Suite Novotel opens its doors in the Haagsche Passage in The Hague on 1 Oktober. The long stay concept of Suite Novotel Den Haag City Centre will exist out of 118 suites and will be located in the city center of The Hague nearby the Parliament, numerous embassies, government offices, museums and shops. The suites are suitable as bedroom, living room and as reception area and are equipped with numerous modern facilities.
It all started as a April fools’ prank last spring: chopsticks that are able to analyze the quality of food. This summer Chinese web giant Baidu launched a prototype of smart chopsticks that focuses on health and hygiene. The smart chopsticks will tell you whether the oil that has been used is fresh: sensors of the chopsticks discover the oil’s temperature and judges its fitness for consumption. Poor food safety is a big problem in China, one of the concerns is ‘gutter oil’. ‘Gutter oil’ is illegal cooking oil what is made by reprocessing waste oil or by dredging up leftovers from restaurants.
Champagne house Veuve Clicquot dropped hundreds of bottles of champagne in the Baltic sea on 18 June. The Baltic sea offers unique aging conditions for the bottles of champagne with its low level of salinity and a constant temperature of 4 degrees. This was discovered four years ago when divers found a cache of more than 165 bottles of champagne near the Äland island near Finland. The bottles were dating back to 1839, but were preserved perfectly. The bottles champagne of Veuve Clicquot currently lie 40 meters below the surface where they will be monitored by a ‘cellar master’. The bottles will be brought back to the surface in 2054.
Chef Grant Achatz of restaurant Alinea is only 30 years old and no. 9 on ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ by San Pellegrino. As all his European colleagues particularly create a feast on the plate, this chef creates a complete show with the whole experience but in an understated, un-American way. Marjolein van Spronsen experienced it and concludes in her blog; “This is in the restaurant world, “Think different, Act different’, a rollercoaster ride from three hours that gives you a ‘dazzling experience’ of tastes and experiences”.
Jonnie and Thérèse Boer of ‘De Librije’*** and ‘Librije’s zusje’** opened restaurant ‘t Klooster at Wijk bij Duurstede on 1 September. This restaurant is taken over by former employee Jeroen van Hensbergen and his wife Natasja van Hensbergen. Jeroen and Natasja transformed brasserie ‘t Klooster into a restaurant where high-quality, creative and affordable dishes are served. A special aspect is that the restaurant serves a menu especially for people who had a gastric bypass or gastric sleeve. Natasja herself had gastric bypass surgery and realized that it was very difficult to join others in dining for a full evening. “Jeroen cooks in ‘t Klooster a special menu where the portioning is adapted to the wishes of the guests and where the intolerances and the use of sugar are taking into account.”
The famous Delirium Café opens its doors in Amsterdam on 18 September. The Delirium Café is worldwide known to beer lovers. The café originated in Brussel and is known for its amount of different beers. In 2014 the café made it to the Guiness Book of Records with a variety of 3200 beers. The establishment in Amsterdam starts ‘modest’ with 500 different kinds of national and international beers. It will be located in a characteristic property at the Piet Heinkade. Guests can eat there as well, the kitchen serves simple but qualitative dishes. Soon a Delirium boat will float through the canals of Amsterdam. The boat transports guests from and to the Delirium café.
NEXTDELI is a new player in the field of food concepts and introduced new products: The Bacon Bullets and The Bacon Balls. The products are inspired on the Dutch well-known ‘Kroket’ and ‘Bitterbal’ and have a bacon flavour. The Bacon Balls and Bullets distinguish themselves from the ‘Kroket’ and ‘Bitterbal’ in three ways: ‘The Crunch’, ‘The Bacon’ and ‘The Taste’. The products have a special crunch because of the use of American breadcrumb. The Bacon can be tasted in the creamy filling and the Taste refers to the spicy aftertaste. The products are made of organic bacon and no additives and preservatives are added. A special sauce is developed to replace the mustard that is usually used with ‘kroketten’ and ‘bitterballen’. The Gunshot sauce looks a lot like a mustard-sauce, but has a sweet touch from honey and a touch of BBQ.
Dance festival Tomorrowland was held on the 19th, 20th, 26nd and 27th of July. The festival isn’t just well known for its music, but for the culinary experience as well. For the third time in history a small amount of people could experience the cooking skills of Sergio Herman in the secret restaurant, hidden in the main stage. For the amount of € 15.000,- Sergio Herman, Quique Dacosta (three Michelin stars) from restaurant Quique Dacosta and Kobe Desramaults (one Michelin star) from restaurant In De Wulf prepared several dishes while the music was playing loud.
