We want to buy our groceries through the wall!

8-5-2015

Early May the second Bilder & De Clercq Wall has been placed in the most sustainable building in the world: The Edge on the Zuidas (South of Amsterdam). The new prestigious headquarters of Deloitte/AKD designed by PLP / Architecture.
This allows the employees of these offices to order their groceries at Bilder & De Clercq every workday, without leaving the office. Same day delivery without subscription! To use the Bilder & De Clercq Wall, one must download the Bilder & De Clercq app and enter payment details. We have previously written about the first Bilder & De Clercq Wall in Google’s office in Amsterdam.

The future of grocery shopping?

We would love a wall like the Bilder & De Clercq Wall at our office! No more worries about what to eat, no overwhelming choices. Just order it until 15:30 and pick up the groceries from 17:00 hours. No more shopping stress during weekdays! The wall offers 14 dishes, plus some drinks and small bites.
After registration you order the dishes either by tapping into the app, or by keeping the smartphone in front of the dish of your choice. The wireless NFC chip in the phone takes care of the communication. We know a similar concept from South Korea where supermarket chain Tesco has developed a virtual shop at a subway station. Yes.Tap makes contactless payments possible.

Bilder & De Clercq

With their store Rogier Leopold and Diederik Van Gelder facilitate people who want to cook tasty and healthy but just don’t want to dub about the menu. With a weekly changing menu, Bilder & De Clercq offers choice of fourteen dishes for which they provide the ingredients in the right amount. They have a shop in Amsterdam (on the corner of the Bilderdijkstraat and the De Clercqstraat) and already two Bilder & De Clercq Walls. The second store on the Ceintuurbaan will close in the end of May and they will focus on the office market. More info? Contact info@bilderdeclercq.nl

Pinkyrose: cool lemonade as non-alcoholic alternative

7-5-2015

Pinkyrose, the flamingo brand, is a fresh handmade syrup. No artificial substitutes like conservatives and preservatives are added. The juice, the spices, the herbs and the secret are all-natural and squeezed by hand. Great non-alcoholic alternative on your summer menu.

Cool lemonade in industrial oil tins

With more than 20 years of gastronomic experience, the Pinkyrose-chef was able to create four distinctive flavours: Straight Lemon, Spiced Lemon & Rose, Dark Caramel Sea Salt and Floral Ginger & Orange. Pinkyrose is the perfect basis for a sparkling soda, lemonade or cocktail. The syrups are delivered in nice industrial oil tins with great labels, recognisable by the famous flamingo and the handwritten flavour-signature.

The flavors of the fresh handmade lemonade

Straight Lemon tastes like taking a dip in fresh, flowing water on a hot summer day. A sweet and tart syrup with lemon and lemon grass.

Spiced Lemon & Rose tastes like taking a stroll in a Thai rose garden. A fresh and spicy syrup with rose-petals, red pepper and oriental spices.

Dark Caramel Sea Salt tastes like an exotic snack. A sweet salty syrup with caramel, sea salt and original spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Floral Ginger & Orange tastes like your favourite summer festival. A wonderful sweet and floral syrup with orange, various types of ginger and lavender.

Pinkyrose, fresh & serious syrups

Pinkyrose was born in 2013. The chef and the designer were looking for a non-alcoholic alternative. They decided to combine their gastronomic and creative forces to offer a titillating alternative.

The ‘Scoff-ee Cup’ by KFC

7-5-2015

KFC in the UK has unveiled the first edible coffee cup. It’s called the ‘Scoff-ee Cup’. The cups are currently under development but most probably available from this summer onwards.

The ‘Scoff-ee Cup’ is made from biscuit, wrapped in sugar paper and lined with a layer of white chocolate. The chocolate keeps the coffee hot and the cup crispy. The biscuit slowly softens as the chocolate melts which it does in the mouth and not in the hand. The ‘Scoff-ee Cups’ will mark the launch of KFC’s Seattle’s Best Coffee (made from fairtrade Arabica beans) across England. We did spot edible coffee cups before, like the milk & cookie shots by Dominique Ansel.

