Cooking shop and catering collaborate
27-11-2013
In Oosterbeek (the Netherlands) cooking shop ‘bij )O(dette’ and caterer Sedap Catering joined forces. Visitors can take away an Indonesian meal or dish every Thursday afternoon. With the collaboration both entrepreneurs provide cross-selling opportunities for each other and strengthen their passion for cooking.
Sander van Veenendaal drafts perfect beer
26-11-2013
To enhance the draft beer quality worldwide, Heineken introduced the Star Serve program. The goal of the program is to optimize the skills of bartenders and enhance customers’ expectations of draft beer. As a part of this optimalization, the brewer has challenged bar tenders around the world to draft the perfect beer. At the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, Dutchman Sander van Veenendaal (Grand Café de Lindenhof, Soest) overclassed 19 bartenders from i.a. Malaysia, Ireland, Dubai, Brasil and Mexico and won the Global Bartender Final. Over 3000 locations worldwide participate in the Heineken Star Serve program, 300 of them are Dutch.
TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten veggies
26-11-2013
TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten vegetables through a new product range. With interesting names like ‘witches turnip’, ‘spine pumpkin’ and ‘kidney cabbage’ these vegetables get a second life. The witches turnip is bitter when it’s raw, but sweet if it’s done. The spine pumpkin has a sweet nutmeg-alike taste and the kidney cabbage has a spicy, mustard-alike taste. These old crops are not edible raw but pickled for conservation and consumption.
Update: The article is a hoax by TOP Foodlab. With these ‘forgotten’ vegetables TOP Foodlab wants to raise awareness for the real forgotten vegetables; 40% of the vegetables that are wasted in the entire food chain from producer to consumer.
See through desert house illusion
26-11-2013
American artist Philip K Smith III has added mirrors to a small house in the Californian desert. With his addition the construction, entitled Lucid Stead, appears to be a see through building. Combined with the desert landscape it provides a very photogenic environment.
The Manta Underwater Room
25-11-2013
The Manta Resort, located near Pemba Island (East coast of Africa) is surrounded by white beaches and clear blue water. In the middle of the ocean, The Manta Resort opened their 17th hotel room ‘The Manta Underwater Room’ on November 1, 2013. Guests can both above and below water enjoy the beautiful nature. ‘The Manta Underwater Room’ has three floors. The middle deck has a lounge area with a bathroom and via a ladder guests can go to the upper deck where they can sunbathe. Downstairs guests can immerse themselves in the world of the sea. The room has a double bed and the walls of glass give a 360 degrees view of the sea. During the evening hours when the spotlights are on, the magical underwater world will be visible. All kinds of fish, coral, octopus and perhaps dolphins are visible, it really makes you feel like you’re part of the underwater world. Copyright: Genberg Art UW Ltd and photography credits: Jesper Anhede.
Bar Restaurant Level serves mini version of famous burger
25-11-2013
Bar Restaurant Level Rotterdam will present their new sliders during Bubbles & Burgers on November 28. The sliders are a smaller version of the famous Level Burger which was voted as the best burger in Rotterdam. The burger is made of organic beef with bacon, cheddar and tartar sauce. The smaller variant is ideal as a snack that you can combine with bubbles. During the first edition of Bubbles & Burger the gin and tonics are provided by Gin and Tonic Club with jazzy music by a dj in a living room setting.
KLM shows current response time
25-11-2013
Nowadays you get quicker response to a question/problem by sending a message via Twitter or Facebook than using customers service by phone. KLM will show how long it will take before you get a response to your question. The airline introduced the current response time in the header of Twitter, on the customer support page of KLM.com and soon on Facebook. KLM receives approximately 30,000 messages per week and promises customers to respond within one hour. By showing the current response time, KLM will show if they really stick to the promise to respond within one hour.
Disposable tableware at Qbic Hotel London
25-11-2013
Qbic Hotel London will replace all the hotel porcelain by sustainable design disposable tableware. The hotel will use the product lines: Sucadrops (made from sugar cane), Hampi (made of palm leaves) and Aspenware (made of wood). The disposable tableware is part of the products by the Dutch company SD Trading. After using the disposable tableware, it will be composted and spread out over the roof of the hotel. Additional benefits are the decrease of the dishwasher use , which saves energy and reduce of staff costs.
