A new robot in the hospitality industry. Hilton Worldwide and IBM announced a collaboration to pilot ‘Connie’ – the first Watson-enabled robot concierge in the hospitality industry. Hilton’s new robot draws on domain knowledge from Watson and WayBlazer to inform guests on local tourist attractions, dining recommendations and hotel features and amenities.
A photo ambassador? Yes a photo ambassador! A new twist to the longline of ideas, trying to influence the quality of pictures from your hotel. For the ‘photo ambassador’ you have to check in at the Four Seasons Resort at Maui. And if you watch the video above, you will have to agree that there must be great spots at this resort to take photos.
credits: UrbanFarmers
credits: Space & Matter
Logo UrbanFarmers
UrbanFarmers
UrbanFarmers
UrbanFarmers
UrbanFarmers
Bram Kosterink - UrbanFarmersIt will be the largest urban rooftop farm in Europe. The unique ‘farm’ is at 40 meters altitude in The Hague and will annually produce 50 tons of local, rooftop vegetables and 20 tons of fresh (urban) fish. Our colleague Bram Kosterink already got a tour of the impressive project.
DecoDive
DecoDive
DecoDive
DecoDive
DecoDiveExpensive materials are used to build decoration for festivals, to subsequently have to break it down again after the event and sometimes it will even be thrown away. DecoDive wants to change that and become the eBay for festival decorations. Soon everybody will be able to rent decoration at the website of DecoDive.
Deze kippen vind je niet meer terug bij GauchosRestaurant chain Gauchos has banned the ‘plofkip’ out of their twelve locations in the Netherlands. ‘Plofkip’ is the term we use in the Netherlands for a broiler chicken. Since last week you will only get chicken who are having a ‘Better Life quality’ mark. ‘Wakker Dier’ to be translated as ‘Awake Animals’ is a Dutch animal welfare organisation. They started a campaign in order to get as many restaurants as possible ‘broiler chicken free’.
Instant ice cream for instant satisfaction at Sweet Charlie’s rolled ice cream shop in Philadelphia. Like in New York, where long lines form outside of 10Below’s at a regular base for their instant ice cream.
Sweet Charlie’s owner Kyle Billig is studying business at Arizona State University while simultaneously opening Philadelphia’s first-ever Thai rolled ice cream shop, Sweet Charlie’s. The frozen treat craze already took New York by storm, block-long lines forming at 10Below’s doors just for a taste of the instant ice cream. The instant ice cream is made at an Ice Teppanyaki (a plate of -30 degrees Celsius). Made to order, so no preservatives, stabilizers or emulsifiers. At Sweet Charlie’s they don’t even have a freezer in the shop! Just the cold plate, two scrapers, milk and toppings. And a lot of toppings, like oreo, coffee and donut, mint chip, green tea, s’more, key lime, banana & nutella etc..
Many more instant ice cream shops are found in the far east (we spotted several in Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur). The Ice Teppanyaki can be used together with the gelato machine, which is preparing ice cream in front of the customer as well. The Ice Teppanyaki can be used in different ways but we like the rolled way!
At the redaction of Horecatrends we spot a lot of national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we use in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week among others, ‘René Redzepi with Noma in Australia’, ‘Urban pillow fight at square in Toronto’ and ‘Pizzacle, a pizza on a stick’.
Only accessible for those who are over 21 of age but wished they were still five! Forward Motion organised a ‘ball pit bar’ in San Francisco, the bar was open on the 19th and 20th of March. The ‘Ball pit bar’ made adults feel like kids again, but with alcohol.
Zenroast, the ceramic coffee roaster from Japan allows everybody to roast his or her own coffee beans. A classic everyday tool that is used for roasting tea leaves and sesame seeds has been introduced as coffee roaster to create the ultimate coffee to your own taste.
An article about a new product in the wine industry. It’s a wine bottle shaped object with a touchscreen that is connected with Wi-Fi and has sensors to read details like how many glasses of wine left… And the system is designed to keep the wine fresh for 30 days.
Upcoming weekend the fifth edition of the Lentebock Festival will be held at the ‘Ledig Erf’ in Utrecht. Three days long you can try over twenty different kinds of Lentebock beers and rank them. Based on the rankings the winner will be chosen, this beer can be called the best Lentebock beer of the year. read more
A once in a lifetime experience: spending the night at a very unique accommodation. In the context of ‘A Night At’ campaign it is possible to spend the night in an underwater bedroom in the shark tank of Aquarium de Paris. This means you will wake up between sharks! Who dares? read more
Recently the first Popsicle Bar of the Netherlands was opened in Amsterdam, called ‘IJsmanschap’. Besides artisanal popsicles you can also get good quality coffee. read more
Guest blog of Leonie van Spronsen, living and working in Paris, where she experienced the table service at the McDonald’s at the Champs-Élysées. read more
At the redaction of Horecatrends we spot a lot of national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we us in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week among others ‘Tiny Irish pub on wheels’, ‘Gigantic edible Easter bunny’ and ‘Robots to serve fast food restaurants’. read more
We discussed which products show up the most on social media, in all kind of shapes, flavours and colours, this year. The first product that 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
Watch how you’ve spent the night with a piece of art. That is possible at hotel chain Ibis Hotels. The chain offers guests a ‘sleep art app’ that makes an artwork of your sleep pattern. As the guest sleeps, the app runs throughout the night recording sounds, movements and vibrations through the iPhone’s built-in sensors. Your unconscious activity during your sleep has been interpreted as a colorful work of art. Natural green shades in the sleep masterpieces signal a relaxed night of sleep, whilst red and amber tones suggest that you had a restless night. The ‘sleep artwork’ can be shared by email or via Twitter and Facebook.
