julius bar&grill
17-12-2013
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.
A Christmas tree on your plate
17-12-2013
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.
Largest gingerbread house ever
17-12-2013
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.
Christmas without bulging
17-12-2013
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 Lightbattle
16-12-2013
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.
App combines food, style and music
16-12-2013
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.
Grilled or melted cheese sandwiches
16-12-2013
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.
Collaboration Hotel Mitland and Nimeto
13-12-2013
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.
New Martini Bar in Antwerp
13-12-2013
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.
Winter cocktails
13-12-2013
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.
Amount of restaurants increases despite recession
13-12-2013
This article is only available in Dutch.
Tosti Madness
12-12-2013
‘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’.
Turn off your smartphone and get discount
12-12-2013
You go out for dinner with some friends but before you even know it everyone is playing with a smartphone, recognizable? Restaurant Abu Ghosh in Jerusalem started a campaign to reduce the use of smartphones during dinner. The owner Jawdat Ibrahim noticed that his guests were talking less with each other and were constantly distracted by their smartphone. Therefore guests are asked to turn off their phone during dinner. When they put off their smartphone they will receive 50% discount on their bill. Earlier we saw the ‘My phone is off for you’ campaign.
Rainbow popcorn
11-12-2013
Cookie producer John Altman wants to crowdfund a total of € 9.000,- for an electric popcorn carrier tricycle. The tricycle is equipped with a mobile popcorn factory and will appear in Amsterdam parks and at events. The staff of the tricycle will consist out of ex-homeless people that reintegrate in the society with the help of the Rainbow Group. The crowdfund project has reached 78% of its goal and will close within 7 days.
Vegan wine
11-12-2013
During clarification of wine animal or plant protein can be used. Wine importer Yanflorijn focuses on importing wines that are free from the use of any animal products and serves vegetarian wine lovers with this proposition. In the near future Yannick Slagter and Floor Overgoor, founders of Yanflorijn want to grow their own vineyard in Holland.
Empire Biscuit
11-12-2013
Recently, a new joint opened up in New York City’s East Village that focuses solely on serving biscuits around the clock. You Americans reading this will probably think yummy, what a great idea! But for most of us Europeans it’s like, what is that? A cookie? No, biscuits are basically hearty scones that are traditionally served with fried chicken in the US. The founders of Empire Biscuit felt like this traditional side dish deserved some more limelight and opened up a 24 hours biscuit shop last month! At Empire Biscuit you can buy biscuits with many different fillings, depending on the time of day of course. This seems to spark a new battle in the cities’ culinary networks, because who makes the best biscuits? ^Leonie van Spronsen
Street Food petition
11-12-2013
In cities like New York and Bangkok diverse streetfood is commonly. The Netherlands lack a diverse streetfood offer. There is a law introduced in the ’30s that demands permets for streetfood. The permits are mainly provided to hotdog stands, deepfried dough during winter months and ice cream stands. At the moment the waiting list for permits is as long as thirty years for popular places like the Vondelpark. With the Streetfood petition initiator Steff Veldkamp from Vleesch noch Visch wants to put this issue on the political agenda and underline the fact that nowadays’ foodtrucks can be equipped like regular professional restaurant kitchens.
Street Food petition
11-12-2013
In cities like New York and Bangkok diverse streetfood is commonly. The Netherlands lack a diverse streetfood offer. There is a law introduced in the ’30s that demands permets for streetfood. The permits are mainly provided to hotdog stands, deepfried dough during winter months and ice cream stands. At the moment the waiting list for permits is as long as thirty years for popular places like the Vondelpark. With the Streetfood petition (link) initiator Steff Veldkamp from Vleesch noch Visch wants to put this issue on the political agenda and underline the fact that nowadays’ foodtrucks can be equipped like regular professional restaurant kitchens.
Dom Perignon Suite Amstel Hotel
10-12-2013
InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam has opened the first Champagne Suite by Dom Pérignon on October 17. The luxurious appearance and quality of Dom Pérignon returns into the interior of the suite. For the design and styling LM Flower Fashion and Puurflow were attracted. The suite is characterized by high-gloss black and silver with solid wood furniture. There is a stage for leading Dutch and international artists to exhibit their designs and creations. At this moment the exclusive soccer table by Piet Hein Eek is exhibited in the suite. In collaboration with the Nation Museum and a number of Dutch photographers hang replicas of artworks in the suite. Watch the video of the Dom Pérignon suite.
Cava Brutal
10-12-2013
The new ‘Cava Brutal’ is a non-traditonal, non-conformist bubble. The cava from Spain has a 18-month maturation (reserva) and is composed with the indigenous grape varieties Macabeo, Xarello, Parellada and Chardonnay. The ‘Cava Brutal’ is produced at winery DO Cava, located in the heart of the Penedés and Cava region, near Barcelona. Superrebel.com has developed this special cava in collaboration with Spanish winemaker Joan Rovira (agricultural engineer and oenologist). The bottle has a striking design, the bright orange color combined with black gives the bottle a clean look.
Christmas pop-up
10-12-2013
This recent year we have seen more and more pop-up stores that have made it go from hot to mainstream. Empty retail spaces fill up temporarily with stores or hospitality formulas. We also saw hotel lobbies that supported diverse pop-up formulas. So why not a pop-up Christmas store or Christmas village in your lobby? Why doesn’t your hotel collaborate with the local gardening center? They usually offer the most beautiful arrangements for the holidays and can use some extra exposure! Think of those beautiful snowy Christmas settings as in the picture that mesmerize your junior guests. This creates a win-win situation as you have great decoration and it will encourage guests to stay just a little longer, buy an extra cup of coffee. The first hotel that creates a collaboration like this will definitely earn a mention on horecatrends.com. Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Edible Christmas creations at Mandarin Oriental
9-12-2013
The Mandarin Cake Shop opened its doors in the 1970s and since 1987 Yves Matthey is the Executive Pastry Chef of this beautiful treat shop at the Mandarin Oriental. The signature items of The Mandarin Cake Shop include the cheesecake, the chocolate truffle cake, home-made XO sauce and rose petal jam, of which the recipe stays a mystery. There are beautiful (Christmas) cakes and pies for sale in the shop.
Palacio de Sal hotel
9-12-2013
Hotel ‘Palacio de Sal’, recently renovated and unique in the world. The hotel is located in Bolivia, South America, and is entirely made of salt. The hotel has 24 rooms of which 8 double rooms and 16 twin rooms. The walls, floors, chairs, tables, beds and ceilings are all made from salt. Only the mattresses and toilets aren’t made of salt. Not only the hotel consists of salt, but also the restaurant meals are based on salt. Hotel guests are not allowed to lick on the walls. From January 2014 the hotel expands to 8 double and 22 twin rooms.
Dressing up the Christmas tree
9-12-2013
Pizza slices and boxes in the tree, spotted in New York and easily to recreate golden cutlery. A tree full of fortune cookies in a Chinese restaurant or golden chopsticks in a Japanese tree, all easy to execute ideas to customize your tree! Just consider what you sell (ice cream cones in an ice cream parlor or espresso cups in a coffee bar) and spray it in a Christmas color, easy and stylish! Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Tip: Optimize your online availability
6-12-2013
This article is only available in Dutch.