Favorite night snack worldwide
Buzzfeed made a video with an overview of the most populair midnight snacks after going out. The Netherlands isn’t mentioned, what is our most populair drunken dish?
Buzzfeed made a video with an overview of the most populair midnight snacks after going out. The Netherlands isn’t mentioned, what is our most populair drunken dish?
The most northern part of North Holland gets its own local market under the name of ‘De Kroon van Holland’ (translated as The Crown of Holland) on 3 and 4 May . For tasty snacks from the region, local gems and local quality produce visitors can go to Anna Paulowna. During the weekend there are several demonstrations and workshops. There is for instance a BBQ workshop by Andy McDonald from ‘Echte Stokers’ in Schagen, Andrea van Lieshout teaches you how to create delicious dishes with Texel Asparagus and Ans van den Burg shows how to make real Wieringer Shrimp croquettes. Both Saturday and Sunday closes with a local produce dinner. Sign up for the workshops via www.facebook.com/kroonvanholland.
On 12 and 13 May 2014, the first Dutch fair by and for bartenders will be held under the title “The Perfect Serve Barshow”. The Westerliefde and WesterUnie in Amsterdam are the stage for seminars, tastings and competitions with ‘guest experience’ as communal interest. A sneak peek in the program shows that Steve Okhuysen, bartender and owner of Old Fashioned Cocktail & Absinthe Bar in Ghent, Belgium will tell about the mythical Absinthe and Andrew Nicholls will elaborate on the diversity, quality and versatility of rum with the Authentic Caribbean Rum label. See the full program here.
Not every restaurant is happy with guests who post food photos on Social Media. The photos are often blurry or improperly exposed whereby the dish looks unsavory. To give guests the opportunity to shoot professional photos, restaurant El Burro in South-Africa placed a portable light studio in the restaurant. Guests can choose various colored lights and once they have chosen the perfect mood lighting, they can take a photo and upload it on Instagram with #dinnercam. The device is developed by MWEB Wi-Fi network. Guests receive a free copy of their photo.
To promote the buffet, caterer Albron uses Magneet Visual® signs at Center Parcs. The sign works with a magnetized sub layer and a top layer with printed images on PVC-free foil that contain an iron coating. At Albron Center Parcs two layers of Magneet Visual® are used, one with a chalkboard-look, the second consists out of outline cut products that can be manually adjusted. The system is developed by BSB Reclame.
Ten Dutch top chefs will work together during the Gastromarket ‘Food from Heaven’ on Thursday 29 May and Friday 30 May. Ten top chefs from ten restaurant in The Hague will serve ten dishes at Michelin star level, in combination with music and a food market. Participating restaurants are: Zwetheul, Savelberg, Calla’s, Hanting, Brasserie NL, Savarin, Villa la Ruche, Des Indes, Pearl and Brasserie Brut. A ticket costs € 100,=, you can find more information here.
In May Haagen-Dazs will introduce two special ice cream flavors in Japan. The ice cream brand comes with the surprising flavors carrot-orange and cherry-tomato. These ice creams contain only 8.5 percent milk fat and are a lot healthier. We already know juices with the flavor carrot-orange so why not ice cream? With these flavors the brand responds to the current hype of healthy food.
Looking for a new job? Do you love brunching for free and Aperol Spritz? The ‘Aperol ® Brunch Society’ in America is looking for a new ‘Chef Brunch Officer’ (CBO). The CBO will visit several restaurant hotspots to taste the Aperol Spritz cocktail and makes sure the staff makes the right Aperol Spritz cocktail. The recipe: 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and 1 part soda. The CBO will visit restaurants twice every weekend, all summer long, gets a free brunch with friends and get paid for it! To apply, people need to upload an Instagram video of 15 seconds with #Brunchforaliving @AperolUSA and tell why they have to become the new Chef Brunch Officer. Click here to see a number of applications. Nice inspiration for restaurant owners: as restaurant you can invite a regular guests to taste new dishes.
To create a good image of a hotel, a video is often used. A great way to promote the hotel is by a drone, like the video above. A drone can capture angles and views of the hotel that couldn’t be captured before and is relatively inexpensive to use.
#Throwback Thursday. We started in August 2007 with horecatrends.com / hospitalitytrends.eu, in July 2009 we posted an item about the Slow Cow drink from Canada. This brand advertised with the slogan: “This can contains a one week vacation”. A drink with soothing ingredients to relax, so the opposite of energy drinks. The drink has been working since 2008 to conquer the world from Quebec, Canada. On their website, they even posted that the drink will be sold in more than 50 countries in 2025! So they do think that the world really needs to relax.
On 5 May people in Amsterdam eat together during the “Freedom meals”. In restaurants, parks, homes and on the streets of Amsterdam thousands of citizens share tables. Various organizations and initiatives connect people through food. There are five StreetDinners organized by Bite Me throughout the city, where fifty volunteers cook in ten kitchens and collectively serve it for the visitors of these local events. Next to that, a huge dinner is organized at the IJ (1000 pax) and in several other local dinners are organized in the districts, see this link (Dutch) for an overview.
