Six top chefs from the Netherlands will prepare a lunch with asparagus for a location of the Salvation Army on Wednesday 24 April. The chefs will work with participants of 50|50 Food for catering, a labor rehabilitation project of the Salvation Army. Besides preparing the asparagus lunch, the participants of 50|50 Food for catering have the opportunity to attend an internship for two days at the restaurants of the top chefs.
Tree houses are hot! Sleeping among the squirrels, high in the trees and surrounded by nature. Tree houses are an original, inspiring, environmentally friendly and adventurous way to spend the night. Tree houses aren’t only fun for children but also for families to spend their holidays. There are more and more accommodations located in tree houses. A new crowd funding project is the ‘Treehouse Island‘. An island where guests can sleep, seek zip line thrills and hike in the woods. Besides an adventurous way to spend a night, a tree house can also be an inspirational environment for meetings. Earlier we saw that the Kapellerput has build a conference room in the trees. At the website thecoolhunter.net you can find a lot of inspiration if you consider building tree houses.
In California the first Legoland hotel in the United States has been opened. The Legoland hotel has 250 rooms and each room is decorated after one of the three themes: pirate, adventure or kingdom. The children have their own separate room with bunk bed and a treasure hunt game. The hotel is not entirely build out of tiny bricks, but it does have 3,400 sculptures created with approximately 3 million Lego pieces. For example the wall behind the check-in desk is entirely made of Lego bricks, but also the potted plant on the counter. The hotel guests can also enter the Lego Park, that is located besides the hotel. Watch the video about the hotel.
After about 15 years the non-alcoholic beer will return in the shelves of gas stations in the Netherlands. To celebrate the return of non-alcoholic beer, Bavaria will introduce their beers in a pop-up non-alcoholic bar in a Shell station near Amsterdam. In this pop-up bar visitors can taste the Bavaria 0.0% Original beer for free. With the introduction of non-alcoholic beer in the gas stations, Bavaria wants to create a new moment of use for Bavaria 0.0% Original, Lemon and White.
Pinch Food Design is a boutique catering team lead by chef Bob Spiegel and designer TJ Girard. These NYC culinary veterans aim to “impress, entertain and inspire with food as delicious as it is daring, and design as inviting as it is innovative.” They specialize in creating surprising and exciting cuisine with imaginative presentation for clients at dinner parties. Their new idea, Pinch Plated, offers “inter(active)courses” for diners that encourage them to play with their food. For example Tuna sushi and beets with “trim your own” micro salad is served in a peel-back sardine tin with embroidery scissors on the side. Their website offers great inspiration…
During the Milan Design Week Heineken introduced the beer bottles ‘Heineken Ignite’ that interacts with people and its surroundings, by shining. The interactive beer bottles have micro sensors and wireless networking technology to sense when people are clicking the bottles together to toast. The bottle also lights on when someone takes a sip and it responds to music. With this bottle Heineken is trying to get a greater range in the nightlife. The bottles are specially designed for the Milan Design Week, hopefully we see them in bars and clubs soon…
The building 11 11 in Miami Beach, Florida is a beautiful example of an elastic environment. The building is designed to function as a parking garage as well as a venue for weddings, wine tastings, yoga classes and more. The building can ouse up to 300 cars but the seven floor structure can easily be transformed to suit a variety of purposes. The building is developed by Robert Wennett and Herzog & de Meuron. The building features high ceilings and thanks to the absence of exterior wall it offers guests stunning views of the city.
Today the new bar Spark The Hague opens its doors. The bar is part of the Hilton Hotel The Hague, but has its own entrance and address. The trendy bar is a location to relax with night entertainment like Funky Jazz Live, Ladies First and Sparks & Bubbles. At the Spark The Hague you can enjoy quality cocktails, wines and champagnes supplemented with Asian finger food and international snacks. The cocktails are made by bartenders Michael-John Straatmand and David van Panhuys who have a broad knowledge of cocktails and wines.
The Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre and Urbanics Amsterdam organize the ‘race to the top’ on Saturday April 20th for the first time. Participants will run up and down three times and will finish on Floor 17 (bar). They need to overcome a total of 51 floors and 2020 stairs. The race starts outside at the parking lot and the stairs runners will be welcomed with a drink and a healthy snack at the top. The fastest man and woman will both win a hotel stay including breakfast for two.
The friandise Tresor is chosen by the INN Awards (Belgium) as one of the best innovations of 2012. INN Awards are the premier award of innovative food products in the Retail sector. This friandise of grilled gingerbread, bloc de foie gras and onion preserves provides a sophisticated snack during the aperitif. It’s delivered frozen.
Following the ‘Caffe Sospeso’ and the ‘Suspended Coffee’ we now spotted the ‘Suspended Fries’. Owner Eric Duhamel, of the snackbar Bompa in Brussels, is the initiator. His customers can buy one portion of fries for the price of two! They can leave the voucher they receive for social workers in the neighborhood or give them away to Brussels’ homeless people. The first week the friturists sold sixty portions ‘Suspended fries’ and thirty were claimed. There are several frituristen in Belgium who will follow the initiative (a Friturist is an owner of a snackbar in Belgium).
The sustainable brand ‘Well Water’ celebrates its tenth anniversary with the introduction of a ‘Pat & Mat’ bottle. To get even the smallest children to drink water, their spring water is packaged in a handy bottle for small children’s hands, with a resealable cap. In addition Well Water works with Simavi to provide thousands of people in Malawi clean and safe drinking water in 2013.
Many dishes are photographed worldwide. There are more and more restaurants that no longer allow the use of instagram or camera’s. This is partly due to the inconvenience to other guests (flash for example) but also to the poor quality pictures that are spread across the net. Maybe the apps SnapChat and Poke are a solution to this problem. These apps enable users to share images that can only be viewed by the recipient for a few seconds before they ‘self-destruct’. As restaurant owner you can make a sign to indicate that you only allow your guest to take pictures with Poke & SnapChat ;-).
This video shows the Street Feast in Ireland 2012. Street Feast started out in 2010 as a non-for-profit event to bring local communities in Ireland together through social lunches. The initiative has grown ever since, and will have its fourth edition on Sunday June 23rd around noon. People are invited to take the initiative and organize a lunch themselves, or to join a community lunch that’s happing near them. Read more about this initiative at The Pop-Up City. This is an opportunity for local restaurants and cafes as well, why not co-organize a similar event to get acquainted with your neighbours?
By 2025 the number of cyclists is expected to double in Switzerland’s largest metropolitan area. Because of these staggering statistics, Zurich’s City Council has created the stadtverkehr 2025 program, which aims to improve the pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, and reduce motorized traffic. Part of this initiative includes the opening of the Velokafi – a ‘drive-in’ for bicycles on the outdoor terrace of the Rathaus Cafe, which is a popular spot next to the Limmat river. Two wooden docking stations with tabletops enable cyclists to pull up and have some food and a coffee without getting off their bike. Nice gimmick but we prefer to drink our espresso at the terrace. But the initiative gives a lot of rumour around the ‘Stadtverkehr 2025 program’.
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
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
This student dormroom, developed by students from the University in Karlsruhe, Germany, is unique. The inhabitant of the cylindrical room, can move the room in different positions by rotating the cylinder. You can sit still on the bench, and if you are ready to go to sleep, move it around a bit and your bathroom is ready.
Izarzugaza is a highly respected butcher in northern Spain. While the meat is prepared traditionally, the marketing techniques are state-of-the-art. Last year he started selling online and ordering via touch screen, this year they installed a 24-hour vending machine, filled with the best meats, according to the season.
Conference Hotel Kapellerput, in Heeze, The Netherlands, is currently building a classic “Kaban”. It will be a floating meeting room from 148m². It will be placed among the trees of the forest, next to the current hotel. A new dimension in meetings.
This new brand of chocolate uses cocoa which is grinded cold, so that all anti-oxidants, but also the substances that arouses loving feelings are still in the chocolate. Not only will you feel happier, the product is completely eco-friendly and gives people in Ecuador a chance to a good future.