A theater of wines
22-11-2013
A tent at a festival or celebration for wine lovers. Register Viticulturist and Sommelier Barbara Verbeek is the creator of this concept together with Barend Havenaar of Champagnebar.nl. They want to put all your senses to work in their wine theater. Barbara completed the wine academy for viticulturist in 2001. She got her title sommelier and wine and foodpairing expert in 2002 and recently became a Registered Viticulturist. She runs the wine theater events and celebrations at events like Manifesto, Valtifest and “A Day at the Park ‘.
Partnership hotel and church
22-11-2013
The Bilderberg Parkhotel and the monumental Arminius church in Rotterdam started a collaboration. The Bilderberg Parkhotel is not suitable for organizing conferences and other meetings due to lack of large meeting rooms. Arminius has this space. Through this partnership, the hotel can now offers space for weddings, conferences etc. in Arminius and the guests at the church can use the luxurious hotel facilities such as catering and the ability to stay overnight.
Champagne vending machine
22-11-2013
To approach the shoppers in the British department store Selfridges in London, Moët & Chandon sells mini champagne bottles in a vending machine. The champagne vending machine is located at the Christmas section at the department store. The 200ml bottles cost $29,- and are packed in a gold with crystal packaging. Moët & Chandon wants to make the luxury drink more accessible to a broader audience.
Luminous carpet
21-11-2013
Philips started a partnership with carpet specialist Desso. The companies will develop innovative light-emitting carpets based on LED lighting. It will be possible to integrate LED lighting in surfaces, which also gives the carpet a safety function such as painting out emergency exits and escape routes. The luminous carpet brings atmosphere and inspiration in areas and it will appeal to the senses of people. It is a new innovative way to inform people in areas like offices, hotels and conference centers. Philips and Desso are working on pilot projects, but in 2014 they will introduce the product name.
NIX18
21-11-2013
The age limit for buying alcohol and tobacco in the Netherlands will increase to 18 years on January 1, 2014. The Ministry of Health has launched the campaign NIX18 in collaboration with a number of partners. The campaign was kicked of on November 18 in the Feyenoord Stadium by Ronald Koeman and the secretary of Healthy Martin van Rijn. NIX18 draws attention that young people under the age of eighteen should not smoke or drink. Some famous Dutchies tell their story about not drinking or smoking under the age of eighteen on the website of NIX18. Partners of the campaign also organize some one-on-one activities for children and their parents to encourage to explain that they are not allowed to buy alcohol and tobacco.
YESTAP puts the FAST back into fast food
20-11-2013
Startup YES.TAP is removing the annoying queue’s at fast food restaurants. They’ve developed an app that lets you order by tapping your smartphone on a poster of the product you want to order. Through this innovative approach, they expect to attract new customers and retain loyal customers by offering a simple one tap mobile solution. The YES.TAP team are supported by Startupbootcamp to boost their concept. Visit getyestap.com to learn more.
Ghee Easy
20-11-2013
Ghee-easy makes traditional Indian cleared butter from Holland. In India Ghee is used to bake and fry food. It doesn’t splatter nor burn and has a smooth nut-alike taste. According to the traditional Indian Ayurvedic philosophy, Ghee is healthy, stimulates the digestion and supports the absorption of nutrients.
YES.TAP puts the FAST back into fast food
20-11-2013
Startup YES.TAP is removing the annoying queue’s at fast food restaurants. They’ve developed an app that lets you order by tapping your smartphone on a poster of the product you want to order. Through this innovative approach, they expect to attract new customers and retain loyal customers by offering a simple one tap mobile solution. The YES.TAP team are supported by Startupbootcamp to boost their concept. Visit getyestap.com to learn more.
Baileys Chocolat Luxe cocktails
19-11-2013
The dark days before Chrismas deserve special winter cocktails. Baileys Chocolat Luxe inspired us with three different cocktails. The Rococo serve is created by Bompas & Parr from the U.K. and served in a high glass with ice and raspberry. Liqueur expert Missy Flynn from London came up with the Chocolate Black Forrest (with cherry liqueur) and Chocolate mint (with mint frozen into ice cubes).
