At the moment we are at the climax of the asparagus season and it’s lovely to see all the creative recipes passing by. Last weekend I’ve challenged myself with the presentation of an asparagus dish and this is the result. ^Armand
Youngsters between 18 and 25 years can indulge themselves with an all-inclusive 3-course menu for € 40,- during the JRE Springbreak. The week, from 19 to 25 May is an initiative by Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe (JRE). The top restaurants that participate are Restaurant ML* in Haarlem, Restaurant One* in Roermond, HanTing* in The Hague, ‘t Vlasbloemeken* (Koewacht) and many others. See the website www.jrespringbreak.nl for more information and reservations.
The Radisson Blu Hotel in Amsterdam organizes a 24-hours treadmill Running Marathon in the lobby from 9 May 17.00 o’clock. During the event employees, guests and hotel aqcuaintances collect money for the World Childhood Foundation. During the 24-hours there are supporting events like a sponsor drink and a Running Dinner. See the Facebook page for more information.
Juice bar Roots & Bulbs opened its doors in February 2014 in the heart of Marylebone, London. The juice bar sells cold pressed juices, that are fresh and unpasteurized thus more nutritious. The cold press method gives the juices an authentic flavor with a higher concentration of nutrients. Roots & Bulbs also sells smoothies with superfood, take-away superfood salads, organic snacks and organic coconut water and almond mild. The juice bar also provides a detox juice plan called ‘Time Out’ with five bottles of cold juices, two almond milk and a package of organic nuts for one to two days.
The Epiphany hotel in Palo Alto has a very special chandelier in its lobby. The high-tech lamp is designed by IDEO Digital Shop and consists of hundreds of light bulbs that can all move and illuminate interdependently. The lamp responds to data streams of online media such as social media and information from the internet. When someone posts a message about the hotel on Facebook or Twitter the lamp responds, but the lamp also gives a reflection of the weather. The lamp also response to movements in the hotel, for example when someone walks up the stairs.
The exclusive champagne served in the VIP-boxes during the FIFA World Cup 2014 is also available in the Netherlands. FIFA worked together with Taittinger to introduce the special World Cup 2014 edition of the popular Brut Réserve Champagne: the Taittinger official champagne of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This limited edition has a label with 3D effects that make it look like footballs are literally shooting from the bottle. In cooperation with distributor Wine4Business the Taittinger official champagne of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is also available in the Netherlands through www.wkchampagne.nl.
After the Cronut™ and the Milk & Cookie shot, Dominique Ansel introduces his newest creation the Waffogato. The Waffogato is a combination between a waffle and the classic Italian dessert affogato. Affogato is made of vanilla ice-cream topped with a hot shot of espresso, one of his favorite desserts. The chef wanted to create a dessert served during breakfast and came up with the Waffogato: a combination of sweet, salty and bitter. It’s not actually a waffle but Tahitian vanilla ice-cream in the form of a waffle made with bits of Belgium waffle, pearl sugar for the crunch and a little sea salt. The ice cream is topped with hot maple syrup spiked espresso. Tapioca pearls release from the waffle when it melts and give the dish more texture. The Waffogato will be sold in his bakery from Friday, 9 May.
Accor Hotels introduces its newest worldwide online check-in-system where guests will save time during their arrival and departure. After the guest made his booking (via the website, mobile application or phone) he is supposed to check-in online two days before arrival. On the day of arrival the guest will receive a SMS with the room confirmation, practical information and a notification that the key is ready. The guest only has to pick up the key at the reception, to check-out the guest needs to give the key back to the reception and will receive an invoice by email. At the end of 2014 the system will be implemented at more than 30% of the hotels.
Boston Pizza has launched a new marketing campaign named ‘Pizza Game Changers’. Through the new website, pizza lovers can order some new menu items and they can vote for new pizza innovations. Some innovation ideas are pizza mints, a pizza cake and a pizza protector. One of the new menu items is the Pizza Taco. The Pizza Taco is a small pizza available in chicken/bacon or pullet pork and is shaped into a taco shell. The pizza taco shell is filled with salad, vegetables and sauce. Perhaps a lot easier to eat. The new menu items are available until 1 June.