These two men have been operating a “coffee shop” since last weekend in the streets of New York. Where? No one knows. It just depends on where the bike is leading them. Everything is done on manpower (green engine). Even the beans are manually grinded for you. A delicious cup of coffee, if you know where to find them, anyway.
Coca-Cola is recycling empty cans and bottles into chairs. Not only chairs, but also jackets and other clothing will become part of the recycling program.
Can’t afford a ticket to South Africa? Or just not such a huge fan? There is still a possibility to watch yourself on TV. You can buy a spot on the banner of www.hetoranjespandoek.nl, which will be displayed at the match The Netherlands-Denmark. So your face will still star on TV.
We spotted the French fastservice, Roulegalette, (French crêpes) and wondered when the first Dutch “pancake to go” would start. Via Twitter the “pannenkoekenbus” (pancake bus) reacted within a few minutes. Young entrepreneurs Robin and Gerard, who got the idea while waiting for the bus to school, combined their part time job in a pancake restaurant with a bus.
{youtube}loCMWpJcp7g&feature{/youtube}
If you’re always standing in the shadow of the big competitor, what can you do? Seattle’s Best Coffee has the answer. Take out the competition by taking over their office. How? Watch the YouTube video.
{youtube}F1k7B0ykdys&feature{/youtube}
This Thai producer of soda water could not break through in Thailand. Until they came up with this marketing stunt. In the months following after that stunt, sales rose from 200,000 bottles to 1,000,000 bottles. View the marketing stunt on YouTube.
Besides ice cream, Ben and Jerry’s now also sells clothes in their webshop. Half the profit goes to charity. Be quick, because everything is made in a limited edition.
The new office supplies of Lexon are completely ecological. Made from bamboo and working on solar energy. Also, almost every part of these devices are recyclable.
The stunning sustainably-built rugby stadium features state-of-the art green technology, making the most of available resources. They use rainwater, heat and cold storage, solar power and natural light. An example for future stadiums.
In France, the first fast service “crêperie” opened with 3 outlets in Paris. The concept is named after the savory crêpe, “Roule Galette”. One of France’s most classic dishes in a modern way.
For the creatives among us, a café in Paris has opened, where one can rent a sewing machine. The café has ten work stations. Costs? € 6 per hour and € 25, = per day. They also frequently organize workshops. Similar initiatives have been spotted at various locations, for example in Rotterdam.
With this package, you can turn any kind of juice into an alcoholic beverage. The product is made from yeast, which is rapidly converted into alcohol. Be careful though, as your drink might contain more than 14% alcohol.
Soundproof telephone booths at festivals have already been spotted. The Argentinian beerbrand “Andes” used this technique for a remarkable campaign. Watch the video on YouTube.
“Share the happiness”, have fun with a vending machine and a lot of students. Capture the reactions on camera and you have a wonderful advertisement, to use in social media.
Burgerville does not only list all the calories of individual dishes on the menu but also shows the total of calories consumed, on the bill! With an extra health tip at the bottom.
The opening of the new Nespresso boutique in Brussels, was accompanied by a great 3D presentation. Watch the video on YouTube.
New York Pizza is gratefully using the empty billboards that are now displayed for political parties. Throughout Amsterdam, they are distributing posters of the “choose fresh” party. However, when visiting the website you realize that you are dealing with a marketing stunt by New York Pizza.
Until May 16th between 3-5 in the afternoon Starbucks (in the USA) serves Frappuccino’s “how ever you want them” for half price.
These teaspoon are designed for single use. Stir your tea one time and enjoy your spoon!
The rolls of Burger King are even more attractive like this, styled in the latest trends in the fashion industry. Order a burger with sunglasses for example, or one wearing a bikini.
Boisdale, a restaurant based in central London, claims to serve the most expensive omelette in the world. This exclusive omelette is made from eggs from seagulls. Only 40.000 seagull eggs are sold worldwide every year. An omelette costs € 105, =.
Bezoek horecatrends op