Food scientist created the ‘Scoff-ee Cup’

Food scientists The Robin Collective created the edible cup in partnership with KFC. The cups are also infused with different scents (Coconut sun cream, freshly cut grass and wild flowers), that are known to improve your mood. And that together with a great coffee, there’s no better way to start your day!

Dominique Ansel’s answer to what’s next

6-5-2015

Dominique Ansel opened his second bakery and concept, the Dominique Ansel KITCHEN on 29 April. As we already wrote in February, Dominique Ansel KITCHEN will not be serving the Cronut™ pastry nor many of the items that are most popular at the original Soho flagship Bakery. So if you’re visiting NYC and want to taste some of the other delicacies by Dominique Ansel, you don’t have to wait in line at his bakery, although we think it might be a problem to get a reservation at his KITCHEN as well.

At Dominique Ansel KITCHEN time is an ingredient

More than 70% of the menu will be made, finished, or assembled to order. Chef Dominique and his team have changed the operations of a traditional bakery, fusing it with a restaurant service kitchen, to bring “à la minute” capabilities to some of your best loved baked goods.

In the fully opened kitchens, guests will see the cooks cut fresh vanilla beans and scrape the seeds directly onto your ice cream rather than have it mixed in and slowly lose the intensity of its flavor in the fridge. They fold the chocolate mousse to order so it doesn’t have to harden for hours in the fridge, and guests can even choose the intensity of the chocolate. The ham and cheese croissant is wrapped in premium freshly sliced ham when the order is placed. And they aim to have everything done in the same amount of time it takes to get a latte. If people will wait for a fresh pulled espresso, why not also for a pastry?

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GPS-Bottles leads finders to the Heineken experience

6-5-2015

Amsterdam’s Heineken Experience has littered GPS-enabled beer bottles through the city which can lead curious residents and tourists to the beer museum.

Anyone picking up one of the bottles around Amsterdam will feel the bottle vibrate and see the cap light up as it activates. The in-built compass and rotating cap will then guide the finder through the city directly to the Heineken Experience.

GPS-bottles instead of flyers

The idea is to boost the visitors to the branded museum, which saw 730,000 visitors last year. Heineken teamed up with JWT Amsterdam to attract more visitors to their brewery. The custom-made Heineken bottles had an integrated GPS system designed to lead people who picked them up back to the Heineken Experience brewery.

Dirk Lubbers, manager of the Heineken Experience, said: “Handing out flyers is not very Heineken, so we wanted to play on the brand’s famous inventiveness, wit and pioneering spirit and create something that stands out for potential visitors. Our key differentiator is that we invite each visitor on a cultural and historical journey, enabling them to interact with the brand. This initiative is a great representation of our approach: innovative, dynamic, surprising, and always leave you with unforgettable memories.”

Grandma’s dishes served in pop-up restaurant

4-5-2015

Oma’s (Grandma’s) pop-up restaurant is a restaurant serving traditional Dutch dishes. The dishes are prepared by enthusiastic seniors who still have energy and want to remain active. Benefit: reintegration of elderly and guests can enjoy meatballs, green beans and other traditional Dutch dishes.

Six Commercial Economy students from Hogeschool Rotterdam came up with the idea to establish a pop-up restaurant for seniors. Nowadays the loneliness of seniors is a big social issue and that’s why the students chose to do something about it. The idea is that the seniors will make their traditional meals which will be served in the restaurant.

Grandma’s dishes

Grandma’s soup, meatloaf or stew, who hasn’t got a fond memory of eating that particular great dish from grandma? At Oma’s pop-up in Rotterdam, guests can taste these delicious and traditional Dutch dishes. These dishes were prepared by seniors that mostly cook only for themselves and love to create more social contact this way.

A day full of activities

The seniors will have a day full of activities at the Saturday that they make their dishes. There will be a workshop by a professional chef and in the evening the seniors are preparing the dishes. These dishes will be served in the restaurant and after a nice meal the guests will get the opportunity to visit the kitchen and have a conversation with the seniors. Maybe even swap recipes! The six students are hoping that after this day, the people involved will maintain contact with each other.

