Trends we spotted | Week 32
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, amongst others a link to an video about a watermelon ham, a vegan dish at Duck’s Eatery in New York City and a link to an article about all the National Food Day’s. We don’t celebrate that in the Netherlands and wonder when we will start celebrating these days! But also a link to an article about the new Avo restaurant in London and to an article about Starbucks that launched a 5p cup charge across all British outlets to cut plastic waste. And we’re wondering when we will receive the first ‘Christmas’ dinner offers by mail? Since we have read that Selfridges in London opened their Christmas shop during the last heatwave!
Click on the title if you would to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
Watermelon Ham by Duck’s Eatery
Spotted in a Facebook post from the New York Insider: Watermelon ham! Restaurant Duck’s Eatery in New York City is famous for their smoked meats and they were searching for more vegan options. They created the ‘Watermelon Ham’ by brining a peeled watermelon in salt, coriander, oregano and oakwood ashes. After that process the watermelon is dried and smoked for half a day. Being smoked the ham is basted in olive oil, rosemary and its own juices. One watermelon is for 3 to 5 persons and it must taste smoky, savoury, salty, hot and juicy.
Starbucks launches 5p cup charge across all British outlets to cut plastic waste
All Starbucks outlets in the UK will add 5p to every drink served in a paper cup in a bid to cut down on plastic waste. The move follows a successful three-month trial in London, which saw a remarkable rise in the number of people drinking from reusable cups to avoid the charge.
Funds raised from the initiative will go towards supporting recycling and sustainability efforts with Hubbub, an environmental charity the coffee giant has been collaborating with on the project. The Independent’s Cut the Cup Waste campaign has pushed for businesses and politicians to find solutions to the 2.5 billion disposable cups thrown away in the UK every year.
During the recent heatwave Selfridges in London opened their Christmas (!) shop
It must be a sign, we were just discussing that although Christmas still seems a lot of degrees of Celsius away, time flies. And then this article at the website of Secrets London, about the opening of the Christmas shop at Selfridges of London. We wonder when we will be getting the first Christmas menu’s and offerings by restaurants in our mailboxes! Who is going to be first??
Nobody knows why there’re so many national food holidays
The last couple of weeks we have been writing articles about the National Ice Cream Day (July 15) and there’re many, many more national ‘food’ days in the USA and the United Kingdom. And it works on the social media, this year, by July 20, a search for the hashtag #NationalIceCreamDay revealed 273,330 posts on Instagram according to this article in which you can read some more background. Today, a website that tracks special holidays across the world, the United States is home to at least 210 distinct food holidays. But John-Bryan Hopkins, the writer behind Foodimentary, the calendar Google relies on to create the official-looking banners that appear alongside food holiday searches, says that there are at least 500 of them. Like for example, today August 10th is National S’mores Day. Don’t forget to eat it and check out if you can celebrate one ‘National Day’ in your restaurant.
London gets its own permanent Avocado restaurant
Avocado pop-up goes permanent in London, so now they will get an Avocado restaurant like we have in Amsterdam, The Avocado Show. The Avobar pop-up restaurant has announced it is opening a permanent restaurant in London’s Covent Garden. They only feature avocado based dishes and has been described as “London’s first all-avo casual dining concept”. The new restaurant will be based at 24 Henrietta Street and will have an all avocado menu featuring ‘Avo Bun’ burgers and avocado toast.
Fin Spiteri hosts series of Bar Takeovers at Rochelle Canteen at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
We have been writing about collaborations a lot the last couple of months and a lot of examples come from London. We’re waiting for the first examples in the Netherlands and from other countries. This one is again from Londen. This August Fin Spiteri of Rochelle Canteen at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, will team up with some of his favourite drinking dens from across London, inviting them to join him behind the bar. For the rest of the summer, bartenders from Untitled, Ladies & Gentlemen and Quo Vadis will join Fin under the skylights of the Institute of Contemporary Arts to showcase new and unusual spirits and one-off libations.
7pm, Wednesday 8th August: Mattias Ingelmann from Untitled Bar
7pm, Tuesday 21st August: Shane from Ladies & Gentlemen
7pm, Wednesday 5th September: Quo Vadis
7pm, Wednesday 19th September: Fin Spiteri from Rochelle Canteen at the ICA
Fin’s bar takeovers are non-ticketed, with drinks and snacks available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Another sleep bar in New York | The Dreamery
We wrote about the pop pods in London and Nap New York before. Now sleep deprived New Yorkers can catch a 45 minute nap in an individual sleep pod at The Dreamery by mattress company Casper in SoHo. You have to pay $25 for a 45 minute nap in an individual sleep pod. The mattresses are of course, Casper brand.
There’s a luxury McDonald’s restaurant coming to London this summer
Following the success of its new table service launch, the company is opening its first reservation-only restaurant in the UK this August at their Kensington High Street branch for one day only on 15 August. Guests will be welcomed into the restaurant by a string quartet, before being escorted to the tables inside, where velvet curtains and bejeweled cutlery will await guests. Butlers will serve a choice of burgers – Classic, BBQ or Spicy Signature – under silver cloches. It marks the nationwide roll out of their Signature Collection – a range of premium burgers that feature thicker patties and brioche buns.
This ice cream chain’s Instagrammable desserts are topped with real honeycomb
There’s a SoCal chain called Honeymee that’s making their ice cream visually pop without the need for as much color, and it’s thanks to a special ingredient: organic raw honeycomb. Honeycomb’s naturally perfect geometry and bright yellow hue make it contrast gorgeously with bright white milk ice cream. Read all about it at Foodbeast.
Republic of Booza
From a Facebook video at the Thrillist Food and Drink: Stretchy Ice Cream. The ice cream is sold at The Republic of Booza in New York City but it originates from the Eastern Mediterranean in the 1500s. The traditional booza flavour is qashta. Check out the video!
