One of the Chinese KFC’s in Beijing uses facial recognition tech in order to help customers choose their meal by mood, age or gender. The device is created by search engine company Baidu. We wonder what it would recommend us! read more
Photo by Dina Joanna Coloma
Photo by Dina Joanna Coloma
Photo by Dina Joanna ColomaWho doesn’t have this childhood memory? Sneaking a few spoonful’s of raw dough when your mom or grandmother was baking cookies. Remember sneaking too much until you were sick? Nowadays you can buy ‘raw cookie dough’ in the supermarket in America and this week a ‘ready-and-safe-to-eat raw cookie dough’ restaurant will open in Greenwich Village in New York. According to owner Kirsten Tomlan a place where you can enjoy ‘raw cookie dough’ mixed with ‘normal cookies’ and many more ingredients. Please be aware of this lesson from grandmothers: “don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach otherwise you will be nauseous!” read more
Foto door Ivo KnubbenThe Hague’s best bakery Victor Driessen is coming to you this year, his products can be picked up at his own pick up points.
In the beginning of 1900 it was a famous streetscape. Victor’s grandpa started delivering the breads of the Driessen family by literally jumping on his cargo bike. Bakery Victor Driessen relives old times, there is only a small difference. read more
During the events of ‘Edible Cinema’ guests get a package of food before the movie starts. The small dishes in the package are numbered and you are not allowed to eat them until the numbers correspond with the numbers shown in the movie. This way, aroma, texture and taste create a more unique experience during certain scenes within the movie. read more
Pop-up IGLOOS 
Pop-up IGLOOS 
Pop-up IGLOOS In London it’s possible to diner in pop-up igloo’s until the end of the winter at the Coppa Club. The pop-up structures host smaller groups (up to 8 people at a time) and are fully-heated. To make it even more comfortable for the guests, there are sheepskin blankets and speakers in the IGLOOS. Which rooftop terrace in the Netherlands will install these kind of igloo’s next winter? read more
At Horecatrends we spot a lot of national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we use in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week amongst others, eat and watch Ratatouille at restaurant Dertien and the new food trend 2017, Plankton!
If you like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading! read more
The newest dish from the chef’s table at La Cantina Del Mar at Bonaire. At the chef’s table they serve dishes inspired by local products and with Bonaire Blond beer. read more
A chips or crisps restaurant, Hipchips London opened in November. Situated on Old Compton Street in Soho, the crisp restaurant sells their fresh chips from a conveyor belt topped with heritage potato slices and fancy dips. read more
The brewpub
The brewpub - Maitake Wheat 
The brewpub interior
Band of Bohemia, a brewpub in Chicago has been awarded with a Michelin star last November. Very special if you consider the fact that beer is the main event at this brewpub. The Band of Bohemia received the Michelin star after being open for just one year. Michelin is awarding stars to more and more surprising food joints. For example in Singapore where street food stalls Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle and Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle got a star. More recently we had dinner at The Harwood Arms, the only English pub in London awarded with a Michelin star. Which surprising kind of restaurant, food bar or food truck will be next in line after Chicago, Singapore and London? read more
Mahbir infused ice cubes, photo by Ranj & Sharan Photography
Mahbir Crisp Apple Jam infused with saffron photo by Ranj & Sharan Photography
Mahbir Belgian Milk Chocolate, photo by Ranj & Sharan Photography
Mahbir Premium Indian Saffron, photo by Ranj & Sharan Photography
Mahbir introduction during the 'Hotelnacht', photo by Ranj & Sharan Photography 
Mahbir Thukral proprietor photo by Ranj & Sharan PhotographyMahbir Premium Indian Saffron launched in Amsterdam during the ‘Hotelnacht’. The 100% pure red stigma‐tip saffron strands, handpicked in Kashmir, India, are now available in the UK and in Amsterdam. One of the new ways saffron is being used is in cocktails, a Gin & Tonic with saffron-infused ice cubes for example. read more
Recently opened in The Hague: Capriole Café. A restaurant and roastery in one. Capriole Cafe is located in an old industrial building on the waterfront at the Fokkerhaven (a port) in The Hague. Their guests are able to visit the restaurant during the whole day, for a cup of coffee in the morning as well as for a hamburger during dinner. They also give coffee workshops. read more
