Experience in theater as storytelling for your product
16-12-2014
Undergo storytelling, experience a 3D animation and taste the product in a theater.
Recently I joined one of the theater tryouts by Glennfidich. Tony van Rooijen, the enthusiastic Dutch brand ambassador of the whisky makers gave a virtual tour of the distillery in Scotland during a tasting where he presented six different whiskys.
Experience in theater
Apart from the enthusiastic narrator and a stylish tasting kit, the virtual tour consisted out of a very detailed 3D animation of the brewery that had a lot of resemblance with the computer game ‘The Sims’. While the presenter went through the various stages of the brewing process he showed the buildings of the brewery from the outside and inside. Everywhere there was a visual explanation from a first person view, so you had the illusion walking through the brewery itself without leaving your lazy (theater) chair.
Virtual tour
A virtual tour like this can be very interesting for products with an authentic character. A rookie (like me) gets to see more about the brewing process of whisky and the expert will for example learn more about the typical taste each barrel emits.
Flexibility is the future
For theaters, but also for cinemas this way of a product presentation is an interesting case. The stage remains a wonderful place to tell your story and to combine this with a tasting your product and (controlled) experience of it. At most hospitality fairs and food festivals the stage plays an important role in the total concept thus the hospitality industry is already familiar with these crossover concepts. My experience fits in well with a recent article in Fast Moving Targets that shows that flexibility of the theater is the future. ^Armand
Communicating with your guests before the opening
16-12-2014
Nikie Houben, manager of the Terhills hotel in Maasmechelen is already busy tweeting about the hotel. Whilst the opening is planned for March 2015, she already inspires with her tweets.
Communicating with your guests before the opening
Recently we read a tweet from Nikie Houben who is the – Guest Loving – hotel manager of the Terhills Hotel. She tweets about preparations leading up to the opening of the new hotel by the ‘Different Hotels’ group. Mood Boards, products from suppliers, photos of the property, inspiring lyrics and so on. We often see that entrepreneurs / managers are so busy in the pre-opening process that they forget to communicate about it or outsource the communication to an agency. The beauty of communicating about the project you are working on, is the fact that it shows your commitment. The enthusiasm of Nikie is a great inspiring example, we really believe she is a guest loving hotel manager.
Quote of Nikie Houben
“At Terhills Hotel it’s all about the experience. A personal and friendly approach and contact is very important! So the sooner you get to know your guests the better. This way the Terhillls Team will also be able to respond to the taste and needs of its future guests. And isn’t it fun when you feel this on arrival?!”
Terhills Hotel
This new lifestyle experience Hotel is located in the former main building of a coal mine in Eisden, part of the city of Maasmechelen. The hotel offers a cocktail of fashion (located near Maasmechelen Village, Outlet Shopping), nature (National Park Hoge Kempen), comfort and culinary enjoyment. It includes 60 luxurious rooms including 7 suites, a cozy bar with lounge corners and a spa in the neoclassical baroque style building. Designers from Limburg county contributed to the realization, Simoni Architects from Hasselt has made modern and clean lines in the building and the interior is provided by Dôm Deco from Dilsen-Stokkem.
Different Hotels
The Terhills Hotel is part of this hotel group which originates in Belgian Limburg. The group has a total of 11 hotels in Limburg and Antwerp.
Recruiting staff
Last year the nhow hotel in Rotterdam had some interesting pre-opening communication as well. The hotel opened in January 2014 and launched a recruitment party in 2013. Next to communicating with your guests you can start a conversation with potential suppliers and staff as well.
Christmas cocktails by Cocktailicious
15-12-2014
We read more and more about winter cocktails, innovative cocktails with tea, coffee or other strange combination and newly opened cocktail bars. On the website Cocktailicious cocktail lover Caroline writes about cocktails, including 250 different recipes and various cocktail bars. For the Holidays we want to suggest the recipes for the Christmas Spoom and the luxury Christmas punch to surprise your guests.
The first cocktail shaker that composes a unique ‘Hospitality Trends cocktail’ for us will be awarded with a spot in our hall of fame!
Check the recipes for the Christmas Spoom and the Christmas punch (Dutch).
Winter garden in Amsterdam
15-12-2014
How do you use your outdoor area during the cold days? Do you transform it into a cozy winter garden or do you prefer a skating rink on the roof terrace? For three months Restaurant & Bar Herengracht changes its outdoor area into a winter wonderland. With heaters, fire places and a semi-roofed terrace it is a nice place to be during these dark days.
