NH Hotels and Radio 538 present Hotel 538
6-10-2014
From 6 October on, listeners of the Dutch radio station ‘Radio 538’ can win tickets for a special event in collaboration with the NH Barbizon Palace hotel in Amsterdam. On the occasion of the Amsterdam Dance Event, NH Hotels and Radio 538 join forces and organize four evenings where the world’s best DJs provide a unique showcase in the Sint Olofskapel of the NH Barbizon Palace. These showcases are only accessible for the winners of the Radio 538-action. Of all these winners some may also check into Hotel 538: they win a dinner, a meet & greet, access to the showcase, tickets for a party during the Amsterdam Dance Event and an overnight stay for 2 persons in the NH Barbizon Palace. The performers in the Sint Olofskapel are Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero, Hardwell and Afrojack.
Johnnie Walker presents: Symphony in Blue
24-9-2014
Whisky brand Johnnie Walker organized a two-day event ‘Symphony in Blue’ in London to promote the launch of their latest exclusive Blue Label Reserve premium whiskey blend. Johnnie Walker used experiential, content marketing to promote their new blend and to transform it into a luxury product. The ‘Symphony in Blue’ took place on 16 and 17 September and was an impressive journey of theatrical, musical and artistic events where the six different tastes from Johnnie Walker’s Blue Label were brought to live; fresh, fruity, malty, woody , spicy and smoky. There were several performances, glacier ice, burning barrels, a mist of whiskey and of course a tasting of the Blue Label blend. The behind-the-scenes video from the ‘Symphony in Blue’ gives a good impression of how a brand can present itself in a special way and what is involved in organizing such an event. How would you sell your restaurant or hotel if you had the opportunity to do it this way? Check out the website of ‘Symphony in Blue‘ for photographs of the event.
Sand Hotel Friesland in Sneek
17-9-2014
We’ve spotted ice hotels and a hotel made of salt before, but this summer the first sand hotel opened. The sand hotel opened temporarily in the Dutch city Sneek in response to the annual Sand Sculpture Festival Friesland. The hotel is inspired by ice hotels located in Sweden and Finland but because of the limitations of sand the organization has chosen for a combination of high quality facilities hidden in a sand sculpture. The sand sculpture of nearly 8 meters represents the town of ‘Bedrock’ from the Flinstones. This design is chosen because of the Hollywood theme of this year. The initiative of a sand hotel is already a great success for the organization: several countries are interested in building a sand hotel as well. A night in the sand hotel in Sneek is bookable until 28 September.
Biggest BYOB edition of the Netherlands
15-9-2014
BYOB, better known as ‘Bring Your Own Beamer’ is an event where artists and film makers bring their own beamer to project their art work. The event is an internationally recognized recipe, but SETUP organizes the largest BYOB editions worldwide in the Netherlands. In cooperation with the Dutch Film Festival the recently opened Tivoli Vredenbrug in Utrecht will transform into a large canvas where about 75 artists exhibit their work. The artists and film makers will beam their artwork on walls, windows and escalators on 26 September from sunset to midnight.
Pop-up coffee bar Black Box in Ghent
12-9-2014
Pop-up coffee bar
A work-out followed by an artisanal cup of coffee. This is possible in the pop-up coffee shop Black Box in the Belgian city of Ghent. The specialty coffee bar is located in a garage box of CrossFit Gent, a gym focused on the new form of fitness, CrossFit. As from 4 September Barista Yf Feller serves freshly made coffees, for a month.
Bullet proof coffee
A special coffee on the menu is the ‘bullet proof coffee’. This is a creamy coffee made from butter from grass-fed cows, coconut oil and French coffee, what gives a boost, both physically and mentally.
For people who don’t like coffee, various activities are organized on location as well. For examples, a second-hand clothing market and an indoor picnic.
Pay-as-you-wish
A special aspect of Black Box is that there’s no pricelist available. Guests give a contribution and are allowed to choose what they think is fair to pay. Black Box is an example of a ‘pay as you wish’ concept which we may years ago in Vienna, Der Wiener Deewan. The system from ‘Pay as you wish’ is used for charity as well, like we spotted in 2007 at restaurant Trien in Herpen. Trust is a more recent example that opened in Amsterdam last year.