Ideal white shirt for restaurants

1-5-2015

A white shirt that can’t be harmed by dirty stains! Really? Elizabeth & Clarke, the producers of ‘The Unstainable™ White Shirt, ensure coffee or red wine stains are history with the shirt. Besides that, it also perfectly fits every (women) body shape.

Every now and then there are some projects on Kickstarter that gain the money needed fast and exceed it by far. The Unstainable™ White Shirt’ is one of those projects. It looks like the ideal shirt to wear when working. Especially when you are clumsy and regularly get stains on your shirt

Made with nanotechnology

Because of the nanotechnology, all kinds of water and oil based products are kept off. Transpiration will even vaporize before it reaches the fibers. Water based products, oil based products and transpiration are easy to wash off.

Elizabeth & Clarke think they have invented an affordable and easily washable shirt, ideal for women.  We are very interested in the cleanliness of the shirt in a real restaurant environment.

Kromkommer straight to the top

30-4-2015

Exactly a year after the introduction of the Kromkommer soups, a pop-up store opens its doors in Utrecht Hoog Catharijne (the Netherlands). The shop is open from 18 until 31 May. Kromkommer is the first store in the Netherlands with weird shaped vegetables.

Straight to the top

Kromkommer makes sure that products aren’t wasted because of their looks. According to the estimates 5 to 10% of all the vegetables and fruits in the Netherlands are wasted because of their looks. That’s why Kromkommer makes sure the crooked vegetables and fruits that don’t fit the perfect picture come back to the plate in different ways. The founders Jente de Vries and Lisanne van Zwol started their quest in 2012 and soon after Chantal Engelen joined in the waste battle.

See our earlier article about Kromkommer and their crowdfunding campaign.

Pop-Op Shop

The Kromkommer Pop-Op Shop is a place where the story of weird shaped vegetables can be experienced in real life. You can find Kromkommer soups, weird shaped vegetable juices and green gadgets. Nearly all the products that can be found in the store, are recycled.

The Kromkommer Pop-Op Shop is besides a point of sale for weird shaped vegetables, a place for meetings. Growers tell stories about their product, retailers share their opinion about the waste of food and the Krommunity organizes workshops and lectures for the visitors. The Krommunity forms the backbone of the activities by Kromkommer.

On the birthday of the Kromkommer soup (25 May), the newest weird shaped vegetable soup ‘Koele Soep’ (Cool Soup) will be launched. They’re going straight to the top!

On-Air will be a new iconic building in Amsterdam

29-4-2015

Real estate developer COD, architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis agency OMA / Rem Koolhaas, the NH Hotel Group and sustainable developer ‘Being Development’ have joined forces and came up with the ‘On-Air’ building as new icon for Amsterdam. It was the winning concept of the tender the municipality of Amsterdam and the RAI Convention Centre issued for the location in the south of the city.

About the alliance

COD developed two hotels in Amsterdam in 2015, Motel One at the Europa Boulevard (320 rooms) and Generator (168 rooms) at the Mauritskade. The recent projects of the OMA agency include the new headquarters for G-Star in Amsterdam (2014) and the towers of The Rotterdam (2013). The NH Hotel Group will implement the nhow-label at ‘On-Air’ with 650 rooms hotel. Being Development is a young and innovative company that develops the sustainable real estate from the end user’s perspective.

On-Air

The On-Air hotel is designed by OMA / Rem Koolhaas. It will include a restaurant, a TV studio, a spa / gym, shops and a sculpture garden. The sustainability ambition for the building will be ‘BREEAM outstanding’ and it will be carbon neutral. With 650 rooms nhow Amsterdam RAI will be the largest hotel of the Benelux. The start of the construction of this 91 meter high hotel is planned for midst 2016. The location is triangle bounded by the Europa Boulevard, the A10 and the Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre.

Prestigious landmark

The municipality of Amsterdam aims for a larger and more varied hotel offer and better spreading across the city. The new hotel and its facilities can be of great value to the city at this location on the south side of the city and the surrounding business district.

