The iSommelier by iFavine

13-11-2015

The iSommelier filters oxygen from the air and herewith the decanting process is being accelerated, reducing the time from a few hours to minutes. The iSommelier is a product of iFavine.

Glass carafes fit in the neatly designed device in which purified oxygen is added to the wine. In the corresponding mobile app the knowledge concerning thousands of wines from around the world is collected. The device is programmed in a way that the winemaker tells the user how the wine should be drunk.

The iSommelier by iFavine, a perfect balance between oxygen and wine.

That is the effect of the iSommelier, which excludes all the limitations of traditional decanting. Several natural elements in the air can affect the quality of a wine when it is traditionally decanted; pollution, odours, moist, differences in air pressure or temperature. This first ‘smart decanter’ uses new technology to provide solutions to these problems. Three filters purify the air and increase the oxygen content from the average of 21% to a maximum of 90%. Moreover, it removes pollutants and moist. The device isolates oxygen from nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. The iSommelier includes a patented glass carafe. This carafe is specially designed to distribute oxygen evenly throughout the wine. This results in a constant level of oxygen in the wine which makes tannins rounder and the wine tastes more elegant. As a result of this method all flavours will be enhanced and the full potential of the wine will be revealed.

According to the Dutch ambassador of the iSommelier by iFavine, Edwin Raben (famous Dutch sommelier) each restaurant should have a iSommelier. “Restaurants will be able to decant their (arrangement) wines by the glass. Moreover, also young wines can be consumed much earlier because of the softening effect at the tannins. The effect on white wines is also huge, think for example of young Riesling.”

There are already a couple of Dutch restaurants working with the iSommelier: for example FG restaurant and FG Food Lab by Francois Geurds (Rotterdam), restaurant Beluga (Maastricht), Restaurant Fred (Rotterdam), Wolf Atelier (Amsterdam) and the Sotto Wine Lounge (Ermelo).

Alain Rosier (sommelier restaurant FG & FG Food Labs) over the iSommelier

“We started working with the iSommelier last week and we are experimenting as we speak. This week we opened a great Château Mouton Rothschild 1985 (see photo) and we were able to serve the wine after 30 minutes with a great bouquet. With the iSommelier you can act quickly if a wine needs a little more oxygen to make the wine more tasteful. Heavy tannins as in wines with 100% Tannat grapes, break down easily with the iSommelier. Additionally, you can serve wine more quickly and you do not have to decant the wines for hours if they are ordered beforehand.”

The iSommelier by iFavine is sold from 24 November at the Makro and for consumers in the Netherlands at Oldenhof Kookwinkel.

Nestlé’s CHEF On Tour

10-11-2015

Nestlé uses a food truck to let chefs get acquainted with their new CHEF sauces: Chef on Tour…

Nestlé makes use of the street food revolution that has led to an outburst of street food and food trucks. According to Nestlé, street food brings people together, the food truck vendor is often the producer and educates the consumer where the product (or dish) originates from, about the ingredients and how it is prepared.

With this in mind Nestlé shows their costumers how to make use of their new product with CHEF On Tour. Nestlé’s culinary advisor (chef Edwin Detering) exclusively promotes the ‘CHEF’ sauces in his own food truck. He explains the preparation of the sauces, the ingredients and its variations.

The sauces of ‘CHEF On Tour’

From 27 October until 12 November Nestlé visited a dozen of hospitality organisations. Nestlé Professional involved chefs of the Van der Valk hotel chain in the development of the ‘CHEF’ sauces. As part of that collaboration, Nestlé wanted the entire kitchen brigade at the Van der Valk hotels to become excited about the sauces that they developed with their colleagues.

The food truck was located at the (supplier)entrance of the kitchen of the hotels. Nestlé took the whole crew out to the food truck at an appropriate time (during the ‘mise en place’ before lunch or dinner). The demonstration only lasted 15 to 20 minutes, so the brigade could immediately get back to work. These are the sauces they got to know during their short break: CHEF Peppersauce, CHEF Red Winesauce, CHEF Stroganoff sauce and CHEF Grillsauce. At first the crew tasted just the sauce (heated), then combined with a piece of grilled sirloin steak and finally with a piece of baked chicken thigh.

