A year after the ‘Take a look at Brussels‘ campaign, SNCF launches the ‘Europe is just next door’-campaign. Bystanders could virtually step into another city through a digital door. From Milan they were entertained by a mime artist, in Brussels a drawer made a portrait, in Barcelona a hip-hop crew was present to dance with, from Geneva you were joined by a couple in a boat and in Stuttgart you virtually rode a bike with a few locals. Watch the video.
Cheese brand Castello opened a pop-up store in New Babylon, The Hague. The pop-up store will be open for three months a culinary cheese experience. Consumers can taste forty kinds of cheese with matching wines. The goal is to surprise consumers and to come in contact with the consumers to get their opinion. Chef cook Joop Braakhekke opened the pop-up store and demonstrated the culinary possibilities with Castello. Soon the Castello pop-up store will open in cities like London, Berlin and New York.
A power nap can help to reduce stress and increase productivity. At the Royal Bank Plaza in Toronto Breathe Right, make of nasal strips to breathe better, set up a pop-up pod hotel. Working people were invited to take a free nap for 20 minutes and were asked to test the nasal strips. People could reserve a ‘room’ via an app on the Facebook page and there were a few beds available for passersby.
Have you ordered a pizza and do you want to know the time of delivery exactly? Domino’s Pizza in the Netherlands has introduced a new online ordering system with a tracking system. You can follow the pizza from dough ball to door. Previously, when you ordered a pizza it could only be delivered, but now it is also possible to take away the pizza when ordering online.
Members of the New York’s Explorers Club get together once a year at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for a special dinner. During this dinner, the most unusual dishes are served, from tarantulas and mealworms to cows eyes. The chefs of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel transform the most unusual ingredients in culinary art, like a mealworm that suddenly looks a lot tastier. A good example of how insects and other unusual ingredients can be used in the hospitality industry.
Starbucks has opened its first tea bar named Teavana in Manhattan New York. The tea bar has a simple design with a ‘zen’ atmosphere. A totally different concept than we are used to from Starbucks. The assortment consists of series of artisanal teas and the famous Starbucks sweets, sandwiches and salads. There is a ‘wall of tea’ where you can buy loose tea for home consumption and there is a wide range of tea sets. Starbucks bought the Teavana brand last year to expand to the global tea market. The chain is planning to open more tea bars in the coming years.
South Korea has launched a new technique to show a movie in the cinema. The cinema chain CJ CGV uses a special projection technique called ScreenX. ScreenX not only projects the movie in the center of the wall but also from the left and right side of the room. By using this technique, a panoramic viewing experience is created. The only disadvantage is that the movie must be recorded with three cameras, which is tricky because there is chance that they pop up in each others view.
Get in the mood during cooking? The new Spotify-app Supper combines recipes with music. The app provides the difficulty level per dish and it shows for how many people the recipe is. There are two playlists per recipe: one for when you cook and one for when you eat. If you for instance bake a pizza, you will get more in the mood with the matching Italian music. The app is available in Spotify’s desktop program, but the number of recipes is still limited.
The French designer Cédric Ragot has designed an innovative packaging for Veuve Clicquot champagne. The packaging is completely biodegradable and made of potatoes and recycled paper. The packaging is elegant and can be carried by the integrated handle. It will keep the bottle of champagne chilled for two hours after it has been in the fridge.
Designer Henry Franks has translated his dyslexion into a coffee mug. By designing the ‘Muglexia’ mug literally upside down he has given it an extra dimension.
A new restaurant concept that focuses on community trust opened in the Albert Cuypstraat in Amsterdam. The ‘Trust’ restaurant brings food, art and pleasure together in an ‘Come as you are, Pay as you feel’ form. The menu is made by Hilary’s Table, the design by Cath Laporte and Alice Spadaro. The concept is inspired by Hugo Leemhuis, Ingrid Helsloot, Joyce Olivier, Maarten Zwemmer, Mariella van Mackelenbergh and Noor Lawant, the restaurant is ‘open unless closed’.
A group of Google employees have applied for a patent that describes a process for splitting bill. This application might indicate the development of an app where (restaurant) bills can be divided easily and mobile payments are tracked automatically.
Is this the solution for ‘Going Dutch’ in restaurants, or just an unnecessary gadget?
The vertical pop-up restaurant ‘Hans heeft Honger’ (translated as Hans is hungry) took place in the ‘Hans Struijk’ bicycle warehouse on 11 and 12 October. Organizer Milou Turpijn (Ourground) convinced Bastiaan Hagenouw (Owner ‘Hans Struijk bicycles) to open up the warehouse for this event and upcoming chef Edwin Sander created the dishes in a temporary kitchen on location and the guests were brought to their tables by fork-lift truck. A fully 5 course dinner was cooked with extraordinary tastes like ‘escabeche’ from lime leaf, Gillardeau oyster and red onion compote with vanilla. The grand dessert was served directly on the tables that were coated with a special canvas for this occasion.
The online dating platform Pepper.nl started a collaboration with Bagels & Beans to help the love a little. By pressing the button JustCoffee, new members of Pepper.nl can go on a mini-date at Bagels & Beans worth € 10,= per person. At one of the 54 Bagels & Beans locations singles can meet each other and see if it really clicks into real life. This collaboration stimulates a first date and it gives a nice interpretation of the JustCoffee button.