The penthouse suite at the 7132 Hotel
Room by Kengo Kuma at the 7132 Hotel
Room by Thom Mayne at the 7132 Hotel Wood
Room by Thom Mayne at the 7132 Hotel in stone
Room by Tadao Ando at the 7132 Hotel
The thermal baths designed by Peter Zumthor
Relaxing room thermal baths designed by Peter Sumthor 
Chef Sven Wassmer at restaurant Silver
Bread at restaurant Silver
Grapefruit aged Negroni at the 7132 HotelA Swiss design hotel and superb architecture under a single roof and as the latest architect indicates: “The human race may share common roots, but we are a pretty diverse bunch, so do we really have to put up with stereotypes?” Thom Mayne, the latest architect for 22 rooms in this hotel, says an emphatic no. Well, the 7132 Hotel in Vals is the embodied result of offering rooms designed by prize winning architects. With as latest asset the rooms created by Thom Mayne and the other 63 newly designed hotel rooms which are created by other top architects. Truly the house of architects in Switzerland. read more
Especially for those special beer lovers who live in or near Rotterdam, the first beer boutique in the Netherlands will open its doors early February. A joint with the look of a boutique resambling the time of The Great Gatsby. A great place to relax and enjoy a special beer. Naturally, the old familiar lager remains on the beer menu. read more
Wim stands for Wine in Moderation and it’s a Dutch name for a man. In the Netherlands, the Royal Dutch Association of Vintners (KVNW) initiated the International Wine in Moderation initiative. The KVNW takes their social responsibility in the provision of wine very serious and wants to encourage responsible wine consumption by consumers. ‘Wim about Wine’ has to become the platform for the Dutch consumer to find tips and explanations about the moderation of consuming wine. read more
As far as we were aware Instagram is used to share pictures, clips and social cinema. KFC has launched a game on Instagram though, the ‘Colonel Saunders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken Football Challenge’.
KFC has launched “Colonel Saunders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken Football Challenge’, where Instagrammers can “play” on an American Football field across different animations on the social media platform. The game tags Instagram accounts, which players can click on to reach a new stage. KFC’s game utilizes 31 animations and 35 different Instagram accounts to tell the story of a short football game.
Great way to get more followers and likes with the Super Bowl less than a month away. Created by agency Wieden + Kennedy.
We couldn’t find an immersive Christmas Light Maze in Europe yet, howevere correct us if we are wrong. But we love the idea, another fun read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
Are you in a winter dip? With the Positivo cocktails of Happy Drinks, your body and soul will get a heartwarming energy boost en brings the summer back into your glass. 0% alcohol, 100% positive. The ‘Positivo’ cocktails is made with balsamic vinegar, strawberries and pepper and this combination makes every pessimist positive. The ‘Positivo Classico’ is more powerful and intense than the ‘Positivo’ and gives you a thrill. The recipes are only available in Dutch.
2014 will be another special ‘orange’ year. With the Winter Olympics, the World Cup and Kings day coming, brewery Heineken is seeking a Chief Orange Officer by February 1, 2014. The new Chief Orange Officer will bring the orange feeling at home and abroad and the first coaches the legion of supporters. With an orange car and an orange suite, the Chief Orange Officer will visit all the orange events and if the Netherlands are world champion in Brazil, the annual salary will be doubled.
The Polish artist Pawel Althamer will show his latest collection on the second, third and fourth floor of the ‘New Museum’ in New York from February 12 to April 13, 2014. Part of his collection is ‘The Neighbors’ where the artist involves the visitors to make an ambitious artwork. On the fourth floor of the museum, a white wall will be covered by paintings and drawings made by the visitors. Visitors can show their arts and will be part of the exhibition. At various times during the exhibition musicians will provide live music.
The Hanjie Wanda Square is a new shopping center in Wuhan, China. In 2011 a contest was held with various national and international architects. The design of UNStudio’s was chosen as winner. The building has luxury design and combines modern and traditional elements with simple materials. The focus of the design is on the visitor flows, from the three main entrances visitors are guided to two central spaces. The facade consists of 42,333 spheres with 3.1 million LED lights that can be combined to create a beautiful lighting effect.
