Summer Play area on a roof garden

28-7-2014

The last couple of weeks, I noticed that the car park where I always park wasn’t as packed as usual. In Arnhem, they have a nice solution for car parks during the summer. They created a ‘Roof Garden’. A public place or a all-in-one location, where you can hang-out, drink something, eat a ‘roof’-meal, enjoy the garden and follow a bee workshop. You can even play ping pong, practice ‘roof’yoga, see a ‘roof’-movie and exercise at the underground gym. Furthermore, it is a showroom for creatives and cultural initiatives, such as a silent disco. The design is sustainable, it uses solar energy and for example the furniture is created from wooden pallets by volunteers.

Update: 3 August was the final day, luckily we still got the pictures.

Amsterdam opens first dump supermarket

25-7-2014

In September the first dump supermarket ‘Gekke Gerrit’ will open in Amsterdam. The supermarket sells remnants that brand supermarkets are not allowed to sell anymore and offers left over seasonal products outside the season, such as ice cream in the winter. The dump supermarket sells these products for the lowest prices. The store will be a pilot, but owner Gerrit Hoksberg hopes to open more dump supermarkets.

Brooklyn lager in Dutch bars

25-7-2014

On Thursday 17 July Brooklyn lager officially introduced its beer in Amsterdam. The beer is brought to the Netherlands by Bier & Co and fits well in the growing demand for specialty beers. The ‘4 Pint Rule ‘, where the drinker wants to (and can) drink four pints will, be a welcome addition to the heavier and more extravagant specialty beers.
Brooklyn Lager’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver wrote several books including one about beer and food pairing. He was important for the introduction of the Slow Food Movement in his country. The brewery has a Slow Food NYC approval and runs on 100% wind energy.

Nijmegen has the cheapest prices on a terrace

24-7-2014

The city Nijmegen has the cheapest prices on patios of the Netherlands. The average price for a round of drinks (2 coffee’s, 2 beers, 2 softdrinks, 2 glasses of Rosé wine) at a patio in Nijmegen is € 18,77. Van Spronsen & Partners horeca-advies conducts this survey annually. The article is only available in Dutch.

A Dutch Eataly?

24-7-2014

Last weekend I read a blog by Ciao Tutti about the Mercato Centrale in Florence. Within approximately 3000 square meters above the Mercato Centrale you will find a selection of small restaurants, winebars and tasting rooms that are in place to allow you to try the best Italian delicacies. This in addition to the market where you can buy local products. A type of “foodhallen” that have been popular in South European countries for years. The owners of Eataly were able to also make this concept of a combination of restaurants + retail popular outside of Italy. The growth of Eataly locations seems unstoppable, right now they have 27 locations of which 10 in Italy, 13 in Japan and the others in cities like New York, Chicago, Dubai and Istanbul. Rumors say they are working on a Dutch location.
While reading I started wondering why don’t we have a “foodhall” with Dutch products?

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The first indoor food market in Amsterdam

23-7-2014

This autumn the first indoor food market, named the ‘Foodhallen’ will be opened in Amsterdam. The ‘Foodhallen’ will be located in the former tram depot ‘De Hallen’ and is based on foodcourts such as Mercado de San Miguel (Madrid) and Borough Market (London). ‘De Hallen’ is a building of 16.000 m² and beside the food market it will accommodate two restaurants, ‘Halte 3’ and ‘Meat West’, a movie theatre, a hotel, a library and several shops. Chong Chu, Tsibo Lin, Zing-Kyn Cheung and Rakish Gangapersad are the founders of the project and owners of the two restaurants.

‘Proeflokaal Bregje’ opens at Citymall Almere

23-7-2014

This summer ‘Proeflokaal Bregje’ opens its doors at the Citymall Almere. This is the second establishment of the cozy grand-café chain ‘Proeflokaal Bregje’. The grand-café has a traditional atmosphere and a Dutch menu. Earlier this year we wrote about the opening of Hudson Bar & Kitchen in the Citymall as well. By opening ‘Proeflokaal Bregje’ the attractivity of this neighborhood in Almere will increase.