Are we going to see ‘CHEF On Tour’ more often?

Nestlé’s vision on this subject: “If ‘CHEF On Tour’ is appreciated by the chefs and their teams, then we will definitely consider visiting other chains and/or individual hospitality organisations with this concept. We might even show up at some other hotel and/or restaurants events in 2016.”

Bitter Balzz, variant of our famous Dutch ‘bitterbal’ filled with insects

2-11-2015

At BUGZZ they create food with insects. Their goal is to bring the sustainable snack ‘Bitter Balzz’ in production and that is why they started a crowdfunding project.

Bitter Balzz

BUGZZ uses our traditional ‘bitterbal’ (a Dutch treat; a small round croquette) to let us, consumers, get acquainted with healthier insects in an accessible way. BUGZZ created the ‘bitterbal’ with buffalo worms. Everybody in the Netherlands has tasted a ‘bitterbal’ at least once, why wouldn’t they try the Bitter Balzz? At events where BUGZZ was present, the Bitter Balzz were very popular. Because of the fact that the insects are hidden, it is easier to move beyond prejudices against insects.

Why insects?

80% of the world use insects in all their dishes, and insects are, according to BUGZZ and their customers, very tasty and versatile. In recent years, we increasingly hear about insects as a healthier and more sustainable alternative to meat. Insects take up much less space, they need less nutrition and water and produce much less emissions in relation to, for example, the cow. Next to those facts they also contain a lot of calcium! There are many more initiatives in the field of insects, we spotted amongst others a pizza with grasshoppers and a spread made of mealworms.

Who are the people behind BUGZZ?

Anne-Marie and Patrick, the founders of BUGGZ have different backgrounds, but have one thing in common: they love to cook tasty and adventurous meals. BUGZZ has only been operative for half a year and they have been seen at different festivals like the NeighbourFood Market, ‘Rollende Keuken’, Best Kept Secret, Amsterdam Kookt and the Amsterdam Woods Festival. Anne-Marie, Patrick and their team try to convince people to try insects as an alternative food source, in an enthusiastic manner.

An amazing Greek salad!

21-9-2015

Inspiration from restaurant ‘Funky Gourmet’ in Athens, the signature dish of chefs Georgianna Hiliadaki and Nick Roussos: their Greek salad!

Recently I have read that Coolhaus has started selling scoops of pizza ice cream. The ice cream isn’t made of the same ingredients but according to the website of Munchies they’ve created the same flavor with ingredients like mascarpone cheese, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and some salt. Coolhaus, which I now from their food trucks in New York City, has more strange ice cream flavors, what do you think about ‘Avocado Sea Salt’, ‘Beer & Pretzels’ or ‘Brown buttered candied bacon’? But we recently ate an ice cream more strange but also great in taste, in Athens.

Chefs do create an amazing Greek salad

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Athens and eating out at Funky Gourmet (** Michelin). The chefs Georgianna Hiliadaki and Nick Roussos created an excellent menu full of surprises. One of the most special items was their Greek salad, an ice cream halfway the menu. It’s their signature dish and we were really surprised by the taste of it. You don’t expect ice cream based on the taste of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and feta cheese to be that delicious!

Inspiration from Athens, Funky Gourmet

Although this article is mostly about their signature dish, I highly recommend to make a reservation at Funky Gourmet if you do visit Athens. Hidden away in one of the older parts of Athens, the chefs and their partner Argyro Hiliadaki created a restaurant well worth the visit. We enjoyed their cuisine, the hospitality and next to that the sublime wine from the island of Santorini which the sommelier advised us…

Royal De Ruijter opens pop-up sandwich restaurant in the Netherlands

4-9-2015

Royal De Ruijter opened its first sandwich restaurant in the Netherlands. In the 9 Streets district of Amsterdam, restaurant Struisvogel temporarily transformed into a cozy breakfast and lunch restaurant. The sandwiches restaurant is dedicated to special sandwiches and pastries. Guests can use various sandwich spread products of Royal de Ruijter to create their ultimate sandwich.