The Winter Garden Amsterdam
The Winter Garden is open from late November till late February 2015. There will be three matching winter events, each with a cool theme.
Typical wintry
At the terrace the temperature will be a few degrees higher than on the streets. Not only the ‘heaters’ cause these higher temperatures, but also by the nose warming winter cocktails, mulled wine and hot chocolate served from the special outdoor bar. Typical wintry snacks and dishes like homemade pea soup, cheese fondue and game completes this winter concept.
Three special winter events
The winter garden will set the stage for three events at Restaurant & Bar ‘Herengracht’, which is located near the ‘Koningsplein’ in Amsterdam. The first event will be hosted in Christmas spheres on 20 December, the second event highlights the theme ‘let’s go wild’ on 24 January with wild boar on the spit, the final special is a huge cheese fondue party.
Robots manage restaurant
12-12-2014
A restaurant owner in China completely replaced his staff by robots.
Robots manage restaurant
Recently we wrote an article about flying robotic waiters in Singapore. The flying robotic waiters are created to help the waiters with difficult tasks. Lu Dike from China has a different mindset and lets robots serve his whole restaurant. The restaurant is located in Zheijang, a province in China. Lu Dike is convinced that it will save him a lot of money in the future. The robots are able to formulate 40 sentences which allows them to take orders from customers and transmit the orders to the kitchen. The robots have sensors that prevent them from bumping into something.
Mealworm spread
11-12-2014
Green Kow is a Belgian company that launches products based on bugs (mealworms). They came up with vegetable spread that contains 5% mealworms.
Mealworm spread
At the trade fair of Health Ingredients Europe 2014 the Green Kow presented mealworm spread. The vegetable spread is full of vitamins, proteins and mineral salts. This is all because of the mealworms that are incorporated. Besides the vegetable spread has a high nutrition value, the production process of it is more efficient and less polluting because of the breeding of bugs instead of for example chicken.
Products
The Green Kow has four types of spreads. There are two salty and two chocolate spreads. The spreads consists of carrot-mealworm, tomato-mealworm, dark chocolate-mealworm and milk chocolate-mealworm. The salty spreads are available at the organic shops in Belgium. The chocolate spreads will be added soon. The recipe for the mealworm spread is created by Belgian two star Chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre.
Inspiration from Retail
10-12-2014
What could the hospitality industry learn from the ‘Future of Retail 2015’ report of PSFK? Rehab Studio Ltd. has made a video with a number of recommendations from the report. The recommendations include:
- Retailers will be challenged to create custom tailored experience for every shopper.
- They need to create the technical ability to embrace this personal experience.
- The stores will increasingly need to focus on the fact that they need to be a hub for community involvement. That’s one of their benefits over online shops.
- Checkout must be faster and more easy; paying mobile could just bring that!
Inspiration from retail to the hospitality industry
Especially for larger catering and fastfood companies there are a number of recommendations in the movie of the rehabstudio Ltd. that can be inspiring for the future. Could it work for you if you would receive personalized lunch suggestions by ‘La Place’ if you regularly eat there?
For restaurants in smaller villages, it is important to be the community hub. More and more services disappear from the smaller villages, so you could start operating as collect point for the mail, the dry cleaners and so on. As long as a large part of your potential guests does visit your restaurant on a regular base!
The catering is of course faced with new payment methods, such as paying by mobile. However, many bar, restaurants and café still only accept cash payments! The video ends with a hospitable gesture: home delivery of the groceries! Why doesn’t the hospitality industry turn this around… Why don’t they deliver a custom-made meal at the home of their guest?
Doritos Crunchy Crust Pizza
9-12-2014
Pizza Hut Launches Doritos Crunchy Crust Pizza In Australia.
A lot of pizza inspiration
This Doritos Crunchy Crust Pizza is a great addition to our article: 10 times pizza inspiration and inspiration for Dutch pizza makers. On the other hand the pizza makers from Australia could be inspired by the pizza from Domino’s Pizza with sausage in the crust and with sauerkraut. Recently, we also spotted a pizza with 99 cheeses. The inspiration for this pizza comes from the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ movie where they try to seduce a Ninja Turtle with a fictional pizza with 99 cheeses, although described in the movie as a ‘culinary impossibility’. World champion pizza maker, Johnny di Francesco from Melbourne proved them wrong and made one.
Doritos Crunchy Crust Pizza
The pizza crust is made of melted mozzarella cheese layered with smashed Doritos and sprinkled with cheddar cheese. So kind of like a pizza meets nachos! Another example of combining everyone’s favorite fastfood items! Pizza hut serves this crunch at different pizza’s. Would you like to taste a Doritos crunchy crust pizza? Or should we start a social media campaign to bring this crust to the rest of the world?
