Ramen Restaurant Takumi is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

24-3-2022

The famous ramen restaurant Takumi is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and is organizing festive activities and moments throughout the year to celebrate. In 2007, they opened their first branch in Düsseldorf and by now there are already 41 restaurants to be found all over Europe. At Takumi you can enjoy authentic Japanese Sapporo Noodles which have become extremely popular in recent years. To celebrate Takumi’s 15th anniversary and to show gratitude to the loyal Takumi fans, several festive moments are set up in 2022. These include multiple live events in different European cities, a lottery to win a trip every quarter of the year, a ‘Create your own ramen’ challenge and the launch of a limited edition Takumi clothing collection. So expect an extensive and festive program to celebrate 15 years of love for Japanese Soul Food, of which the first event will take place in Rotterdam on April 30!

Takumi now has 41 locations throughout Europe. In Belgium they have locations in Brussels and Antwerp, eight in total. There is also a Takumi in Prague, Czech Republic, one in Vienna in Austria and one in Milan, Italy. Germany has no fewer than 14 locations spread over Düsseldorf, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Köln. Also in Spain you can enjoy the ramen at Takumi at five different locations in Barcelona. In the Netherlands you can taste Takumi’s specialties in The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Eindhoven. We will definitely visit soon!

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The Spring Summer ’22 Collection by Frites Atelier | ‘Arabic Baba & Feta’ Fries

14-3-2022

Inspired by spring and summer, co-founder and culinary creator of Frites Atelier Sergio Herman has created fresh, summery taste sensations. The flavors will give you the feeling of a summer in Italy or deep into the Arabian fairy tale of a thousand and one nights. The influences of the various cultures and cuisines come to the fore in the new specials. The specials ‘Arabic Baba & Feta’ as well as the return of our seasonal specials: ‘Sea Nori’, ‘Parmasan & Basil’ and a whole new tasty snack, the ‘Fish Burger’. Starting this week, Frites Atelier will serve the very latest Spring Summer Collection.

Fries are the main snacks in the Netherlands, we have ‘snackbars’ where you can order a simple portion of fries with or without mayonnaise, or other sauces and of course other snacks like our famous ‘kroketten’. Since a couple of years we have the culinary expert, chef Sergio Herman (has and had several Michelin star restaurants), who creates culinary specials, for the fancy snackbar/restaurant chain Frites Atelier. His Spring/Summer ’22 collection even has a  fries ‘Arabic Baba & Feta’! If you want to enjoy a culinary portion of fries, visit one of their locations in The Hague, Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and Designer Outlet Roosendaal. Worth a detour!

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New flagship store for The Avocado Show in the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands

1-3-2022

The founders of the beloved restaurant The Avocado Show, Julien Zaal and Ron Simpson will open a new format of their fast-growing chain on Saturday 12 March. Centrally located between The Hague and Leiden, the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is the ideal place for the first Dutch branch of The Avocado Show outside of Amsterdam.

Designed in collaboration with their permanent creative team at Aces of Space, this new version of The Avocado Show with 80 seats and a surface area of ​​190m2 has the appearance of a colorful patio. The guests sit under natural light and are surrounded by many green-pink color accents; the well-known setting of The Avocado Show. Original dishes are served, in their signature style, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Think of the now world famous poke bowl, stacked pancakes, an avocado smashed burger and even cocktails, where the avocado seeds are used as ice cubes.

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Trends we spotted | Week 8

25-2-2022

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 amongst others a new restaurant for Alain Ducasse in Paris, Le Salon des Manufactures and the Dutch restaurant chain ‘The Avocado Show’ will open in Stuttgart in April.

Bunk Hotel Amsterdam is reopening with a special give-away – a Staycation party! Check out your change to win this party. And the Dutch Kever Genever is facing legal problems with their Kever John Lemon Canned Cocktail.

The 2nd edition of the Colors Festival will be held in Paris, From April 2 to May 8 2022, you can enjoy street art in the 11th arrondissement. Two new spectacular editions of Grand Marnier, Quintessence and  Révélation, give expression to the simplest of combinations: cognac, orange essence, wood, and time.  

Travel Outlook, a premium hotel call center, introduced Bella. Bella is the hospitality industry’s first AI-powered Virtual Hotel Agent™ and Aldi in Australia is testing a robotic pizza vending machine, the Pizzabot.

As many virus experts say that COVID is here to stay, it might be wise to install an air purifier. AiroDoctor® V10P-ID is a passive in-channel photocatalysis unit designed to effectively filter and clean the airflow in small and medium-sized air handling units (HVAC).

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Hawaiian Poké Bowl opens branch in Antwerp Tower

24-1-2022

Hawaiian Poké Bowl is opening their 20th location in Belgium in the foodstreet of the brand new Antwerp Tower. To celebrate that twentieth poké location in just three years as it should be, this will be the flagship store of the healthy restaurant chain. The imperial location for that milestone is the busy Keyserlei. As one of the fastest growing players within healthy casual food concepts, here for the price of one bowl you not only get a healthy, fresh and nutritious meal, but also a vacation feeling!

The organization behind Hawaiian Poké Bowl has plans for 20 branches in the Netherlands in the next 3 years. And they are developing sustainable packaging for their take-out and delivery. 

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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.

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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.

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Thai’s Streetfood restaurant Pitaya opens in Antwerp

21-10-2021

Thai’s Streetfood restaurant Pitaya, the restaurant chain specialized in Thai cuisine, opened its first restaurant in Antwerp, next to Operaplein in the newly renovated Antwerp Tower. After three successful openings in Brussels and Wallonia, it is now Flanders’ turn. And they will open in the Netherlands as well in the coming years.

Inspired by the Thai capital, the first Pitaya restaurant opened in 2010 in Bordeaux, France. The Antwerp restaurant is number 122 on their list! Most of the restaurants are located in France. Alpha Seed, the investment company that manages Pitaya’s license for the Benelux, is planning further openings in Liège and Charleroi this year. Pitaya now manages 5 restaurants in Belgium. The goal is to reach 70 in the Benelux in 7 years: 30 restaurants in Belgium, 35 in the Netherlands and 5 in Luxembourg.

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Ekomenu launches a new, high protein ‘Recovery meal box’

22-7-2021

Disclaimer: this article is more interesting for Dutchies and those living in Belgium

During a health crisis it is of key importance to use the healing properties of food. That is why Ekomenu is launching a ‘Recovery meal box’ on the 22^nd of July: a healthy, high protein and 100% biological meal box which gives the immune system a boost. The recipes are created by culinary chef Frank Fol, otherwise known as ‘de Groentekok®’, one of the driving forces behind Ekomenu. An international scientific study showcased that during the Covid-19 crisis people focused even more on healthy eating and bought a lot more fruits and vegetables.

Interesting development in the area of meal boxes! Can a restaurant also follow this concept of healthy meal boxes to restore the body? It could definitely be an option if you are still delivering boxes.

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Trends we spotted | Week 21

31-5-2021

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu 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’.

The public voting for the Impact Shakers Awards for sustainable and inclusive startups and scale-ups has opened and you will soon be able to play real life Mario Karts in London and in Utrecht (the Netherlands)!

Burger King will soon open a temporary meatless restaurant in Germany in cooperation with The Vegetarian Butcher and Belgian brewer Grimbergen will be brewing premium beers in its Brussels Abbey Monastery again, after 200 years.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University may have found a solution for high pasta packaging costs with flat-packed pasta, without compromising on texture and taste! And an interesting article about the origin of Susumu Kakinuma’s ‘Tokyo Pizza’.

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