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This summer we’ve eaten the Italian dish Arancini in the bar of restaurant Filini at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago. We ate this dish several times in Italian restaurants in America and Australia, but the few times I was in Italy, I haven’t seen it on the menu. Although the dish is probably served there as well. I have not seen this dish in the Netherlands before, although it is a simple dish to make. The dish consist out of deep fried balls of risotto with mozzarella cheese and smoked ham in the middle. A simple and delicious starter and because of the Dutch association with the ‘bitterballen’ it could become very popular in the Netherlands as well ^Marjolein van Spronsen
In the Netherlands we have a lot of beautiful local products, but if we see the crabs and lobsters that are served at The Crab Shack in Wellington we are a bit jealous. The Crab Shack is a casual restaurant with a coastal/Cape Cod theme. With their location at the waterfront the restaurant serves mostly seafood and especially crabs as ‘Nelson Paddle crab’, ‘Jonah crab’ and the red ‘King crab’. They also serve meat dishes as ‘the Shack Steak’ and the ‘Kiwi pepper lamb rump’. Besides that the dishes on the menu are very affordable, the restaurant has daily specials too such as ‘Mussel Madness Monday’, ‘Winging into the Weekend’ and ‘Sangria Saturdays’.
We already wrote about it before, but finally we’ve tasted them ourselves: the Chicago-style Pizza, Deep Dish Pizza. We tried this ‘stuffed pizza pie’ at restaurant Giordano’s and at a Wednesday evening we still had to wait half an hour for a table! Looking at the amount of tables where people were sharing this pizza, we can only conclude that the dish is very popular here. We respectfully watched other families eating a large size pizza without problems and with pleasure but we had difficulties finishing a middle sized pizza! A slice of pizza feels like a complete pizza, which is definitely due to on the amount of cheese. ^Marjolein van Spronsen
Three creative minds, Albert Adrià, Rudi Van Beylen and Dirk Peeters, joined forces in their search for new culinary products. R&D Food Revolution was created with the basic thought ‘revolutionary innovation for the culinary world’. Their main purpose is to become a supplier of creativity by offering innovative top products.
Topchef Albert Adrià, known from the world-famous Catalan restaurant elBulli, launched a new line of products with typical Adrià-delicacies. Examples are Spanish octopus- and algae delicatessen, heavenly meringue, sophisticated and fluffy mousses and sauces from the siphon and fragrant breads especially designed for a specific types of cheese. Albert Adrià: ‘all products contain ingredients that we use in my kitchens as well. In this way I bring elBulli, Tickets, 41°, Pakta and Bodega 1900 literally to every caterer or restaurant owner”.
R&D Food Revolution will launch their new product, Crispy Foam, at ‘Rotterdam Gastvrij’ at the end of September.
Earlier this year we wrote an article about the Foodhallen located in the former tram depot ‘De Hallen’ in Amsterdam. The initiaters Chong Chu, Tsibo Lin, Zing-Kyn Cheung and Rakish Gangapersad now opened their brasserie ‘Halte 3’. The brasserie is located in a open but cozy space and is ideal for a big lunch or dinner. On the menu are classic and innovative dishes such as a salad with nougat of goat cheese, fresh linguine vongole and a do-it-yourself tiramisu. The sunny terrace is also a great place for a cappuccino with a piece of pie or a drink with some fingerfood.
The building of restaurant Oxwell & Co in China-Town, Singapore, has a rich and divers history which can be seen in the different rooms of the restaurant. The ground floor has a pub vibe which is perfect for a cup of coffee or a house distilled gin & tonic. The first floor has a more homely feeling and is more suited for a dinner. Their chef Mark Sargeant prepares his classics such as crisp tomato salads with goat cheese or slabs of aged Porterhouse steak and beer-battered onion rings.
Although both the ground and first floor look really nice, the absolute highlight of Oxwell & Co is the second floor. The Lord Oxwell private study, which serves as private dining room and smoking area, really impressed us. The room is not only filled with dark mahogany accents but is covered with taxidermied squirrels and paintings of animals in Victorian dresses. Take a look at the pictures, and you will see what makes this room so special.
At the end of September a new alcohol-free nightclub will open for a few months in Stockholm. The new club has the matching name ‘Sober’ and will be just as any other club including dj’s, music, drinks and a nice atmosphere. The only thing missing will be the drunk people at the dance floor and at the bar.
The initiator of the nightclub is the Swedish TV presenter Mårten Andersson. He stopped drinking alcohol 7 months ago and discovered that going out without drinking alcohol is much more fun. The new nightclub will be completely alcohol-free, what means that people who already drunk are not allowed to come in. The security at the door will check the alcohol level of the visitors with help of a breathalyzer. So far, the initiative is very popular. With 5 weeks to go, already 600 out of 750 tickets for the opening night were sold.
With ambitions to double innovation, Taco Bell is sharing exclusive insights into its plan to R.I.N.G. The Bell for winning in the years ahead! The read more
At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends 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
Fix is ??a 100% natural coconut drink that restores the moisture balance in the body and keeps it refreshed. This makes it a great boost drink for after work, during travel and after physical effort. The drink is made of coconut water, lemon juice, cane sugar and natural lemon flavor. Fix is for sale in the Netherlands.
The brothers Ruben and Marga Rios placed a fresh fish vending machine in front of their shop in Spain. It selss a selection of fresh seafood such as sardines, anchovy, hake and shrimp. The machine is very popular by the locals and the brothers now have plans to place a machine with living bait for fishermen.