Storytelling about going green
8-12-2014
The Beech Hill hotel provides us with inspiration about telling (future) guests about the efforts they have taken to cherish their location. The hotel is located at the beautiful Lake Windermere in the Lake District in the United Kingdom.
The Beech Hill hotel
At Twitter we spotted this great storytelling about going green. We notice that more and more hotels are going green. The owners of the Beech Hill hotel realize that their guests are coming to enjoy their surroundings and their hospitality. The last couple of years they made changes in the operations of the hotel and reduced the carbon foot print by approximately 463 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year. A great example of running the hotel in a sustainable way.
Storytelling about going green
The hotel had a video made about the efforts they have taken to reduce their carbon foot print. The video shows all the details and tells how they carefully run the hotel in a sustainable way. Of course they show the surroundings of their hotel as well.
They installed a Biomass Boiler instead of the previously used 4 large boilers with kerosene as fuel. Replaced their lights with LED lights. In order to reduce waste they reuse and recycle, paper, carboard, glass and furniture. They have been awarded by Trip Advisor with a Bronze Level Green Leader.
Self-skimming beer glass
8-12-2014
The innovative self-skimming beer glass from FndF is marketed by Triple S International. The self-skimming beer glass has a slightly bevelled edge, resulting in skimming being unnecessary and the lager always gets a firm head of foam. The design can be delivered in glass as well as in plastic.
The benefits of the self-skimming beer glass
The company explains the benefits of their innovative glass on their website. They created a list of benefits for the consumer, catering and the breweries. The main reason to start using this glass for your guests is the fewer hygiene risks due to a skimmer in stagnant water. For the hospitality industry the biggest advantage is that anyone can tap well in this glass, especially during peak hours. You also have less loss caused by bad tapping.
Nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2015
Like the Breathometer Breeze, these glasses are also nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2015 (The Netherlands). The glasses are just like the Breathometer nominated in the category ‘Equipment and Services’. Voting is possible here.
The Tree Lighting Party by The Pierre New York
5-12-2014
Last weekend I happened to see a tweet of hotel The Pierre New York which invited its followers to The Pierre’s Holiday Tree Lighting Party. The Pierre New York, celebrates the lighting of their Christmas Tree by offering their guests a free cocktail if they take a little toy for charity!
We have recently written an article about the Christmas trees at the Claridge Hotel in London. For several years already they invite great designers to decorate their Christmas trees. They also organize a Tree Lighting Party just as the large department stores in London, New York and the ‘Bijenkorf’ in the Netherlands celebrate their ‘window lighting party’, since a couple of years.
Combine the Tree Lighting party with charity
The Pierre New York Hotel is trying to tempt guests to take along a toy for charity. A couple of years back I read about parties in Hollywood where Christmas trees decorated by celebrities were auctioned for charity. Nice idea to create a similar auction with your local celebrities!
^ Marjolein van Spronsen
The Frozen Butcher
4-12-2014
Last weekend we’ve tasted two new hamburgers from The Frozen Butcher, the Iberico Burger and the Angus certified Burger. We really loved their taste! On their website we learned that The Frozen Butcher has a whole range of burgers aside from the Iberico and Angus burgers; a Wagyu burger, a US beef burger, a lamb burger and an organic burger.
Frozen in time… Fresh on your plate
The burgers are immediately frozen after production by using special freezers to guarantee the true butcher’s quality. This technology enables them to produce without artificial preservatives, colouring agents or other additives.
SIAL Innovation Award 2014
At SIAL Innovation 2014 the Frozen Butcher won the award in the category Meat Products. The jury, made up of independent experts, selected the concept as winner because of the premium meat quality, the clean design of the packaging and the valorization of the country of origin.
Serve your guest a burger to their liking
Great way to use these burgers in a burgerbar; your guests can pick their own meat, each with another taste, another origin and another story! Give your guests a choice in buns and ingredients and let them design their favorite burger at your restaurant. ^Marjolein
Flying robotic waiters
2-12-2014
By end-2015 autonomous flying robotic waiters will be deployed at 5 outlets of the Timbre Group in Singapore. Infinium Robotics Pte Ltd chief executive officer Woon Junyang signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Edward Chia, managing director of Timbre Group, on 31 October this year.
