksalon is both a shop and a milk bar where you can walk in to taste special kinds of milk.
Why a Milk bar?
Around 1900, the streets of Amsterdam knew many milk parlors, where inhabitants could buy a glass of milk of local farmers. Today we buy milk in the supermarket, but milk still holds an important role in the Dutch history, (food)culture, economy, innovative spirit and in the countryside. Yet, many know little of this rich influence of milk. Milk in the supermarket has become an anonymous bulk product. At the same time there is a strong public debate about the consumption of milk, the impact on the environment and landscape, and the price one pays for it. With the pop-up MelkSalon they want to remove milk from the anonymity, and start a dialogue about the meaning of the product for our culture and society.
The pop-up Melksalon is an initiative of Sietske Klooster and Food Cabinet and is supported by the Dutch Dairy Association, The Milk Story, Triodos Foundation and the Committee Agricultural Innovation North Brabant.