Food bloggers at restaurant Karakter
12-9-2014
Hand picked oysters from Zeeland in the south of the Netherlands, mussels, scallops, parsnip, mackerel, ‘gortepap’ (kind of porridge) and wines from Dutch wineries. The chefs of restaurant Karakter in Rotterdam, Pety Breugem and Nathan Vermunt, prove that Dutch cuisine taste great with their menu that consists entirely of products from Dutch soil, both the wines and the dishes. Horecatrends was invited to taste the menu, along with a number of food bloggers. Inviting food bloggers for the release of a new menu, is a great idea to generate more attention. If you are reading this and you own a restaurant; have you ever give this idea a thought, instead of or next to your standard advertising? Especially with food bloggers with many local followers, this might be an addition to your marketing strategy.
Bram Kosterink consultant at Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy
The potato store in Amsterdam
10-9-2014
A temporary potato store will open in Amsterdam on 26 September. The pop-up store ‘Pieperboetiek’ (pieper is a Dutch nickname for a potato) will be opened for two weeks and is dedicated to potatoes. Besides giving information, 30 kinds of potatoes are sold as well. All types of potatoes are organic and grown locally in the Netherlands. The goal of the store is to reduce the gap between the city and countryside. Visitors can ask questions to potato farmers, a fries-debate is held and a potato dinner is organized. The ‘Pieperboetiek’ is an initiative of Krispijn van den Dries, a biodynamic farmer and slightly a potato activist. Earlier Krispijn protested against the low prizes of potatoes by dumping 6.000 kilos of potatoes on the Dam in Amsterdam. Krispijn is, together with city farmer and journalist Felicia Alberding and the Youth Food Movement, committed to an honest food system and better relationships between the city and the countryside.
The Jane Antwerp
9-9-2014
The Jane in Antwerp beautifully designed by Piet Boon and is highlighted at the website of ‘The Restaurant & Bar Design Awards’. We think it might be one of the title candidates for the award in 2015. The restaurant of Sergio Herman and Nick Bril was opened in March in a chapel of the former military hospital of Antwerp. The preparations of the opening took three years: not only the dishes, but everything around it had to include the vision and feeling of both chefs. A collaboration between artists, designers and deejays was established. With the motto ‘food is our religion’, the kitchen is situated at the place of the altar. Other eye-catchers are the specially printed windows, a neon skull and the 800 kilo chandelier.
Cooking at the beat of dance music
2-9-2014
Dance festival Tomorrowland was held on the 19th, 20th, 26nd and 27th of July. The festival isn’t just well known for its music, but for the culinary experience as well. For the third time in history a small amount of people could experience the cooking skills of Sergio Herman in the secret restaurant, hidden in the main stage. For the amount of € 15.000,- Sergio Herman, Quique Dacosta (three Michelin stars) from restaurant Quique Dacosta and Kobe Desramaults (one Michelin star) from restaurant In De Wulf prepared several dishes while the music was playing loud.
The rest of the publication is only available in Dutch
How do you apply trends as entrepreneur in the hospitality industry?
1-9-2014
First of all, when talking about trends you need to realize that many different concepts are being named trends these days. However, there is a big difference between trends, hypes and inspiration. For example, we call our website hospitalitytrends.eu but mostly offer inspiration based on red threads in international trends. Real trends take their time in the adoption curve. If you look at the adoption curve of for example sustainability, you’ll see that it has been coming up for 15 to 20 years already and now it is mainstream, thus this is a trend. Hypes however usually stick around with the innovators and early adopters.
The usual development of a trend is that it begins with a very small portion of the population. Logically entrepreneurs are drawn to new trends since they are always looking for new success. They are constantly scared to miss out and fail in their business endeavours, yet specifically as an entrepreneur it is important that you keep on living your own dream and take care that you do not jump on every trend or hype that comes along.