Designer Jorge Gracia designed the environmentally hotel Endemico for the Grupo Habita in the small town Mexicali. The hotel consists out of several huts scattered on a hill. The guests are certainly not lacking out of Luxury, a pool and hot tub are carved into the hillside for beautiful views of the valley.
Liz Goulet Dubois and Winsor Pop designed a Sauced wine glass. In the lead-free crystal wine glasses, measurements are marked on the side. And at the top of each glass the quote “I enjoy cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food” is written by the famous chef Julia Child. The glasses are available at Housewares Fred & Friends.
Suffering from winter blues? The Open House Gallery (NY) is giving the winter the finger. They’ve created a spring indoor park that is open until the 15th of February. Visitors can sit on benches, bean bags or grass and escape from the rain and the cold weather. There is also food for sale.
Soviet-Russian designer Nikita Kovalev of NapalDezign designed the Bang-Bang doorknob based on the iconic Makarov 9mm semi-automatic gun of the Soviet armed forces. Funny joke for in a hotel room?
The Dutch designer Rogier Martens designed a pop-up bench for urban parks at the invitation of the Dutch city Amersfoort. The bench is designed for festivals and other temporary situations with urgently needs seating areas. The Tree Benches are made of waterproof laminated beech wood and can easily be attached to the trees.
The Live Vending Machine is a snack vending machine in Utah, which does not accept money or dispense snacks. Instead, the machine gives in a humorous way healthy advice! Watch the video to see how the vending machine works.
The Dunk Mug is a bowl with a side pocket where crackers can be put in. So there is no need to use an separate dish for the crackers. Dunk Mug can be used safely into the microwave and dishwasher. Watch the movie!
Food fight between Pakistan & India! The best cooks from both countries battle on the stove in Foodistan. Why not create a European Championship on the stove? The Dutch would be delighted to battle with Germany and Belgium for example. Who is going to put this on television?
On the website of Unox, Dutch skating fans can see where they can skate on natural ice. The skaters can help each other by registering typical Dutch skating locations on the website.
Jan Habraken designed a container that can measure the amount of dry ingredients that come out of the container. Clever kitchen tool! Watch the video to see how the Silo works.
Activeion Ionator is a cleaning device on tap water. The cleanser kills 99.9% of harmful bacteria and haves also a HACCP certification and is suitable for the Green Key certificate. Also it claims a 100% safe cleaning environment for customers and employees. Additionally cost savings can be achieved of acquisition and storage.
During the week of Valentinesday, 12 till 18 February, restaurants in the Netherlands have a special “heart menu” available. Participating restaurants offer a specially selected menu, which partially goes to the Dutch Heart Foundation. There is also a collection box of the Heart Foundation available in each participating restaurant.
For those who find it difficult to open a banana there is a banana opener for sale on the German website Design 3000 (link). Though we guess that by the time the opener is found, the banana could have been opened by hand 3x already.
During the Barbot event new robots will be presented, including the RoboBartenders that serve cocktails. Barbot takes place in March 2012 at San Francisco
Corker sells a kit with push pins that can be punctured in wine / champagne corks, creating little creatures. With the kit a cork can be made into a monkey, deer, buffalo, boar, rabbit or a crow. Fun to make with kids!
Polish manufacturer Konrad Pszowski designed a machine where raw milk can be purchased. The machine is increasingly popular in Poland (150 machines), there will come a machine in Estonia and they negotiate with Ukraine, USA and Kenya.
At the Villa Escudero Resort in the Philippines, a restaurant is located near a beautiful waterfall. An unique experience to never forget! Watch the movie.
Halfsies is a social initiative, offering restaurant visitors a choice that provides a healthier meal portion. They also reduce food waste and supports the fight against hunger. Now Halfsies starts a pilot with local restaurants for participation in it’s program. This spring they start in Austin, Texas and New York City. Watch the video for an explanation behind Halfsies.
Social Dining get more foothold in the Netherlands. Social Dining is having diner with people with common interest. The initiators of Social Dining are Jesse van der Meulen and Simon Hochstenbach. According to the two intrepreneurs, there is great need for more social contact. Interested people subscribe to a website. During the dinner fellow citizens meet eachother with the same hobby or common business interests.
Phillip Beyle designed a pepper grinder, together with the Swiss Kuhn Rikon. The design provides a playful way to crack the pepper. Instead of making a circular motion, the lever must be pushed back and forth.
SmaakNavigatie (Dutch for taste navigation) is an initiative of Paul Meijnen and Jasper Jaklofsky and opened an online beer store. People can choose the perfect beer out of 600 several types of beers, according to the requirements of this person. The chosen beer can be ordered online.
Julie Rothhanhn, a graduate of the College of Art and Design in Reims, has dedicated her work to design food after attending a culinary workshop with Bretillot Marc. Rothhanhn experiments with form, color and technique of snacks and meals. Watch the site for more inspirational pictures.
Designstudio Black Sheep designed restaurant Union Jacks for the famous chef Jamie Oliver. The interior is designed retro and the menu is displayed on an old cinema sign. Also, the guests can watch the chefs work on vintage televisions.
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