Is your Dry January still going strong?

11-1-2022

January has always been one of the longest and depressing months. While most of us have to unchill from a festive December month, we’re confronted with Dry January, Veganuary (and if you really want to go all the way, forget the Dairy too), we have Blue Monday (January 17 this year) and your own New Year’s resolutions.

But on the bright side: more and more delicious vegan and vegetarian products are available at the stores, restaurants and recipes on the internet. Besides trying out Veganuary lots of people try Dry January and for those who miss the taste of their cocktail, glass of beer or wine, more and more delicious (and even some distilled) non-alcoholic alternatives are hitting the market, we made a list of the latest drinks.

Reading time: 4 minutes

read more

Crypto Street Restaurant in Clearwater Beach Florida

11-1-2022

At December 27 a new crypto-themed restaurant, Crypto Street Restaurant, opened in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The owner of the restaurant created a surrounding which invites his customers to get talking about cryptocurrencies or digital money on a decentralized platform called the blockchain. The art inside this new bistro on the ground level of the Residence Inn by Marriott hotel depicts rocket ships, bitcoin symbols, quotes from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and illustrations of the dog meme from dogecoin.

Reading time: 2 minutes

read more

Trends we spotted | Week 50

20-12-2021

At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

With this week links to articles about winter coffees from all over the world, inspiration from Starbucks. And a “snowman pizza” made by Joe’s Rotisseria in New Jersey!

The first 1,600 Neder Bananas from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands were harvested at the end of November. Many atypical and sustainable products are made of them! Ever heard of ‘National Cookies Day’? We didn’t, but this day is celebrated on December 4th and Subway opened a ‘Cookieway’ pop-up store around this date.

The fast food chain ‘El Pollo Loco’ is launching a ‘Loco Gifts and Gear’ store in which they sell merchandise specially designed for them, such as a bicycle. And the UK’s cheapest champagne bar has opened, Aldi will sell its award-winning Veuve Monsigny champagne for just £2.33 a glass. And so nice: a ‘Santa sushi’, created by Wave Asian Bistro & Sushi out in Mount Dora, Florida.

Airbnb had a special Christmas promotion in the USA: 4 people could be guests for one night in the ‘Home Alone’ house! Including lots of details like the cheese pizza and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

In London you can enjoy the patisserie of the French chef Cedric Grolet in The Berkeley Café and when you are in London now you can enjoy a special ‘Borealis’ by the famous artist Dan Acher for 2 more days. Northern lights above London during the Winter Lights season, we would love to see that above Amsterdam as well!

 Uber Eats was the first to deliver meals to space on December 11! And have you heard of PappaRoti? They sell drinks and special coffee buns from Malaysia in more than 400 locations worldwide. Located in Brussels, among others.

read more

A sustainable cup of coffee from Mister Barish

17-12-2021

A sustainable cup with black gold for everyone: that is what the Mister Barish coffee brand stands for. By selling loose coffee beans, purchased at fair prices from plantations with environmentally friendly products, the brand wants to combat the growing use of single-use plastic. Unique in the Netherlands: Mister Barish sells monthly subscriptions where the customer pays per cup of coffee. This includes a device, service and support and the most suitable beans. This makes good and luxurious coffee more accessible to a wider audience. This December, Mister Barish opened its first experience store in Amsterdam, officially launching the brand in the Netherlands.

Reading time: 2 minutes

read more

VAN SHA Aromatic Spice | A distilled non-alcoholic alternative

9-12-2021

Inspired by her own family’s roots, founder Sharan Bal captured the powerful and intense flavours of India in the distilled non-alcoholic dark spirit VAN SHA Aromatic Spice. The aromatic blend of Indian spices like saffron, neroli and galangal – with a subtle fresh-floral aroma, a hint of bitter-sweet citrus and warm spicy notes – creates a dark spirit. VAN SHA Aromatic Spice can be enjoyed pure on the rocks or in the mix with ginger ale. For cocktail lovers – VAN SHA is also delicious in a Not So Old Fashioned. VAN SHA is sugar-free, low-energy, GMO-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan, and it does not contain added sugars, sweetener or artificial flavours.

There is plenty of choice in non-alcoholic alternatives for a festive lunch, brunch, dinner or even breakfast? A mocktail is a fun addition at the holidays! 

Reading Time: 2 minutes

read more

Trends we spotted | Week 48

7-12-2021

At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

With this week links to…. Bacardi who has announced Astrophel “Troy” Arquiza as the new Global Master Blender for BACARDÍ® rum (the “Maestro de Ron”). And high-quality cocktails from Williams Premium such as the Margarita, Daiquiri, Espresso Martini and Old fashioned are now available in cans.