Prototype
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong observed an autonomous flying robotic waiter serving food during a demonstration at Singapore’s National Productivity Month 2014 Launch Event at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Seeking productivity-related government grants
The costs are high but the flying robotic waiters could be a solution for the labour-crunch in Singapore and the robotic waiters do allow human waiters to focus on higher-value tasks such as explaining the menu, upselling and getting feedback from customers. At this moment both Infinium Robotics and the Timbre Group are seeking productivity-related government grants to help offset deployment costs.
The flying robotic waiters at work
Do you want to know more about these robots? CNBC did an interview with the owner of Infinium-Serve and had a demonstration in the studio.
Designer table StayAwesome No.1
1-12-2014
StayAwesome is a young company that is constantly searching for original products to produce and to launch on the market. In this way they would like to create an awesome lifestyle for people.
Designer table StayAwesome No.1
StayAwesome No.1 is a designer table that people can use at the park, in the garden but especially on the beach. For the design of the table, StayAwesome joined forces with designer Rogier Daamen. The designer table looks like there is a shovel stabbed in the sand. Besides that, the table looks original, the table saves a lot of space and makes sure that food and drinks do not end up in the sand.
Production
StayAwesome works together with Inmade, that is a producer within the prison system in the Netherlands. It is a factory located in Alphen a/d Rijn where prisoners are responsible for the production of StayAwesome No.1. The prisoners are given the opportunity to improve their lives. StayAwesome No.1 is currently the only one of its kind and soon available in their webshop.
Free pizza slide with A-grades
1-12-2014
The Greenville House of Pizza in New Hampshire is offering its young customers the chance to earn free slices with homework and good grades. The strangest marketing actions are organized to inspire young people to earn a free meal at a fast food restaurant. Last year for example, we read in an article that girls could get a free slice of pizza if they showed their “boobs” in a Pizza Place in Illinois. (Not) a good example of trying to get more guests through community involvement. 😉
Stimulate students with pizza slices
The owner of the Greenville House of Pizza, a 28-year war veteran helps young people with their homework and treats free pizza slices if they get an ‘A’. In addition, students can do their homework in his “Study Hall Special“ until five o’clock in the afternoon and in the meantime enjoy a slice of pizza for only 35 dollar cents. The owner even helps with the homework, if he understands the subject!
Social commitment
My youngest daughter is currently in high school and sometimes I hear that she didn’t consume her lunch but ordered a pizza with friends instead. Knowing this makes the action above much more sympathetic and that occasional pizza slice is eaten anyway! ^Marjolein
Dutch Coffee Makers back in The Netherlands
28-11-2014
Coffee has gained a more exclusive status over the past years and there are a lot of connoisseurs nowadays. That said, most of the coffees are brewed hot and the (re)introduction of a cold brew method might bump into some doubts.
Dutch Coffee
The classical Dutch brewing method dates back to the Dutch East India Company period. With this method cold (ice) water drips through the ground bean reservoir. Making a pot of coffee takes four to six hours, the result is a less bitter and less acid coffee. The cold coffee barely oxidates and therefore has a longer shelve time. The Dutch Coffee contains zero calories because the fat in the beans doesn’t dissolve in cold water.
Design
The design of the classical Dutch Coffee machines, or installations, dates back to the trade of the Dutch East India Company. The elegant design is a fusion between Dutch stolidity and Asian craftsmanship.
Taste
The various tastes of the coffee bean are well preserved by the cold brew method. The founders of the ‘Dutch Coffee’ company, Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof, say it’s even strange that we’re brewing coffee hot. This tradition probably started back in the days when it was more hygienic and healthier to brew coffee with boiled water. It does have a negative impact on the taste though.
The website www.dutch-coffee.nl/en shows a variety of serving methods, brew-experiments and the machines of course.
Tribute to Alain Passard
28-11-2014
In our humble opinion a chef can’t get a better tribute! Eight chefs who have ever worked for and are inspired by Alain Passard, have jointly catered a dinner in honor of his cooking style. Initiated by Le Fooding and sponsored by San Pellegrino. ‘Alain Passard et les Arpégiens’; Björn Frantzén, Sven Chartier, Mauro Calagreco, David Toutain, Tatiana Levha, Bertrenad Grébaut, Marc Cordonnier and Ludo Lefebvre.
Reunion: Chefs tell about Alain Passard’s cooking style
Vegetables, respect for the product, watching and listening to the product, the product of this moment has the most flavor, be careful with heat and a fine balance between fat and acid. A great tribute to Alain Passard.