‘I do in Choo’. The Boston Harbor Hotel started a partnership with the luxury shoe brand ‘Jimmy Choo’. Brides who book their wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel may select a statement pair of bridal shoes at the Jimmy Choo boutique in Boston for this special day. This wedding offer is unique and the goal is to make the wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel elegant, memorable and fun. The promotion is only for brides who book their wedding by December 31, 2013 hosted on a date of January 1, 2014 – March 31, 2014 and on Fridays and Sundays April 1, 2014 – December 28, 2014.
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
Three independent coffee shops in Lincoln, Nebraska have joined forces and created the disloyalty card. It works the same as every other loyalty card, only with this card you can go to the participating independent coffee shops. They want to compete with the big coffee chains and attract visitors to go back to the local coffee shops.
Icefondue brings a new dimension in fondue. For this Icefondue, liquid nitrogen is used.
Chin Chin’s is, as they are saying, the first nitro-ice cream parlor. The combination of long white coats, liquid nitrogen, theatrical presentation and a fun design make this ice cream parlor a real experience.
In Japan, people visit the cat Cafés to feed and nurture the cats. People pay 9 euros per hour to sit with the cats. Couples are the best target for these cafés. There are over 100 Neko cafés in Japan, whereof 50 in Tokyo!
The ultimate Valentine’s gift! The ‘Message on a bottle’ giftbox contains a bottle of Moët & Chandon rosé champagne, 2 flutes and a golden marker to write a personal message on the box.
Carrotmob is a group of activists that buy goods of a company to reward them for socially responsible change. Often the changes are of environmentally-friendly, such as energy-efficiency upgrades.
The Japanese company Oriental has developed the White Goat, a machine that directly recycles office paper into toiletpaper.
A great treehouse made of fruit and vegetable crates. Commisioned by the ‘Stedelijk Museum’ in Amsterdam for the ‘Mark’ -project.
The agave plant (from which tequila is made) has proven to be a great source of bio-fuel. The agave plant can grow in Africa, Australia and Mexico at low cost and is therefore a great possibility.
Israel-based IMguest provides guests a virtual tool to find fellow travelers, based on interests and purpose of visit.
The British aiport London Luton introduces the first holographic employees, Holly and Graham. For a test period of four to six weeks they are helping passengers at the baggage check area. The goal is accelerate the security check.
Harvard professor David Edwards has developed a machine that makes any food inhalable vapors, Le Whaf. Ten minutes of inhaling food equals 200 calories. Edwards previously created a smaller version, Le Whif.
People can now view the collection of the Rijksmuseum on Google. Through the website, people can view artwork and background information of over 1,000 works of 17 major museums in the world. Next to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, other museums, like The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the palace of Versailles joined.
Kraft created a machine, in collaboration with Intel, that answers the everyday question “what shall I eat today?”. This machine is equipped with face recognition to make analyses and then makes suggestions of products and recipes.
Audree Lapierre’s re-designed a milk carton to make it more informative. The new package does not indicate just what the milk is made of but also the percentage of proteins and carbohydrates etc …
Nowadays it is becoming easier for your friends and family to keep track via social networks. This shoe automatically reports your current location to Facebook or Twitter, so you don’t need to login via foursquare anymore.
Designed by Rare, a wooden shower with a steel core. The water runs through silicone tubes.
Pennies is an organization that allows online buyers to round up their purchase by credit card or debit card and donate the difference to charity. Dominos Pizza, Zizzi Pizza and TravelLodge have already joined.
Max Stoller discovered that 1,660 restaurants in New York received really bad scores from the Health Department, but are still open. Stoller invented an application that allows a user to be warned when he checks in at Foursquare at one of these restaurants.
A missed novelty, glow golf. Already five spots in the Netherlands and popular for children’s parties.
{youtube}JzxJ7gmr4rw&feature{/youtube}
The PlantLab in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, succeeded in cultivating the first fruit and vegetables without daylight use. PlantLab did cultivate cucumbers, strawberries, corn, beans and tomatoes by making use of only red and blue LED lights. This opens options to grow these products at your restaurant and always have super fresh cucumbers, strawberries etc. available.
Hotels with a macabre past, Vacation spots for the morbidly, for curious travelers! Ghosts and spirits guaranteed!
Frushi is a combination of rice and fruit shaped like sushi. They only use fresh fruit. All kinds of fruit are used to make frushi’s. You can eat Frushi for breakfast, but is also delicious as a dessert or snack.
Weber had to promote the new serie of grills. The traditional fences all over the city were turned into genuine grills, simply by adding magnetic real size flyers in the shape of steaks, burgers and shish kebabs. On the back: the website! See the pictures here.
Worldwide objects, trees, statues are wrapped with fabric. No longer a “trend”, it has been going on for quite a while! And we missed it completely! But as the press gives attention to these projects regularly, it’s maybe an idea to have an object around your hotel or restaurant packed with knitted fabric by people who love to knit (the wild knitters?).
Bezoek horecatrends op