Streetsmart project in Amsterdam
19-11-2013
Sandra Chedi (Amstel Botel) and Bert van der Leden (Supperclub) are entrepreneurs in Amsterdam’s hospitality industry that took the initiative to launch Streetsmart Amsterdam. The initiative asks restaurant visitors to pay one euro on top of the bill to prevent people to get homeless. If the project is successful in Amsterdam it will be deployed nationwide. Check streetsmart.nl for a list of all participating restaurants. For the occasion a book with recipes of chefs from Amsterdam is published as well.
Truth Coffee Shop
18-11-2013
A beautiful authentic coffee bar with the smallest details, located in Cape Town, South Africa. The Truth Coffee Shop is designed by Heldane Martin, who incorporated each detail in the interior. Steel railings, copper tubes, vintage typewriters, old chandeliers and mirrors give the coffee shop an authentic look. Truth Coffee Shop stands for honestly and serves the best coffees with simple machines. The store shows the transparency as regards a cup of coffee, something different than the modern coffee shops of today. Click here for more pictures. Truth Coffee HQ interior design by Haldane Martin, Photo Micky Hoyle.
Sugar Factory American Brasserie
18-11-2013
Saturday night, 11 PM, New York City. As expected, the bars, restaurants and cafes in the meatpacking district and throughout Manhattan are bursting with people. But what I did find to be unexpected, were the insane crowds at Sugar Factory American Brasserie, I mean eating desserts is not exactly my idea of a crazy night out! The Vegas native restaurant with a focus on sweetness opened in the Meatpacking District April 2013 and has not had a silent moment since! They feature a “normal” menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the crowds get wild for the candy store at the front, the endless desserts and the candy cocktails. We know New Yorkers love places that are new, unique and fill a specialized niche and this is exactly what sugar factory does. Where else would you go for a fishbowl of gummy bear cocktails (or any other cocktail inspired by candy), chocolate fondues with 6 special types of chocolate and 15+ types of dippers or specialty desserts as red velvet pancakes or specialty variations of the classic sundae? If you are planning to visit New York, get on that reservation because they are hard to get and will remain that way for a while I expect!^Leonie van Spronsen
Build your own burger at McDonald’s
18-11-2013
McDonald’s is testing the concept of ‘Build your own burger’ in Laguna Niguel, California. Consumers can make a choice between different toppings and create their own customized burger. The new Dollar Menu gives consumers the opportunity to choose from five types of sandwiches and different sauces and toppings. McDonalds thinks that customization is an opportunity and wants to respond to the shifting eating habits and compete with the other major players in the market. Whether the concept will be implemented is the question.
Elegant bottle packaging transforms into ice bucket
18-11-2013
Veuve Clicquot has introduced a new limited edition packaging. The packaging looks like an elegant bottle sleeve, but can unfold into a functional ice bucket. De packaging has the characteristic yellow and black colors and the inner part consist of a water-resistant coating against leaking. Convenient and stylish!
A theater of wines
15-11-2013
A tent at a festival or celebration for wine lovers. Register Viticulturist and Sommelier Barbara Verbeek is the creator of this concept together with Barend Havenaar of Champagnebar.nl. They want to put all your senses to work in their wine theater. Barbara completed the wine academy for viticulturist in 2001. She got her title sommelier and wine and foodpairing expert in 2002 and recently became a Registered Viticulturist. She runs the wine theater events and celebrations at events like Manifesto, Valtifest and “A Day at the Park ‘.
New Year’s Eve dinner at the Waldorf Astoria
15-11-2013
Since 1931 the Waldorf Astoria NY has been a legendary destination for elegant New Year’s Eve celebrations. They now want to see how many Waldorf Astoria NY New Year’s Eve photos they can collect! They ask their fans at Facebook and their Twitter followers to find and post photos, everybody can vote and the person who did make or found the winning photo will receive a dinner for 2 at the Waldorf on New Year’s Eve! A great promotional campaign, simple to execute and who knows they might even run into some great photo’s from private albums.
A theater of wines
15-11-2013
A tent at a festival or celebration for wine lovers. Register Viticulturist and Sommelier Barbara Verbeek is the creator of this concept together with Barend Havenaar of Champagnebar.nl. They want to put all your senses to work in their wine theater. Barbara completed the wine academy for viticulturist in 2001. She got her title sommelier and wine and foodpairing expert in 2002 and recently became a Registered Viticulturist. She runs the wine theater events and celebrations at events like Manifesto, Valtifest and “A Day at the Park ‘.