It remains difficult to make a perfect cocktail, you often pour too much or too little of an ingredient in the cocktail. With the ‘Perfect Drink’ you can now easily make the perfect cocktail with the right amount. The digital kitchen scale is connected with an app and tells you what ingredient you need to add, considering the weight during the preparation and indicates when to stop adding an ingredient. You will get the perfect cocktail. The app has a large database of cocktail recipes but you can also add a recipe yourself.
With the new search engine ‘Accor Meeting Hotel Finder’ of Accor Hotels, MICE- and meeting planners can search easily for a suitable location for their conference or event. They can search for a location based on the geographical location, type of event, accommodation and hotel segment. When the meeting planner has selected a location they can directly request for an offer or book the location. The search engine has more than 1,000 locations and 10,000 rooms in 90 different countries of which 65% in Europe and 23% in Asia Pacific.
No mayonnaise, ketchup or curry with the fries but a chocolate dipping sauce?! Japanese fast food chain Lotteria will serve its fries with a Lotte Ghana chocolate dip called ‘Dipping Fries’ in the months January and February. The salt of the fries and the sweetness of the chocolate makes a unique combination. We have tried the fries with chocolate at the office and… A few colleagues thought it was pretty good but most prefer mayonnaise!
A driving tram through the city of The Hague and during the trip a high-quality four-course dinner while passing the highlights of the city. Around February 2014 this will be possible in tram restaurant Hoftramm. The driving tram will be transformed into a modern and elegant restaurant and has all amenities including a kitchen, bar and toilets. Tram restaurant Hoftrammm will be a route through the center of The Hague six days a week and the guests will get served a four-course dinner with a matching beverage package. To achieve the tram restaurant there is currently a crowdfunding campaign.
Network club INCH (international network connecting hotelschool graduates) has decorated a hotel suite at the Hotelschool The Hague campus Amsterdam in collaboration with Balsan DUO carpet. The design studio of Balsan DUO has designed the room together with architect Frank ter Horst. The hotel suite is themed unruliness, spontaneity and to act unconventional. Balsan has placed a striking carpet with 4 designs on the floor and they also decorated the wall and the window frame with the same carpet. There is a bed of 2m by 2m in the middle of the room, a maxibar and enough space to move freely.
Start 2014 without a hangover. The organizers of the ‘Chocolate Club’ celebrate New Year Eve with a conscious clubbing night. Drink alcohol-free super-drinks and elixirs with natural ingredients and watch the fireworks over Amsterdam from a hot tub or dance the night away in the ‘Amsterdam Dansmakers’–studios. Recently we mentioned the rise of superfoods, this is the first healthy clubbing concept that we came across. See the video of the previous edition in July.
Take an adventurous book, combine it with a shoestring travel guide and bake it with delicious recipes to a practical cookbook. That must have been the recipe for ‘Gastrovan – Met je neus in de boter'(proverb: hit the jackpot). This recipe was created by Sjaak Borsboom, Jeroen Simons and Olivier van der Ree after a summertour with their campervan through the Netherlands, France and Spain where they cooked for more than 200 people. The combination of funny stories, describtion of exclusive destinations and local recipes will be mouthwatering for every foodie.
Saturday 11 January the chubby Gasconne pig ‘Pumba’ will be honored. The pig entered the Lindenhoff farm as a 20 kg piglet and is now, at the age of five, ready to be roasted next to open fire for 50 hours (!). Organizers Baaf Vonk and Roel van Vliet from Varkensroosteren.nl work together with restaurant Old-School in Amsterdam. The cooks are already working on mouthwatering recipes like ‘schwein with sauerkraut and Schwarzbier’, pig belly with Korean kimchi or American pulled pork with chutney.
Floske Kusse and Tine Sommeijer want to stimulate city-inhabitants to get more acquainted with local shops. Therefore they’ve started City Food Route. The website provides a map of the neighbourhood with shopping tips for the menu and recipes and relaxed places to get a cup of coffee and relax. The first tour through the old East of Amsterdam is online and soon a tour through the less-known parts of ‘De Pijp’ and ‘Rivierenbuurt’ will follow.
IQ Creative, known from i.e. the Supperclub, Envy, Mercat and Mazzo, collaborated with chef Julius Jasper to open julius bar&grill. At the heart of the transparent kitchen there are a gigantic charcoal grill and two ceramic closable barbecues. The restaurant has various table settings with communal tables, an extended 15 meter long Chesterfield and three rooms for private dining. One of the rooms is decorated as a wine chamber and has room for six, the second room is a cozy living room with space for ten and the third is a library with inspirational books from and by Julius Jaspers.