Newspaper menu comes alive

24-4-2015

Guests of Center Parcs restaurants can scan a newspaper menu with their phone for a virtual reality experience. With the use of an app guests can help foodservice Albron with further improvements, see extra information, receive advice about food or drinks that are connected to the current weather or vote on their favourite employee. The newspaper menu increases the level of experience in the Center Parcs restaurants where Albron takes care of the hospitality and food retail.

Newspaper menu

The newspaper menu offers access to the digital world. The technique that’s used, augmented reality, makes the print come to life. The stories of new hospitality concepts are filmed to excite the guests. The guests aren’t spectators of the decor where they eat and drink but they are a part of the story. This makes the experience of the restaurants complete.

Corine Holtmaat, manager of Albron says about the concept: ”People are flooded with information and read less in general. Footage is a good carrier to tell a story, to reach out to the viewer and take him away with you, that’s why this choice was made. Another benefit of the video is that you can excite multiple senses and can gain more impact in the communication. That’s how we touch people in the heart and create valuable moments and memories.”

The opening of INK Hotel Amsterdam

24-4-2015

INK Hotel Amsterdam opened its doors at the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal early April. INK Hotel Amsterdam is an innovative lifestyle hotel ‘where stories are yet to be written…’. The hotel owes its name to the history of the building. And also the interior can be traced back to the former owner, newspaper ‘De Tijd’. The themes ‘Stories, Ink & The Time’ played a role in the determination of the interior.

The hotel has 149 rooms, a garden room, standard business facilities, the ‘PRESSROOM’, patio’s, room service, breakfast-to-go, a gym, free Wi-Fi and a fast check in & out service. The facilities meet today’s expectations, from both local Amsterdam citizens and international guests.

The interior

For the interior the hotel collaborated with architect office ‘concrete Amsterdam’. The history of the three former Amsterdam canal houses has inspired the interior from where INK Hotel Amsterdam is built now.

The entrance

The entrance of the hotel is a reflection of the canals of Amsterdam. You can find high bar tables at the reception along with ‘check-in- tablets’. ‘’We let the boundaries disappear between outside and inside at INK Hotel Amsterdam, with green, rough stones, glass walls and of course a lot of light’’ according to ‘concrete Amsterdam’.

PRESSROOM

The PRESSROOM is the ‘Drink & Eat’ concept of the hotel. This includes a restaurant, bar and a lounge. The floor consists of the same cement tiles print as in the pressroom. A part of the PRESSROOM is the Library Lounge with a fireplace, leather banks, wood tones and a lot of books.

Pre-order and self-checkout at Dell canteen

23-4-2015

Dell employees in Amsterdam don’t have to wait in line anymore at the cashier in the company canteen. Since a short while they order and pay their own lunch with a special “Dell Cafe” app, the package can be picked up a little later.

Order Mobile

eMove.me was commissioned by caterer ‘Van Laar Catering’ to develop the Dell Café concept. The app is designed and developed by YES.TAP.

eWallet

The app has an integrated payment service so that the employee can recharge by phone. This “e-Wallet” saves the employee time, leaving more time to enjoy his lunch. The app works ‘cashless’: customers pay a prepaid credit. The transaction capabilities are an interesting alternative to the recently disappeared chipknip. Additionally, less cahiers are needed and transaction costs are lower.

No more waiting in line

According to Martijn Lukaart CEO eMove.me there is no need to stand in a row anymore in the retail and catering industry. eMove.me is an independent and exclusive distributor of several m-commerce solutions. Earlier, we wrote about the order application at foodcourt The World in Rotterdam where recently Open Tabs is implemented.

Corporation between KLM and SpecialBite

23-4-2015

Good news for the wine lovers. It’s possible to order the wines KLM serves in the World Businessclass. It has been a wish of KLM to make the wines they serve in the sky available for wine lovers on the ground as well. This is made possible by the new collaboration between KLM and SpecialBite.