With a Roller Coaster through a filmset

22-7-2014

What do you get when you put ‘Gangs of New York’, ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘Ben-Hur’ together with roller coasters? Movie-park Cinecittà World, which is inspired on Cinecittà studios in Italy and the US, where over 3.000 movies and television shows are produced with which they won 38 Oscars. The park has 38 attractions including the World’s longest water coaster of 1,800 feet. Cinecittà World was build alongside of filmdom’s most legendary shooting lots just outside Rome and will be opened this Thursday, 24 July 2014.

A coffeebar that repels wireless signals

22-7-2014

The owners of the Faraday Café in Vancouver hope to restore non-digital, social interaction between people by creating a place without any digital connection. They went a step further than just not offering WiFi; social artist Julien Thomas and Hughes Condon Marler Architects (HCMA) have designed the first coffee shop that repels wireless signals. In the Faraday Café, you get disconnected the moment you step into the coffee bar. The café derives its name from the Faraday Cage, the material shield that has been used to block all signals. The Faraday Café offers artisanal coffees and will be the home of several events such as ‘drinks and discussions’ and meditation sessions.

French label ‘home-made’

21-7-2014

The French government introduced a new law forcing ‘fait maison’ (home-made) where restaurants have to indicate whether they are only using home-made food. This means that they can use the mark of ‘fait maison’ when they are only using food which has not been processed or prepared before. The restaurants can be recognized by the logo of a frying pan with a little roof on top. The French government is using ‘fait maison’ to improve the state of their traditional restaurant scene.

Small hospitality gestures June

21-7-2014

Perfect service throughout the whole staff is the most hospitable gesture you can make to your guest. No grand gestures but simply a team like a well-oiled machine.

In this edition of “small hospitable gestures” we focus on gestures in hotels, where we separate gestures to the business guest and leisure guest. Download the full version here.

Free tap water at ID&T events

18-7-2014

Event organization ID&T offers free tap water to visitors of several of its festivals. The goal is to provide all ID&T events with free water on a short term. The festival ‘Welcome to the future’, 26 July, already has special water bars were visitors can fill up their water bags and cups. The video shows that ID&T wants free water for everyone, especially on their festivals.

Voldaan Amsterdam

18-7-2014

As an interior designer Matthijs Tukker worked for several hospitality entrepreneurs until November 2012. This was the point where he took the first steps to create a restaurant of his own. Through crowdfunding he was able to collect the necessary investment and ten months after the start, the restaurant opened. “Soup with balls” is the motto of the restaurant that is neatly called ‘Voldaan’ (translated: Satisfied). The products are mostly organic and vegetarian, special attention is paid to people with gluten and / or lactose intolerance and there are no refined sugars in the food.
The interior has a raw and warm look & feel. The open kitchen is the check-out counter at the same time and there are jars for sale with homemade dips, toppings, chutneys and compotes. The restaurant invites to stop over for a healthy bite and quickly and satisfied continue on the road again. See the location here.

Sleeping in a 120-year-old station

17-7-2014

We have spotted restaurants in old trainstations before, but in Denver a complete hotel opened in an 120-year-old station. The Crawford hotel has 112 uniquely decorated guest rooms that reflect the different eras of the building’s history. The Crawford hotel has amenities such as a spa, fitness area and room service. The Crawford experience starts at the Denver Union Great Hall. This area serves as the main entrance and lobby of the hotel, which features a 65-foot ceiling and houses 13 restaurants and retailers. Watch the pictures to get an impression of this beautiful hotel.

The Beacon Food Forest

17-7-2014

We have mentioned the food oasis before, for the first time, a public food forest was created at seven overgrown acres ground in Beacon Hill, in the neighborhood of Seattle. A food forest is a vegetation of edible plants, fruiting shrubs and vines, planted as a self-sufficient forest. We think it is a nice initiative to involve the neighborhood by growing such a special natural food forest in Beacon Hill.