Inspiration for on the Christmas plate. Do you have special ‘Christmas’ dishes that you want to share with the visitors of Horecatrends? We love to hear from you! Send pictures to tip@spronsen.com.
For building this large Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house, and amount of 7.200 eggs, 22.304 pieces of candy, 820 kg butter and 1360 kg sugar with a total of 36 million calories were used. The house is built by volenteers to raise charity for the St. Joseph Hospital in Texas and will be part of the Guinness book of records as the largest gingerbread house ever.
We recently received the press release ‘Christmas without bulging’ by the Diabetes Foundation. A study shows that the majority of the Dutch people are less eager to eat healthy in December. The Diabetes Foundation concluded this based on search trends in Google. In January people start Googling on ‘healthy recipes’ and ‘diet’ but in December those search terms are hardly used. According to the Diabetes Foundation, a missed opportunity, because delicious and healthy food at Christmas is possible indeed.
The director of the Rijksmuseum opened the light artwork ‘Lightbattle’ on December 12. In the bicycle tunnel of the Rijksmuseum, where hundreds of cyclists pass through every day, a red and a blue team can compete with each other during a battle. The cyclists colour all lights win. The winners get a spectacular light show. The Lightbattle uses the energy of the cyclists and can be viewed until January 19. The Lightbattle is an idea of Venividimultiplex and developed by InventDesign.
Uniqlo has introduced a new app with a combination of food, style and music. Six emerging chefs from the US have developed a total of 24 recipes with everyday ingredients and cooking techniques. The recipes are inspired by the autumn/ winter collection of the brand ‘LifeWare Philosophy’. Every chefs wears an outfit that features the colors and textures of the dish, the outfits can be purchased through the app. The app also has different cooking sounds and a timer.
A cheese lover? Then you should definitely visit eatery ‘Grilled Cheese Spot’ in Santa Ana, California. The eatery only serves sandwiches with grilled/ melted cheese. Ranging from Spanish Manchego cheese to Gouda cheese. You can make the sandwich the way you like. With the build-your-own-menu you first choose a type of bread, then a cheese, two types of toppings and optionally a sauce. You can also order a soup, potato chips and onion rings as side dish.
Hotel Mitland and Nimeto, a creative commercial intermediate vocational college, have a long collaboration history in Utrecht. Every year the Nimeto students decorate the hotel, restaurant and the bowling alley in Christmas atmospheres. Mister Wim Plijnaar is closely involved in the decoration, he is one of the four brothers that run the hotel. The example was suggested after a Tweet we sent about collaboration possibilities for hotels and garden centers for Christmas decoration.
Because of its 150 year celebration vermouth brand Martini opened a bar in fashion city Antwerp. The designers of Puresang created a room that is plastered in Mediterranean style, has a gold plated ceiling and organic structures that seem to blend in into each other. The design of the drinks menu is magazin-ish and will change regularly as a magazine is supposed to. See the pictures.
Want to serve a delicious cocktail during Christmas dinner or after? Baileys Chocolat Luxe asked three bartenders to create a winter cocktail with their beverage, they came up with the following. The “Rococo” was created by Bompas & Parr from England and is served in a highball with ice cream and raspberry. Liquor expert Missy Flynn from London came up with the “Chocolat Black Forest” and “Chocolat Mint” (with mint infused ice cubes). You can find all recipes here. Or turn a mojito into a Christmas mojito by adding a pinch of cranberry juice and cranberry’s. For the non-alcoholic cocktail lovers, Happy Drinks have some recipes on their site. Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
This article is only available in Dutch.
‘Tosti Madness’ makes gourmet sandwiches. With the ‘Tosti Madness’ caravan and grill they visit festivals to serve the visitors fresh sandwiches made from organic and/or local products. They will also create a ‘Tosti Madness special’ with seasonal/region-specific products on request. They are always looking for new ways to prepare the sandwiches, such with a grill or on fire. ‘Tosti Madness’ also provides sandwiches to the hospitality business (mainly pubs) and provides catering. Last year they won the award for the best food truck concept during ‘Proefpark Haarlem’.
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