Dutch chefs

KLM serves menus by Dutch top chefs in the World Businessclass. Sergio Herman, Richard Ekkebus, Mario Ridder and Jonnie Boer already took care of the air catering of the business class. The meals are accompanied with matching wines selected by wine connoisseurs.

Wines

In the month April the wines Brazin (USA), Aaldering-Stellenbosch (South Africa) , Gros-Tollot (South France) Villebois – Loire (France), Cono Sur (Chile) and Nicolas Feuillate (France) are served in the World Businessclass. These are the wines you can order in the webshop as well.

New urban hotspot in The Hague: MaMa Kelly

22-4-2015

The Oude Ketelhuis (the Old Boiler House) in The Hague has been transformed into an industrial all day hospitality concept.

MaMa Kelly is located alongside the creative Caballero factory. Ijsbrant Wilbrenninck (kitchen), David Trampe (bar), Stefan Coster (barista) and Rein Rambaldo (concept creator and owner of The Hospitality Factory) are the members of the creative team behind MaMa Kelly. They serve coffee, pies from their own bakery, lunch, dinner and you can go there for a few drinks as well.

MaMa Kelly: good, pure and delicious

MaMa Kelly is anything but complicated. Everything is pure, from supplier to preparation. The menu can best be described as ‘chicken or lobster’. Of course there are more dishes, like steaks and vegetarian risotto. MaMa Kelly works with a 2 meter long charcoal grill and authentic vendors such as bread from vanmenno and sausages by Brandt & Levie.

Architecture

The industrial property has undergone a huge transformation in the recent months, while retaining the authenticity. For example, the boilers of the former boiler house are still present and they kept the height intact. The interior is best described as industrial, design and urban. The huge open kitchen literally provides a look in the kitchen to every guest. With her comfortable couches, cool barstools, design tables and lamps MaMa Kelly shows that she has the looks.

Smart hospitality: BarDoggy unlocks ‘the Internet of Things’ for the hospitality industry

21-4-2015

BarDoggy creates an infrastructure for smart internet in catering establishments. The company places bluetooth sensors that are linked to the Internet (also called iBeacons) in restaurants and bars.

Bardoggy started with connecting the first five catering establishments with iBeacons on 1 March 2015 linking the catering business and the app. Meanwhile, more than 20 establishments have an active link with the Bluetooth sensors. Creator Tim de Kraker focuses on making smart hospitality concepts. After a conversation with an entrepreneur of a local bar Tim de Kraker thought that it would be enormously expensive to create an app for just one pub. Why not create one app for all the pubs which will add value to the user as well?

The app is launched for Android and iOS this year , and there already are a total of more than 50.000 downloads and 20.000 profile pages of entrepreneurs. With their business plan they were able to pick up € 350.000 for the development of their platform and the support of a community to use the services. The app is aimed at young people and now has 100.000 users.

Smart hospitality

BarDoggy makes hospitality smart and automates a part of the hospitality. There is a connection between all hospitality locations using one central platform to connect to the host. Users have one personal profile and only have to register once to be able to enjoy benefits at all internationally connected SmartBars. (A SmartBar is a hospitality venue with one or more sensors).

Once a user of the platform comes within 50 meters of a sensor, he is recognized and greeted by the hospitality venue with the possibility to offer nice advantages. The possibilities and interaction are numerous. The longer the guest uses the platform the more insight in his profiles is built. Insight on the number of times and duration of the visits and the type of hospitality venues frequented. There are connections established with other social media for acquaintances from other networks can easily find each other. It’s one of the most comprehensive entertainment platforms of Europe. With the app, young people in the target group of 18 to 30 of ages weekly find fun parties, score cheap drinks and will easily see where friends are within the connected SmartBars after the next update.

On 16 April, BarDoggy won a prestigious pitch contest organized by McKenzie Pitch Partners in New York, as best concept and pitch. The jury consisted of four global business leaders including the President Americas Global Corporate Payments of American Express and the Canadian CEO of FedEx. At present, there are ongoing discussions with investors for a new capital injection of 3 to 5 million to roll out BarDoggy. Spain, Portugal and America seem to get more concrete for international expansion.