In Utrecht there is a discovery center developed by ‘Initiatief Domplein’ together with the municipality of Utrecht and the ‘Rijksdienst voor Cultureel Erfgoed’ (National Heritage Board). The DOMunder is located beneath the Domplein and it’s a place where visitors learn more about 2000 years of history through Roman, Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic remnants in about 75 minutes. With a special flashlight, visitors can explore archaeological findings. The DOMunder is open for visitors from 3 June onwards.
In Rotterdam, the collaboration between Bjorn van Dijl and ‘Schmidt Zeevis Rotterdam’ resulted in culinary hotspot ‘Salt & Tasty’. The restaurant measures a hundred square meters and has a large outdoor terrace as well. Salt & Tasty is located opposite to the new Rotterdam Central Station, at the Kruisplein. The refrigerated display is daily filled with fresh fish by Schmidt Zeevis and there are various salads and sandwiches available in the restaurant.
Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world. This day positive attention is requested for global issues surrounding nature, the environment and climate change. With the main focus on reflection and enjoyment. In the hospitality industry, we are seeing more and more examples of less food miles, organic and local products, but also the processing of ‘forgotten’ vegetables and meat such as rooster, goat and goose. In addition, we have the debate about whether or not to serve tap water (in Europe). Yet we still see that ‘special’ water is served from glaciers from the other side of the world ….. But you can also make “special” water in a simpler and more sustainable way. Last weekend I served my ‘special’ waters at our Easter dinner. Several courses, with each course another water. I just used tap water and added herbs, lemon , rhubarb and beetroot, depending on the taste of the dish. Nice and simple. And just like wine, it’s nice to see if the taste actually blends well with the food. The water with beetroot / lemon and mint tasted great with the starter of smoked eel and the water with rhubarb was very subtle which combined well with dessert. A nice sustainable gesture; the water from the tap and the herbs and vegetables from nearby! And even for those who do not drink alcohol, it’s a party! My suggestion for Earth Day.^Marjolein
Traders Hotels has launched its digital newsstand ‘PressReader’ in 15 hotels in Australia, Asia and the Middle East. Guest only have to connect with the Wi-Fi network and don’t need an account or log in. Through the ‘PressReader’ they get unlimited access to more than 2,500 global newspapers and magazines in 60 languages from 100 countries. They can read a newspaper or magazine at any time of the day, from anywhere in the hotel: a great gesture from to hotel to its guests.
A true chocolate delicacy of The Choclate; a handcrafted champagne truffle, sprinkled with 24 carat gold flakes, presented in a contemporary chic, Swarovski adorned boutique box. It took 2 years to perfect the truffles and to place them on the market. The truffles are made of the most expensive dark chocolate, and are all handcrafted, which makes each truffle a unique one.
Scheckter’s OrganicEnergy is a new energy drink, developed by using natural ingredients. These natural products like the raw green coffee beans, guarana (seeds), ginseng and gingko biloba, gives this drink your body and mind a natural boost of energy.
Last Friday cafe-restaurant ‘In de Olie’ opened her doors officially in Amsterdam. The cafe offers a menu of finger food and tapas, such as Spanish and Italian sausages, manchego cheese and marinated pulpo. The dinner menu consists of a wide range of Mediterranean dishes, like lamb tajine and fish dishes, served with authentic vegetable side-dishes. Also, the restaurant offers several Spanish, Italian and Greek oils, which you can take home bottled. Every Thursday and Friday between 17.00 and 19.00 hrs you can visit ‘In de Olie’ for a ‘Aperitivo’, to enjoy a small bite and drink, whilst enjoying a DJ. Each Sunday afternoon ‘Tapas & Tunes’ takes place; a podium with changing live performances.
Send your loved ones a “Get well soon” soup from Heinz if they are ill. Instead of a simple card, one can create a personal message on the website that’s printed on a can of soup and sent. This campaign is currently only available for UK facebook fans of Heinz.
Spa Reine has started a campaign in cooperation with Unicef. For every bottle that is sold, Spa donates 4 liters of clean drinking water to the children living in Burkina Fas. Consumers can leave a personal message about this campaign on the website Spahelpt.nl and create more awareness to the campaign.
In France there are doggy bags for wine bottles. When a guest in a restaurant doesn’t want to finish the whole bottle of wine but rather take it home, he’ll receive a free specially made doggy bag. These wine doggy bags are used in 45 restaurants in France.
ABSOLUT Vodka is introducing a new Limited Edition bottle called ‘ABSOLUT MODE’. After several other Limited Editions in the past years, such as ABSOLUT DISCO, ABSOLUT ROCK and last years ABSOLUT GLIMMER, the new ABSOLUT MODE will focus on today’s fashion world. The bottle will be available from the 1st of November.
Smirnoff organizes a worldwide party in fifty countries at the 12th of November. The vodka brand challenges visitors to come up with original ideas, and create fifty unforgettable nights together. After suggesting an idea in the category music, location, dancing, eating, drinking and ‘other’ people can vote for their favorite idea. The campaign is supported with a video, Facebook page and a website.