Thrillist.com gives an overview of 21 restaurants and bars converted from different buildings. Like ‘The Airplane Restaurant’, a restaurant located in a 1953 US Air Force Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker. Or the ‘Crop Bar and Bistro’, a gigantic 1925 bank with marble columns rebuilt into a restaurant with high-end dishes and an open kitchen. The video above is from ‘The Liberty’ in Boston. Previously this building was a gigantic prison, built in 1851. After a massive renovation, the building converted into a hotel with five chic restaurants and bars. Take a look at the complete list here.
It often happens that restaurant guests not eat their whole dish, because the dish was larger than they expected. The German Food Bank ‘Düsseldorf table’ and agency ‘Ogilvy & Mather Germany’ launched the campaign ‘All you Can Eat’. Participating restaurants can place a sticker on the menu next to the dishes that tend to be served larger than guests can estimate. Guests have the option to choose for a smaller portion at the same price. The saved money will be donated to the food bank.
Friedjof Kempenaar initiated a vega pop-up restaurant in Rotterdam on 11, 12 and 13 April and is now aiming for our capital. Although he is not a vegetarian, he is intrigued by cooking without fish and meat and is convinced that the available vegan dishes in restaurants deserve an uprgade. While he is looking for a location in Amsterdam to sit 70 people per evening, you can delight yourself with an impression of the latest edition here.
It’s actually strange in the hospitality industry; there is quite a stir around guest taking pictures of their dishes. Some chefs and their guests are annoyed by the flashes of the cameras, others go a step further and give guests the opportunity to shoot a perfect picture! Yet there are still a few restaurants that showcase their dishes on the website, the menu is usually hidden in a pdf file. Weird in a time where young people (particularly up to 35 years) communicate through pictures (Instagram).
Online Menu wants to change this. They place your dishes with photos on the homepage . In addition, they provide insights in your potential guests and audience. Guests will also have the opportunity to write a review. On the website guests can filter the online menu labels and ingredients, see how other guests rate the dish and have a look at combined side dishes or drinks that were combined with the menu. A reservation module is build in. This system can be used to increase the service; it is in fact linked to a reservation website. Nice to know that the Smith family is coming for dinner for the 10th time.. And you could offer them a menu with their favorite dishes.
Last November Hudson Bar & Kitchen opened in Rotterdam. The restaurant starts the outdoor season appropriately by opening a special art terrace. Artist Tinus Teder took the look and feel of the restaurant to the terrace and was inspired by contemporary culture, love of life and street culture. His style is characterized by influences from pop art of the 60s.
Aukje Visser and Gerbrand Nicolai from Dokkum (The Netherlands) started with selling biological meat online. Even better, all the biological meat they sell comes from the Netherlands and their beef comes from farmers in Friesland they personally know. By using special techniques the entrepreneurs can guarantee that the meat is chilled for at least 48 hours and is sent by regular mail-order.
We couldn’t find an immersive Christmas Light Maze in Europe yet, howevere correct us if we are wrong. But we love the idea, another fun 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
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
The worlds largest pumpkin of 900 kilo’s, was carved last weekend in to a creepy sculpture. The pumpkin was carved by the professional pumpkin carver Ray Villafane.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hotel the Roode Leeuw (Amsterdam) there was a photographer next to the entrance in the weekend of the 15th and 16th of October. Everyone who passed by was asked for a photo in ‘traditional Dutch clothing’. The photos are placed on Facebook, two people can win a night in a double room at the hotel or a dinner for 2 persons in the hotel restaurant after tagging themselves in the photo.
Pickwick tea brand again asked 150 thousand fans on social media network Hyves to develop new flavours. Last year, the company did the same and created Dutch Tea. This year three new teas are chosen: Chocolate Mint, the Caramelized Pear, and the Smooth Chai.
iPos is a new and innovative POS system software that can be used for restaurants and bars. iPos allows restaurant personel to place orders quickly and easily on the terrace with an iPad of iPod. The orders will immediatly be processed to the bar and kitchen. iPos is a full mobile POS system, and is designed as a webapp.