Two kinds of spreads

The reason for opening the pop-up sandwich restaurant is a recent research showing that most Dutch people eat a lot of bread, but vary only little with two types of spreads. Moreover, the sandwiches are routinely eaten in fifteen minutes according to the research. This while variety and attention are really important in enjoying food. Despite the popularity of the sandwich, it does not get the attention it deserves. With the restaurant Royal De Ruijter wants to change this and inspire people to make sandwiches special again.

Pay with #broodjebijzonder at sandwich restaurant

The sandwich restaurant in restaurant Struisvogel runs for one week from Friday 4 September onwards and is open between 9:00 and 14:00. Anyone can walk in from 9.00 am onwards for a creative selfmade sandwich until 10 September. Fresh bread, fruit and Royal De Ruijter products like Vlokfeest (chocolate flakes), aniseed sprinkles, Fruit- and Strawberry-Raspberry sprinkles, ‘Gestampte muisjes’ (crushed aniseed sprinkles) and Bebogeen are yours to use. There is no menu and no price list. Guests pay by sharing a photo of the creation on social media with #broodjebijzonder.

Mix and match your favorite chips with a sandwich at Mr. Crisp

28-8-2015

Mr. Crisp is England’s first crisp sandwich shop supplying over 35 varieties of crisps to enjoy. It’s a shop in West Yorkshire, entirely devoted to the art of potato chip sandwiches.

At this moment in time the most new concepts we spot are preparing healthy foods or intent do it. But with every survey we take, people often admit not to have too much eye for the healthy cuisine when dining out. Potato chips in sandwiches is new to me! I did notice small bags of crisps served with sandwiches in the United Stated, but I always thought it was meant to eat them on the side. It seems that people put the potato chips on top of the sandwiches to add a crunchy bite to the sandwich.

Mr. Crisp

Marc Pearson, owner of Mr. Crisp, was inspired by a similar shop in Belfast and he offers 35 different varieties of chips and an extensive sandwich menu, tea and baguettes according The Daily Mail. Mix and match your own favorite flavour combinations in your ultimate crispy sandwich.

Bakery serves breakfast at hotel Eindhoven

27-8-2015

The Van der Valk hotel in Eindhoven has partnered with Bakery Schellens. Together they realized a traditional bakery in the breakfast room of the hotel. Guests can witness the baker preparing the bread and pastry products freshly. It’s a store-in-store bakery which serves ‘instantly fresh’ bread.

Worldwide, there are more and more large international hotel concerns that sign up for a cooperation with formulas that establish small pickup point in the lobby. Like for example small Starbucks outlets in various hotel lobbies, but also local bakers in others. A great example is the AMCE hotel in Chicago with the Weston Town Bakery in the lobby. A great addition is their, almost old-fashioned, Knock ‘N Drop service for breakfast.

Bakery serves breakfast at the Van der Valk Hotel Eindhoven

The store-in-store ‘Bakkerij’ is the answer of Bakery Schellens and the Van der Valk Hotel Eindhoven to the growing need for ‘instantly fresh’ and artisanal bread. Additionally they will expect to interact more with their guests and offer them better quality and freedom of choice. Just grapping a quick breakfast to go, or enjoying the breakfast and slowly waking up in the breakfast room. Breakfast as part of the food-as-experience trend.

Guests can take a look behind the scenes and will have a choice of Frisian rye bread, croissants, several wheat buns, spelt- and sourdough bread, and the famous ‘worstenbroodjes’ (kind of sausage sandwiches, you should try one if you’re ever in the South of The Netherlands) and Danish pastry.

According to Rick Polman, director Van der Valk Eindhoven, is the Bakery Schellens a unique addition to the hotel and its presence increases the fresh experience for his guests. The Bakery is their response to the changing needs, trends and developments in the market. In addition, the Bakery works with themes and seasonal themes. Both the hotel and the Bakery focus on their own core business.

Moringa will be introduced in the USA with the help of a celebrity chef

21-8-2015

A new leafy, nutritious plant called ‘Moringa’ has been introduced in the USA. And now, celebrity chef José Andrés, will start helping to introduce the Moringa with his non-profit, World Central Kitchen. This in cooperation with the first American moringa company, Kuli Kuli.