Butcher and steakhouse owner John Stirk, thought the price of the golden Tomahawk steak at Salt Bae’s new restaurant (in London) was way too high. Stirk Italian Steakhouse now has a much more affordable golden ‘Stirk-Bae’ on his menu…

Wagyu beef is known all over the world as a very exclusive piece of meat. But in Japan you simply ‘pull’ the steak from a vending machine these days! New on the market is the food safety device from Asus, which lets you know whether you have washed your fruit and vegetables sufficiently.

Foodspotting.com preceded the introduction of the app known as Foodspotting. The site allowed its users to take pictures of food that they loved. It was bought by OpenTable in 2013 and doesn’t exist anymore. ChefsTemp on about what happened to this app!

Designer water: this year’s limited-edition glass bottle of Evian water has been covered in Snowflakes by designer Not Vital. A collaboration with Moncler. Another great campaign for the Holiday Season in the UK, this time for the Bounty Bar: ‘The Lonely Bounty’.

 Online cooking tutorials called ‘The Secrets of French Cuisine’ at the website of ‘Fine Dining Lovers’. We included the tutorial of the ultimate croque monsieur! And the same website gives you all the details behind the 100 days pop-up in Paris: restaurant ADMO!

Chiqueolatte opened its 8th location in The Hague and The Hoxton hotel group will open four new hotels in Europe in 2022. Tony’s Chocolonely announced that it will not build its own chocolate factory in the near future.

 Reading time: 4 minutes

read more

Christmas inspiration 2021 | Examples of other restaurants, fast food chains and hotels

23-11-2021

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 colleague hospitality entrepreneurs all over the world are doing. If you search our website for ‘Christmas’, you will get pages full with examples like glitter gravy, the Christmas afternoon in Hengelo to storytelling by the Rocco Forte hotel chain under the name of #RFWinterTale.

Our last real Christmas publication was ‘Christmas Gestures’ back in 2013, containing examples of ‘golden cutlery’ or ‘golden Japanese sticks’, ‘golden fortune cookies’ but also pizza slices and pizza boxes in the Christmas tree. For our 2021 publication we went to find inspiration for decorating a Christmas tree for in restaurants, fast food chains, bars or hotels at FAAS Est in Leiden. A great shop that sells all kinds of food ornaments. Check out their photos on the front page of this years publication. In ‘Christmas inspiration 2021’ we particularly mention inspiration to celebrate Christmas outdoor, a safe way to have fun with your guests this Holiday Season.

Reading time: Scrolling 4 minutes

read more

Trends we spotted | Week 46 

22-11-2021

At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

With this week links to articles about the Icelandverse, a great example of an ad for tourism and Redefine Meat. This Israeli start-up expands operations into Europe, they are going to 3D-print beef substitute in the Netherlands.

This Holiday Season you can play curling at the garden of the Langham hotel in London and the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon is hosting ‘don’t be on your own day’ as a lovely gesture to combat loneliness on Christmas Day.

In Hamburg you can enjoy raclette, glühwein and other Swiss winter season food in old ski gondolas at the 25Hours Hotel. And an initiative to tackle the shortage of hospitality staff from Amsterdam: The ‘Leidseplein’ class.

Korean Childhood snacks are an overnight hit because of Squid Game especially among Korean-American restaurant owners! And also in New York: the Antony Bourdain hawker centre is set to open in the beginning of 2022.

Arby’s in the US sells meat with curly and crinkle fries and now they announced the upcoming launch of its limited edition Curly Fry and Crinkle Fry Vodka. And check out the sky at Bercy Village in Paris, we love what they did!

read more

Top of the Dutch creatives designed Capital Kitchen

15-11-2021

Opening – The newest addition to Amsterdam is Capital Kitchen. A bar restaurant located in Capital C, the monumental building on Weesperplein where the Diamond Exchange was once located. Capital C literally stands for creativity with a capital C. Capital C is a hub and community for the capital’s creative sector. A work and meeting place for creatives with flexible workplaces, office and meeting rooms and special event spaces. And now also with a unique and innovative bar-restaurant concept. The design of Capital Kitchen has been created together with the top of the Dutch creative industry.

Reading time: 2 minutes

read more

1 million funded for scaling up sustainable restaurant chain

15-11-2021

Sustainable restaurant chain Jack Bean has raised 1 million euros growth funding. With this money, the start-up from Rotterdam will expand to Amsterdam and the sustainable restaurant chain will prepare for further national upscaling.

Reading time: 2 minutes

read more