Movie Director Fow Pyng Hu opened a new pop-up “Ramen shop” in Amsterdam on the 16th of October. This is the first pop-up Ramen shop that has opened in the Netherlands. “Ramen” is a Japanese dish in where noodles swim in a soup, finished with a topping. The pop-up Ramen shop, named “Le fou Fow”, is situated on the second floor of a Chinese supermarket called “Dun Yong”.
Making housewine has just become a little easier and can even be done in your own livingroom nowadays. Designer Sabine Marcelis has scaled down the production of winemaking in an all-in-one homebrew installation. The installation requires a little nurture and care.
Malibu is celebrating the winter holidays by introducing the new Limited Edition Snowflake bottle. The Limited Edition bottle is a winter variant of the Caribbean rum, it contains real coconut flakes that create a snowstorm in your glass. The bottle is available in November, five MEN_at_WORK clothing stores are Malibu-branded to promote it.
The French company Kaviari’s developed ‘En-K caviar’. This is a chic and trendy aluminium box with 15 grams of caviar and a caviar spoon, available in the colours black, gold, silver, blue, fuchsia and apple green. Buyers can choose either the version ‘Osetra’ or ‘Kristal’ caviar. Easy to take in your purse to enjoy the caviar any moment of the day.
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‘Beeter’ is a new alternative for meat and fish which is 100% organic, full of protein, free of gluten and fat, without added nutrients, and is made of sustainable grown soy. This meat and fish alternative is developed by the Dutch company Ojah. ‘Beeter’ is available as ‘basics’, which can be processed and as ‘prepared’, which is directly consumable. You can find ‘Beeter’ already on the menus of several restaurants in the Netherlands and is available at the Vegetarian Butcher.
The Hot Booster is a new soup in an easy take-away self-heating can. The can needs to be pressed on the bottom to start the self-heating process, which takes 3 minutes. The soup is made of all natural ingredients, and is available in three flavours; Oriental chicken, Italian tomato and Golden Mushroom which is a special. There is as well a sweet version available; Cheeky Choco. Enjoy a hot soup any place and anytime you want.
Specially for the Pink Ribbon campaign, two Michelin star chef Ron Blaauw transformed his restaurant into Ron Roze (pink) during this week. One eighth of the total revenue of this week will be donated to the foundation. The campaign of the Pink Ribbon Foundation, which runs from the 18th of October until the 18th of November, fights against breast cancer in the Netherlands. Although the restaurant turns pink for a week, the menu will stay the same.
At the railway station of Leiden (The Netherlands) customers can buy a bicycle light from the fast food vending machines this Thursday. It’s an initiative of the Dutch Bicycle union in partnership with the fastfood chain Smullers. The new campaign is called “Ik Val Op” (I’m noticed) and focuses on the youth of the Netherlands.
Paprika grower Hermans-Walter and ice cream maker Theo Clevers have taken the challenge to create a new flavour of ice cream for the Dutch market. Together they have created the orange paprika flavoured ice cream. The main reason for creating this flavour of ice cream is to promote the orange paprika throughout the country.
KLM has developed the TripShake app for the Smartphone, for everybody who has difficulties to decide what the next holaday destination will be. The app for iPhone and Android gives users the ability to explore various destinations. Just by shaking your phone, a destination and a ticket price will pop-up. A fun way to explore a new destination.
IXL Netherlands BV introduces a new way of cooking with the Nutri-Pulse® e-cooker. This e-cooker uses electric pulses to cook meat, fish, vegetables and fruit within minutes, or even seconds. By using this new way of cooking, all the nutritive value of food, as well as the taste, colour and flavour are preserved. At the same time it creates a reduction in energy and food waste. With the Nutri-Pulse e-cooker, IXL Netherlands BV has won the Food Valley Award of 2011. Watch the movie for an explanation.
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.
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