Great tribute
Great idea to organize a similar tribute to a Dutch chef around the presentation of a magazine or book, like the ‘Lekker’, the GaultMillau (from the Netherlands), ‘Grootspraak’ or around a special edition of Delicious.
Small hospitable gesture: Leave it at Hyatt
27-11-2014
The Grand Hyatt Melbourne has launched its ‘Leave it at Hyatt’ service, enabling visitors to safely store their belongings on site, ready for their next stay.
We have been writing about small hospitable gestures for quite some time now and this is one great example. ‘Leave it at Hyatt’ is facilitating frequent visitors to travel lighter or in case they are a bit over packed for one return flight, to pick their luggage up the next time. According to the Australian Business Traveller, regular guests can fill out a form and leave items at the reception (all within reasonable proportions of course). When they return, guests can get their items delivered to their room. Clothes can even be dry-cleaned if requested!
The ‘Leave it at Hyatt’ service is creating repeating visits and brand loyalty
A similar service like ‘Leave it at Hyatt’ is sometimes offered at wintersporthotels. Having the ability to leave skies and ski shoes at the hotel enables the guest to travel lighter. On the other hand, hotels are assured that the guest will return! Nice small gestures. What small hospitable gesture can you offer your guests? ^Marjolein
Storytelling by Hotel Casa 400
26-11-2014
Hotel Casa 400 launches storytelling website ‘Home To 400’ and shares its history by the motto “Mi Casa es su Casa ‘.
In 1957 Gabbe Scheltema, Frits Bolkestein and the late Nol South took the initiative to introduce a successful student hotel concept from Copenhagen in Amsterdam in Copenhagen. They wanted to offer a solution to the lack of student housing and wanted to solve the increased demand for hotel rooms in the peak summer season as well.
“With us behind every room a story”
The hotel pays tribute to the founders and 57 years of history by launching a unique website with stories from students, staff and visitors of Casa 400. The accompanying video for instance tells the story of the housekeeping staff, but there are also extensive written stories about (former) residents.
Expanding the storytelling website
Besides stories that are published already the website will gradually be supplemented with stories of all students, employees and guests. It is one of the best examples of storytelling in the hospitality industry nowadays.
Shopping via hotel television
26-11-2014
Guests from hotel The Dylan in Amsterdam can virtually shop in stores around the hotel via the tv screen in the room. Luckily the hotel is positioned in the shopping area ‘The 9 streets’, with a lot of boutiques.
Once the order is paid, distributer PostNL makes sure that it is delivered in your room within one hour. Return items that don’t fit can easily be dropped off at the hotel reception. The service is a collaboration between The Dylan Amsterdam, 9straatjesonline.com and PostNL.
Room Shopping
The www.9straatjesonline.com website offers virtual visitors the opportunity to browse online through the range of 40 boutiques without taking one step out of the door. The Room Shopping concept launched earlier this year with a temporary ‘Room Shopping Package’. Although the package is not available anymore, the unique Room Shopping service remains. The initiative is a nice extension of the hotel’s service as well as a strong promotion of the shopping area.
Breathometer Breeze; a mobile breathalyzer for smartphones
25-11-2014
Breathometer Breeze
The first mobile breathalyzer for smartphones is now available in the Netherlands. Through the Breathometer app the Breeze informs users quickly and accurately on their blood-alcohol results. The Breeze is designed to stimulate occasional drinkers to maintain control over their alcohol consumption and make safer and healthier choices.
User friendly gadget
The Breathometer Breeze turns a smartphone into an accurate breathalyzer within seconds. The Breeze works through a wireless Bluetooth connection, has no warm-up time and is always ready for use. The advanced sensor technology allows precise and fast results possible. If used daily, the battery will last for about 16 months. The Breeze comes with a money belt clip, a key ring holder and a separate mouthpiece for hygienic sharing of the Breeze with friends.
A combination of ‘nice and need to know’
Distributor Tipping Valley BV introduces the Breeze from Breathometer Inc. The Breeze is a nice gadget. A combination of ‘nice to know’ and ‘need to know’. The Breathometer app provides the blood alcohol level quick and accurate on the smartphone screen. In addition, the app provides the function ‘home safely’. The app shows how long it takes until the alcohol is gone from the blood and when people are sober or ‘back to zero’ again. The app can even assist in arranging a taxi through Uber or a local taxi company. In the future, it is also possible to find local restaurants via this app or book a night in the nearest hotel. The app is available for iOS and Android smartphones.