Perrier is the sexiest sparkling water you’ll ever taste, says Perrier. So sexy that you will find yourself transported to a secret online party. Perrier and Ogilvy have invited you with Perrier Secret Place, an online underground nightclub where you will bounce around the different viewpoints of attendees at the ‘party’. If you find the ‘golden woman’ and ‘secret bottle’ you will make a chance to win a trip to a ‘real’ party somewhere like St. Tropez, Rio during Carnival, Miami Art Basel or at Ibiza. Check more clips at the website of ADweek.
A very useful gadget! With the ‘Stem’ juice spray, you can directly spray juice from a citrus fruit on your salad or dish. Use the serrated teeth to chomp a hole in the fruit and you can spray lightly and evenly.
At this place we want to congratulate Ron Blauw (former owner of Ron Blaauw (2 Michelinstars) in Amsterdam) with the opening of ‘Ron Gastropub’ today. In his new restaurant, he returns to affordable quality, 25 dishes at high gastronomic level for € 15, = per dish and a fixed margin on the wine. We will have to wait a couple of months to see if his new company is appreciated by Michelin. More and more we see that chefs are talking about a different reorientation. In November last year Flemisch Foodie Jason Blanckaert from Gent indicated he wanted to follow his own course and didn’t want to be mentioned in the culinary guides Gault & Millau and Michelin anymore. He opened his own bistro JEF in Gent last year.
Of course there are chefs who have started a gastropub alongside their existing business. In Stockbrigde Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack (both good for a Michelin star) opened last week their pub ‘The Scran and Scallie’. The dishes are simplified and at this place it’s all about enjoying great food, drinks and fun at affordable levels.
Frantzen / Lindeberg opened in Stockholm in addition to their 2-star Michelin restaurant, a gastropub ‘The Flying Elk‘ where they serve the British ‘ fish and chips’. Their motto, “Haute cuisine meets the British Pubcultur”.
These are just some recent examples of star chefs who alter their direction or opened a gastropub next to their existing business. Makes you wonder who will follow?
Another great video of Restaurant Alinea, created by Christian Seel. Check also the video of the lamb course or the edible helium balloon.
For the new campaign, fashion brand Stussy worked together with FreshCotton. FreshCotton has monopoly on the sale of Stussy t-shirts and as a result of this collaboration they launched a cookbook that uses a typical ingredient of Amsterdam, weed. For this project FreshCotton asked the highly rated chef Misha Sukyas to create recipes with every street-legal drugs available in Amsterdam. The project shows what we like about Amsterdam: fashion, good food and having fun. Check out the website of FreshCotton for recipes.
Early February Bastian Heuser (Barworkz), Mario Grünenfelder (Rocco & Sanny, AMANO Bar) and Sebastian Brack (soda brand Thomas Henry) opened in cooperation with Tanqueray No. TEN a pop-up Gin and Tonic Bar in Berlin. The bar features classic cocktails with gin and tonic in numerous variants and they differ every season. In addition to the various cocktails, they also serve gin and tonic tea variants. The G&T bar organizes workshops and lectures and will be open for one year. Last 27 and 28 March there was a pop-up Gin and Tonic bar in Covent Garden London as well. Pop-up bars are regularly used to promote drinks.
With the ‘Tea Fusion’ Lipton offers a new tea concept. The quality and experience of making a cup of tea will increase. During making a cup of tea, the tea will experience a ‘Tea Fusion’ that is visible through the transparent cylinder. As a result it releases an enhanced smell, color and taste. Lipton has a special assortment of teas from Kenya available for the Tea Fusion concept.
The Canadian pizza chain ‘Boston Pizza’ has launched a new bun-less menu on April first. The Pizza salad, Choco pizza and the Pizza Bread Pudding of the menu were a joke, but the Pizzaburger is apparently, not a joke! The Pizzaburger is not just a burger with a pizza topping, but it is an actual bacon hamburger wrapped in a pepperoni pizza with a hand-pressed crust smothered in pizza sauce and mozzarella. There is also a five-cheese Pizzaburger available
Beer and Bubs is a one-night session for expectant dads to learn how to support their partner through the birth of their baby. The session is held in pubs in Australia. The program is perfect for first time fathers who don’t know what they’re in for and it helps men gain the practical knowledge they need to be involved in the births of their children. During the session the man will meet dads who recently became father and other expectant dads. The Beer and Bubs is run in local pubs in all major cities of Australia. Seems to us a hilarious subject for a good night out for bachelor parties or baby showers for men.