Moringa

While kale is still very popular as superfood in the USA, José Andrés will try to seduce the Americans to start using the Moringa leaves. The Moringa oleifera tree, also known as the Miracletree is a nutrient-dense plant with nine essential amino acids, 27 vitamins and 46 antioxidants. Almost all parts of this tropical tree can be eaten or do have medicinal values. The Kuli Kuli company  makes a pure Moringa vegetable powder. And this is the product they are trying to make more popular in the USA. Moringa is also available in the Netherlands.

#MoringaInspired

Together with the Kuli Kuli Company and the Haitian nonprofit Smallholder Farmer’s Alliance, the World Central Kitchen launched a nationwide moringa recipe competition on Instagram, using the hashtag #MoringaInspired to raise awareness and support moringa farming communities in Haiti. The #MoringaInspired recipe competition seeks to draw creative and inspiring food and beverage creations from consumers using Kuli Kuli Pure Moringa Vegetable Powder. According to thefoodpeople, one winner will be selected to win a trip to Washington DC, including dinner at Jose Andres’ new restaurant – China Chilcano.

Robot Mario, the new employee and mascot of the Marriott Hotel Ghent

18-8-2015

The Marriott Hotel Ghent has a new employee since late June. The humanoid robot Mario. Now almost two months later, Mario is a local celebrity and he has his own ‘Mario Monday’. On these days he examines issues surrounding the hotel, he is trying out rooms and visited the football club Gent which is sponsored by the Marriott Ghent.

The success of Robot Mario

We read all the press coverage late June and planned an article in a later stage about the effect of the humanoid robot for the hotel. According to Annabelle Stevens (Marketing Marriott Ghent) Mario has stolen many hearts. School classes have come to meet Mario and his dedicated ‘dad Thomas’ can’t watch Mario’s performances alone any longer. Nowadays a number of front office staff accompany Mario occasionally in the things he says and does.

Mario is deployed in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) market for a welcome or farewell speech, he gives classic PowerPoint presentations or talks about the menu during diner. Another big advantage, Mario speaks a couple of different languages! He is regularly present at the front office, which is especially great for children.

Mario Monday

Mario does not replace staff, it is an extra level of experience. Mario even performs a mascot role every Monday through Facebook under the name ‘Mario Monday’. He investigates all issues surrounding the hotel. He already tested a room and checked whether the area around the hotel was well cleared after the Ghent Festivities for example. Thus, the mascot is part of the storytelling by the Marriott Ghent.

QBMT; the company that has designed Mario

Humanoid robots are already used for a while in the healthcare sector. In the hotel sector, this is one of the first times we hear about deploying a robot. The robot is a product of the Belgian company QBMT from Ostend, which has produced more than 100 Zora humanoid robots for the healthcare sector in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland.

Changing pop-up location Rotterdam Central Station

18-6-2015

Pop-up food concept ‘Eten Centraal’ opened at Rotterdam Central Station on 16 June. It is a new initiative by The Food Line-up in collaboration with NS Stations. The pop-up location changes every two weeks with another small street food entrepreneur from the city.

Changing pop-up

The Food Line-up was one of the initiators of the street food debate about new permits that would benefit diverse and sustainable street food. Now they’ve set their crosshairs on high traffic destinations like the Rotterdam Central Station. With pop-up stores like ‘Eten Centraal’ railway stations will surprise travellers with a weekly changing selection of several local entrepreneurs. The focus is now on empty shop spaces that require temporary filling at Rotterdam Central. If successful, this may result in temporary fillings of empty spaces at other stations. It makes stations thus even more attractive for everyone.

The Switch

Every two weeks during “the Switch” a new business will build up in the pop-up store. In 46 days, more than seven Rotterdam heroes will serve a diverse menu including Old Scuola Pizza Napolitana, Man met Bril Coffee, Saté man with Toko to go, Fritez Haute friture, Pinky Rose lemonade, Jumble Korean Food and Rotterdam brewers. The website and Facebook will show the complete list of entrepreneurs and time tables.

Groundbreaking

“The pop-up street food concept is truly groundbreaking,” according to Lotte Wouters and Maartje Nelissen. “For the first time a high traffic location like this provides room to small local businesses next to the fixed formulas and usual suspects on locations like these. Travellers can now also enjoy the offerings of local entrepreneurs at Rotterdam Central Station, one of the most prominent places in the city, and taste the identity of the city and its inhabitants. “