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.
Phototherapy at Bagels and Beans
6-12-2013
It’s winter again. Fatigue, decreased energy and concentration problems are signs of a winter depression. On average about 600,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from winter depression. To give more relief, Bagels and Beans offers fifteen minutes of ‘sun’. Bagels & Beans has decided to introduce the phototherapy glasses again in collaboration with phototherapy specialist Goodlite. Guests can use the glasses for fifteen minutes and it will give them a better mood and more energy.
McDonald’s Italy introduces its new local burger
6-12-2013
McDonald’s Italy has introduced its new local burger ‘Gran Piemontese’. The burger comes from the Piedmont region and is made of 100% meat of the famous Italian Piedmonts cow breed. The ‘Gran Piemontese’ will be available in nearly 500 locations of McDonalds in Italy. Earlier we spotted the app ‘TrackMyMacca‘ in Australia, where the guest can see where the ingredients originate from and what happens before they are served.
Healthy pizza with seaweed
6-12-2013
Company ‘Eat Healthy’ has introduced a healthy variation of the pizza. This frozen pizza is now available in England and Wales. This pizza is low in fat and sodium with a lot of vitamin and mineral rich ingredients. The pizza has toppings like mozzarella, cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, red pepper and garlic powder. To make the pizza healthier the company added a secret ingredient: seaweed. The seaweed is the healthy alternative to salt. According to the company you don’t taste the seaweed because the flavors of the other toppings will dominate. An average frozen pizza contains 300 calories and 13 grams of fat, the pizza of ‘Eat Healthy’ contains 172 calories and 5.3 grams of fat.
Christmas gestures Artbazaar
5-12-2013
Culinary creations made by Monique van der Meijden of ArtBazaar. In her atelier she creates rocks and trays out of oysters and scallops shells. Restaurant “de Compagnon” in Amsterdam displays her largest rock. Need more inspiration for Christmas? Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Cookbook restaurant Bord’Eau available via an app
5-12-2013
Years ago Ferran Adrià was one of the first chefs who released a cookbook with background stories about cooking at elBulli with pictures of the dishes. The recipes were included on a CD. These types of cookbooks we have seen more often in recent years. Nowadays we see more and more chefs releasing an app with dishes and background stories instead of a cookbook. Recently Richard van Oostbrugge, chef cook of the two Michelin starred restaurant Bord’Eau launched an app. Through the app you can see 14 digitally recorded preparations of his favorite creations. Besides the ingredients and the preparation, the lay-out of the plates is filmed from above which gives an inspiring look into the kitchen of the restaurant. The app is available for iPads with an iOS6 or higher.
Paulaner Brauhaus and Restaurant opened in NYC
5-12-2013
Paulaner International has opened its first micro brewery ‘Paulaner Brauhaus & Restaurant’ in New York City. This is the first Paulaner Brauwhaus that opened in America, perhaps more will follow in the future. At the ‘Paulaner Brauhaus & Restaurant’ six of their special beers are brewed according to the original German ‘Beer Putiry Law’ established in 1516. On tap they will have the beers München Lager and München Dars, Hefeweizen (wheat beer) and two seasonal beers. The Brauhaus & Restaurant have got some bites like the famous German pretzels, sauerkrauts and different types of sausages.
Top 10 Spa hotels
5-12-2013
‘A luxury travel blog’ compiled a top 10 Spa hotels all over the world at exotic locations. We visited the wonderful Spa hotel ‘Pankor Laut Resort‘. The ‘Pankor Laut Resort’ is a privately owned island located three miles off the West Coast of Malaysia in natural surroundings. The combination of luxury, the beautiful nature and the ancient wilderness create an environment where peace and magically memorable moments come together. Watch other beautiful examples of the top 10 Spa hotels at ‘A luxury travel blog.’
Cave hotel restaurant Grota Palazzese
4-12-2013
The Grotta Palazzese in Polignano a Mare in the Italian region of Puglia is a unique cave hotel with a restaurant. The hotel has 25 rooms and is partly carved out of the limestone rocks. From some rooms you have a brilliant view of the Adriatic sea and the restaurant has a half open cave ceiling. The restaurant opens from May to October.
The Yeatman wine themed hotel
4-12-2013
The Yeatman is a luxe hotel in the heart of the wine cellar district of Porto with view on the city and the Douro river. The 5-star hotel is specialized in wine and gastronomy. All rooms have a Portugese ‘wine partner’ that hosts the room decorations, from pictures of the vineyard to branded artifacts. The wine partners hold weekly wine dinners at the hotel with meals that are cooked by Michelin star chef Ricardo Costa*.
Taylor’s Port sponsors the Master Suite 008, one of the most luxurious suites in the hotel. The bed in this suite is placed in a gigantic 28.000 liter wine barrel. According to the legend, the barrel is over a hundred years old. Check here the photos of this phenomenal hotel.
Nightswap exchange nights
3-12-2013
Through the Nightswap website people can lend out their house or room and get a night in someone else’s house in return without any financial transaction taken place. It’s possible to collect nights and spend them all in once, home swap at the same moment or to buy extra nights. The website offers insurances as well and is an alternative for peer-to-peer websites like Couchsurfing.org and Airbnb.com with a slightly different business model.
