Sharing is caring
11-6-2013
On a regular basis we hear that the ideas we show at our website are too far from the daily reality of the restaurant or hotel entrepreneur. There is too little time to bring ideas, with your own twist, in practice. We recently visited Paris and at two restaurants we had the opportunity to enjoy one dessert for the whole table. A giant profiterole filled with ice-cream and topped with chocolate at Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie. Not a great dessert in looks but delicious chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. Based on the sharing part I made a ‘Meringue Peche Melba’ this weekend, fresh peach and raspberry combined with meringue and fresh strawberry sauce and ice-cream, for 4 persons on one plate. And if you prepare this dessert on the table, by breaking the gigantic meringue, your dessert becomes even more spectacular! This idea is based on the video of the dessert for the whole table of Alinea, Chicago. Watch the video once again on what they do with the chocolate ball! This is an example of how you can use ideas and make them your own, enjoy being creative! Your guest certainly will with a dessert like this! ^Marjolein
Welcoming gestures to kids by the NY Public Library
11-6-2013
PSFK placed great pictures of the new NY Library in Harlem where teenagers can interact, play video games, eat snacks, and hang out without having to worry about parents’ or elders’ eyes watching. Harlem’s Hamilton Grange branch is home to this full-floor 4,400-square-foot hangout space specially dedicated to teenagers. There only two librarians on watch from one end of the room. The space includes a 20-foot-diameter glass wall where they can play Wii and Guitar Hero available with special speakers preventing much of the noise from filtering out. The NY Public Library also provides summer readings for kids. Watch the movie for this hospitable gesture to kids. Getting the kids back into the library and sharing reading experience online.
More information at New York Libraries.
The Ibis Snuggling Bunnies
10-6-2013
The Ibis hotels introduced their most comforting hotel bed ever with this ad. More information at #ibisbunnies and if you like them at Facebook you can even see more exclusive behind-the-scenes YouTube videos.
Swim with pigs
7-6-2013
Everybody has heard of swimming with dolphins, turtles and other marine creatures. But the Bahamas is the only place where you can swim with pigs. In the Netherlands you see the pigs at the farm but at the Bahamas they swim around. What animal could we swim along in the Netherlands… with cows?
Kitchen Table
5-6-2013
Restaurant Kitchen Table offers its guests a very special dining experience. With 19 seats at the stainless steel bar that surrounds the open kitchen, guests can watch the cooks cooking and talk with them about what they are preparing. The cooks, managed by James Knappett, can directly serve the dishes to the guests. The kitchen serves a daily changing menu updated with the best produce available.
High Wine
3-6-2013
Restaurant Moerstede in Bergen op Zoom organizes a High Wine with culinary tapas on June 19. Led by a wine connoisseur, they will make a wine journey through different countries served with matching culinary tapas. A nice initiative that reminded us of the idea of a High Wine or High Bubbles from our booklet ‘Royal Hospitable Gestures‘. Based on the fact that in the Netherlands affordable High Tea is doing very well at restaurants and at various catering locations at garden centers. The success of these High Tea, Wine and Bubbles? You should just be able to walk in and order, so no reservations. It should be affordable and with lots of appetizers. It gives your guests the opportunity to pamper themselves (a bit luxury at an affordable way).
Hands free Whopper
31-5-2013
The Burger King in Puerto Rico has developed a gadget for the Whopper to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The ‘Hands free Whopper’ offers the possibility to eat a Whopper without using your hands and having to stop what you are doing. 50 loyal customers of Burger King Puerto Rico got this gadget. But whether this gadget is really useful…?
Mobile Orchard
30-5-2013
A special art object has been commissioned as the centerpiece installation for the City of London Festival this year. The ‘Mobile Orchard’ is a tree that consists of multiple layers of wood and the roots and branches offer sitting space and climbing adventure. The branches contain LED lighting that creates a cozy atmosphere in the evening. The tree holds 500 real apples, which visitors are encouraged to pluck. The shape of the tree provides shadow and is a great hang-out for visitors of the festival. Maybe it is interesting to place an art object like this in a city in the Netherlands to offer a hang-out for visitors.
Banana Ambassador
29-5-2013
To attract more tourists to Ecuador, the Ecuador Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Banana Ambassador’ campaign. Bananas from Ecuador are shipped worldwide and therefore the ideal marketing tool. Each banana has a sticker with a QR-code, when someone scans the code the promotional video of Ecuador is played. After the video the website of the Ecuador Ministry of Tourism is opened. With over 24 millions tons of bananas leaving Ecuador, the campaign has a wide range. A similar promotion could be launched by cities to attract tourists, by providing the local products with a QR-code. And what would happen if we put a QR-code of Holland on every package of our tulips?
Hotel allows guests to shop 24-7
27-5-2013
The Mark Hotel in New York recently agreed to an exclusive partnership with fashion store Bergdorf Goodman that will allow its guests to shop at any fashion store at any time. The hotel guests will have 24/7 access to a personal shopper in the fashion store. A hospitable gesture.. that is for sure!