Blackjack with taste, Vino Casino
25-11-2014
Last Sunday at the ‘Wine Weekend’ wine fair I spotted the ‘Vino Casino’ game. ‘Vino Casino’, as you can see in the picture is a specially developed BlackJack table, representing a large world map and different vintages on the side.
Blackjack with taste
The game begins with a wine tasting, without seeing the label. Through smell, taste and look participants need to indicate the country / region and the age of the wine. Blackjack with taste thus! The casino chips, which are distributed in advance, must be deployed on both the country and the age groups. When the country or year is correct the number of casino chips is doubled. You can agree in advance how many bottles to taste at this blackjack table. The one who has the most casino chips at the end of the flight, is the winner.
For staff parties or during a tasting
This game is perfect to teach your staff or guests more about wine, in a fun and playful way. It gives a competitive element to a tasting and selects the real ‘wine connoisseur’ among your friends and colleagues. ^Bram Kosterink
A Christmas wreath as dessert for the whole table
24-11-2014
Desserts shared by the whole table, like a Christmas wreath from meringue, is one of the fine examples you can come up with for Christmas. If you have great examples you’re willing to share, we love to mention it as inspiration.
On a regular basis we hear that the ideas we show at our website are not in line with the daily reality of the restaurant or hotel entrepreneur. There is too little time to bring ideas, with your own twist, in practice. Earlier this year we have written about the trend in Bistros to serve desserts for the whole table. Like a giant profiterole or chocolate balls which are broken at the table. It provides a lot of commotion at the table and is very easy to adapt to your own capabilitees!
Inspiration from colleagues and Pinterest
Chefs with Michelin stars are sharing inspiration, Grant Achatz (among others from Restaurant Alinea in Chicago) for example inspires us regularly with video’s like this one about his menu with as dessert the chocolate ball. Inspiration other chefs can use for their own dishes. Pinterest can be another source of inspiration.
A Christmas wreath as dessert
Wherever you look for inspiration, sharing a dessert with the whole table is special and cozy in the Holiday season. Last month I made a huge long profiterole, filled with lemon curd and sour cream and fresh fruit for a party. Profiteroles can be made in all kind of shapes, so it’s easy to adapt it to Christmas. Last weekend, I made a Christmas wreath from meringue with raspberry sauce, fresh red fruit and some holly leaves as decoration. Easy and fun to eat! ^ Marjolein
Signature cheeses; chef Edwin Kats makes Noble cheese
21-11-2014
Create your own cheese. Mirjam van Hest offers chefs and businesses this opportunity. Interested? Feel free to contact her. Last month we wrote an article about the company of Mirjam van Hest, Mir’s Heart & Soul, and about the Amstel Cheese she designed with Chef Rogér Rassin (chef at the InterContinental Amstel Hotel and its restaurant La Rive). In this article you can read about how Mirjam got the idea for her business, how the Amstel Cheese is co-created and the flavour notes of the cheese.
Noble cheese
Recently, she made a cheese with Edwin Kats, chef-owner of restaurant Noble in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. Mirjam uses Dutch milk from cows which are grass-fed in the area between Heusden and Altena as the base for her artisan, extra creamy farm cheese.
Edwin Kats about his Noble cheese
“After I had literally earned my Michelin stars as chef in the Netherlands, I wanted to achieve more and look further. That is why I worked for more than four years as Executive Chef in Lebanon and China. I’ve seen and learned a lot. My new challenge is to make as many people possible, enjoy that knowledge. Making this cheese in cooperation with Mirjam van Hest is one of the ways to show my experiences. I’ve added a lot of herbs and spices from my voyages. The Noble cheese ensures a unique taste experience. The Noble cheeses is a delicious dessert but is a surprising appetizer as well and I have used the cheese in a couple of wonderful recipes.”
The Dutch recipes Edwin Kats created with his Noble Cheese are here! See here where you can buy the cheese.
An Airbnb with as host the KLM
21-11-2014
KLM listed an MD-11 as ‘Spacious Airline Apartment’ on Airbnb
The Dutch carrier KLM has teamed up with Airbnb for a promotion in which aviation enthusiasts can win a night’s stay in Amsterdam. The lodging would be inside one of the airline’s just-retired MD-11s. It’s listed on Airbnb as a ‘Spacious Airplane Apartment’ in Amsterdam. Airbnb says the Wi-Fi equipped two-bedroom lodging option also comes with two kitchens, a living room, eight “small” bathrooms, 116 windows and “a giant cockpit panorama window”. Unfortunately flying is prohibited. The Airplane Apartment is available for three nights only, Nov. 28-30 2014.