‘Somersby’ is the new cider brand from Carlsberg – Real Refreshment. It is a naturally-balanced, medium cider, made with no artificial flavorings or sweeteners. Since every third ad has to be an Apple parody now, Carlsberg makes fun of Apple Store product launches in this TV spot for Somersby Cider from agency Fold7. Great advertisement….
A cup of coffee or an ice cream on hold.. At ice cream parlor Mezzo in Amsterdam it is possible to order a cup of coffee or ice cream and put it on hold for someone who can’t pay it. It does not necessarily have to be a cup of coffee, it may also be a (hot) drink, or in this case an ice cream. A simple way to do something for others, without knowing who it is. This tradition began in Naples (Italy) but starts to spread across the world rapidly. Earlier we saw that consumers could put a cup of coffee on hold for someone at Coffee Company (The Netherlands).
During the Guinness Draught bottle launch, a new world record ‘Farthest Beer Bottle Slide’ was set! New sport for in the pub?
This is only possible in America, a donut in the shape of a chicken for Easter… Shall we see a ‘bolus’ (Dutch treat) into the shape of a chicken next year in the Netherlands?
Another list with special hotels this time by Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor gives an overview of ten quirky hotels all over the world. Like spending a night in a train station or on a oil rig. The photos are of the Costa Verde Hotel in Costa Rica. The hotel has renovated a vintage Boeing 727 from 1965 and transformed it into a hotel room with two bedrooms and a bathroom. The room offers a beautiful view over the jungle and will make you feel like you are flying. Watch the website Tripadvisor for more quirky hotels.
The Viva Las Vega’s foundation organizes the Viva Las Vega’s Food Festival at June 1st in Amsterdam for the third year in a row. The festival is a sympathetic and accessible introduction to the vegetarian cuisine. There will be culinary workshops, interesting lectures, a Food and Lifestyle Market and food films. The festival is also the ending of the VeggieChallenge, a 30-day challenge for meat reducers.
Get in bed an egg on a bed served with Easter…
Koppert Cress and Gastronomixc have been working together and designed a component schedule. Gastronomixs is a worldwide culinary database and an idea generator for chefs and food professionals. The schedule shows that you can do more with the Aclla Cress (fresh citrus flavor) than just food garnish. Be inspired by the many possibilities that this schedule, like a mild curry of Aclla Cress and almonds or an aromatic broth with citrus and Aclla Cress.
Jamie Oliver is preparing to launch a hot dog restaurant in central London, named Jamie Dog House & Diner. The hot dog restaurant will be in American style, with grilled sausages, burgers and big juicy steaks. Hot dogs aren’t that healthy, but Jamie Oliver will give the dishes a twist to make it healthy. The meat will be organic and of the highest quality and the sauces will be made of natural ingredients. The menu will show more healthy options.
The ‘Bobshot’ is a non-alcoholic shooter for young people up to 18 years, but also for the people who need to drive after a party. The ‘Bobshot’ is available in three flavors: rasberry-cherry, banana-melon and tropical fruits and should be served cold. Youth can drink the bobshot during a night out, without consuming a drop of alcohol.
The Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam serves an afternoon coffee, a new version of the famous classic afternoon tea. The executive chef Schilo van Coevorden has made a special menu for the afternoon coffee, with special coffee-food combinations. The courses are served with one of the most exclusive limited editions of Nespresso coffee, the ‘Hawaii Kona Special Reserve’. The beans for this coffee are grown in very small quantities on the slopes of the volcanoes in Hawaii, and is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Some examples of the combinations; savory scones with tomato jam and Hawaiian Sunset (Grape Fruit, Passion Fruit, Rum and Olive Oil Pearls).
Sleeping in the middle of the nature or high in the trees? That’s possible at hotel ‘Domaine du Tisserand’ in France. The hotel offers accommodation in a bubble. One bubble is placed 5 meters high in the trees and can be zipped open and closed. The other bubble is placed at the ground and is transparent. The bubbles provide a beautiful view of the green area and at night you can see the stars. For outdoors enthusiasts this is a wonderful accommodation. For those who prefer more comfort, the hotel also offers accommodation in suites.
During which period is cep available, can you pick radishes and is mackerel caught? The culinary calendar of Slowfood looks back and forward with an overview of the availability of flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, mushrooms, game and fish. The calendar provides practical information about the location of presence, the taste and how the products can be prepared.
It is so easy to lose track during cooking using text-based recipes. Every time you turn around to cut some meat or add spices you need to search for the next step. Visual recipes are the solution. Visual recipes explain a recipe by images rather than text. You can follow them more easily and it is more enjoyable to look at. You can find more visual recipes at the website of Visually.
The urban farm in Amsterdam-Noord will be a place where you can gather fresh produce and enjoy the green and productive scenery of the countryside in the middle of the city. At the farm products like fresh fruits, vegetables are grown and it will be a place where pigs and chickens are free to roam and graze. A team of 15 enthusiastic students and professionals have started to develop an economically viable business case for the urban farm. Currently, the enthusiasts behind the urban farm are looking for donations.
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