Blippar shows the consumer extra product information of a certain product by using augmented reality. By filming the product with a smartphone, product information and recipes appear in the screen of your phone. Blippar has a partnership with several supermarket chains in the UK, such as Tesco and Cadbury’s, in order to make sure that most products will be recognized by Blippar.
Hotel-restaurant Villa Ruimzicht, located in Doetichem (in the Netherlands), provides a service where guests order room service by using their Smartphone or tablet pc. Guests can download a free app and scan a QR-code which can be found in the hotel room. A menu appears on the screen in which the guest can order a certain dish or a drink. To offer this service, the hotel uses the ‘Yoursmartbutler’ app, which makes a connection to the register system and communicates the necessary information to the kitchen and to the guest accounts.
Drinking vinegar is an age old practice in many cultures. Andy Ricker, announced to Best Chef Northwest 2011, launched his Pok Pok Som. This is a refreshing vinegar drink with concentrated flavours of fruit, vegetables and aromatics, and is very good for your health.
Restaurant The Cowfish is all about ‘East meets West’. It serves both of best worlds; the American hamburger and the popular Japanese sushi. You can find dishes on the menu like the real American hamburgers, Japanese sushi, as well ass a combination of both in fusion dishes.
A moment of relaxation, but staying focused at the same time; a new soda ChillCat Drink to Relax. This is no energy-drink, but a light carbonated soft drink, based on exclusive and natural white and green tea extracts and anti-oxidants, like pomegranate. Specially developed for moments of relaxation and inner peace, without losing the focus.
Last Sunday the 25th edition of the 4 Miles of Groningen was organized. Afterwards, ‘Café de Koffer’ organized massage-sessions in the café, to massage away the coming muscles ache. A nice way to pamper your guests!
Elsa Lambinet, a French designer, created these chocolates which can be composed to your own favorite taste. This is possible by combine the three basic elements; a base of white, milk or dark chocolate, a filling, and a topping. See the chocolates here.
A few Italian designers of the Dragdesign Studio created a new folding cooking island within a capsule. The cooking island can be opened and closed by pressing a button, and offers several elements which can be folded out, such as a small dining table or an extra cutting platform.
Interested in wild mushrooms? Expert Maurice van der Molen takes a group to the Gaasperplas (Amsterdam) and explanes how to recognize edible mushrooms and how to harvest them. It’s not possible to subscibe anymore, there are new workshops in November.
Starbucks has invited designers to make coffee-inspired t-shirts in celebration of their 40th anniversary. The designs are inspired by coffee and made by Alexander Wang, Billy Reid and Sophie Theallet. So a shirt with a coffee stain might be a top notch design item in the future.
Restaurant ‘De Bloemkool’ (The Netherlands) organizes a slow food evening on the 11th of October in collaboration with Knooopjelos.nl. The wine & food evening is all about calf ‘from head to tail’. A limited amount of 40 people can eat and drink for a special all-in prize.
“We want the beans back on the table” says food critic Lizet Kruyf. Together with food journalist Onno Kleyn and nutrition expert Yneke Vocking they’ve created the “Bruine Bonenbende”(brown beans gang). The bean gang exists for almost a year, but is recently gaining momentum due to their new website. Their goal is to create more popularity around the beans as food choice in the culinary world.
A new cookbook is published for the conscience eater of today. It is called Non-fish-a-licious, and contains forty non-fish recipes. The idea for this book was initiated by the “Dos Winkel”of the Sea First Foundation. The book is created to make the consumer more aware of polluted oceans and the consequences for the fish we eat.
After HoppaThee and Special Kit sauces comes a new product from the creatives of Natwerk: Limoncello. On this website they have placed photos and comments of their harvesting adventures at Sicily and in Salerno as well as the peeling in Sorento (Limoncello is made from the yellow peel of the lemon). This gives the product a personal and authentic touch. It would be wonderful to have a restaurant that shows the origin of its dishes this way as well.
Since this week guests can enjoy the ‘Knoopjelos Menu’ at restaurant Le Marron in Malden and restaurant Jerome in Valkenburg (both in the Netherlands). This menu consists of the best signature dishes and several wine-food combinations, and a couple of surprises supplemented. Unlike most discount weeks, you can order this menu anytime you like, even for lunch.
A nice and trendy idea to serve ‘Jello’ shots instead of cocktails or shots. By using exotic products you can create extraordinairy creations, such as the blue martini, strawberry margarita and the blueberry gin sour. View the website for recipes.
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“Park Supermarket” is an idea to create landscape supermarkets which are situated in the ‘city parks’ of the Netherlands. The polder was once intended to feed the Dutch consumer, but is becoming outdated and no longer meet the needs of the 170 nationalities in the Netherlands. The idea and concept is designed by the Van Bergen Kolpa Architect firm and Alterra Wageningen. The goal of the “Park Supermarket” is to provide and sell food, which can be found in the contemporary supermarket. Watch the movie for an explanation.