BunnyChow Experience food truck
30-3-2015
BunnyChow Experience
The Bunny Chow is a South African ‘fast food’ dish that originated in the ‘40s. The South African Njabulo Ndlovu gives the Dutch an opportunity to enjoy this delicacy with the ‘BunnyChow Experience’ food truck.
The Bunny Chow
Bunny Chow consists of a hollowed bread stuffed with a filling such as curry. The curry is made by Njabulo with fresh products, the organic bread is made by Bakery Paul Annee.
Bunny Chow’s origin
In the ‘40s a large number of Indians went to live in Durban and roti and curry became very popular in South Africa. The curry was popular because of its taste, but also because it was an affordable dish. The Bunny Chow was a good solution to serve curry as take-away through the back of a restaurant for people who were not allowed to enter during the Apartheid era.
Social
The South African culture is one where food and especially ‘eating together’ is very important. The BunnyChow Experience therefore focuses on both the quality of the food as well as the quality of the experience around it. The slogan ‘Food is a social event!’ underlines the goal of this experience.
The Duchess
27-3-2015
Restaurant ‘The Duchess’ in the former KAS Bank and the new W Amsterdam opens this summer. It’s just a short distance away from the Royal Palace at the Dam square. Founder Yossi Eliyahoo of ‘The Duchess’ calls the restaurant a luxurious retreat in the crowded heart of Amsterdam.
The Kitchen
All the tastes are prepared in a handmade Molteni kitchen. This kitchen has been designed specially for the restaurant. An exclusive table is located in middle of the kitchen, The Duchess Table. The menu is inspired by the tastes that are characteristic for countries such as France and Italy. The restaurant uses products like artichoke, zucchini, lemons, olives, tomatoes, truffles, a variety of seafood, meat and fresh pastas. These are all local products from France and Italy.
The ‘Afternoon Tea’ is an important part of ‘The Duchess’. During this light meal there will be a variety of small pastries and scones served with signature marmalades. Besides that, the restaurant also serves one of its many tea blends and champagnes. Adjusted to the ‘dining experience’, the drink menu consists of different drinks, cocktails and punch.
Interior
Yossi Eliyahoo is inspired by the history of the former bank and combined this with the character of ‘The Duchess’. The interior has been brought into balance with the elegance and refinement of a royal past and with the comfort and intrigues from this time. The hall is decorated with a ceiling that is made of glass surrounded by marble details and handmade floor tiles.
Joint venture ‘World of Food’ a new streetfood food hall in Amsterdam
26-3-2015
Throughout The Netherlands more and more food halls are rapidly created. Recently a joint venture in the Southeast of Amsterdam signed the papers to transform a former parking garage into the ‘World of Food’, a new type of food hall. Dozens of entrepreneurs joined forces and are collectively responsible for both cooking the street food and running the joint project. The ‘World of Food’ opens late May 2015.
Feed your appetite with food search suggestions
25-3-2015
Suggesto.be is based on a simple principle. On this website you have an online overview that makes the menus, dishes, breakfasts and brunches of the affiliated restaurants accessible. Those who fancy a particular dish, can get food search suggestions from the website and find restaurants that match their appetite.
Food search suggestions based on your appetite
Tim Prys, initiator of suggesto.be: “It is more than just an online menu. The suggestions of restaurants you don’t always find online. Those menus become very accessible on my website. Today it is a must to inform people about what you have to offer, without having to consult dozens of individual websites. Currently a large number of restaurants and brasseries in Hasselt are part of my project. However, the intention is to expand to (Belgian) Limburg and Flanders on the short term. The period in which we achieve these objectives depends, of course, on the growth of users.”
Prys is convinced that Suggesto.be has the potential to become an indispensable tool. “The feedback from both the restaurants and the users is very positive.”
Inspiration: we have often indicated the importance of the accessibility of your menu. It seems strange that these are often hidden in PDF format on most restaurant websites. This young Belgian startup puts these data in the spotlight. You can contact Tim Prys through tim.prys@suggesto.be
Going to the loo is a party at the Toilet Xperience!
25-3-2015
At the festival ‘Extrema Outdoor’ visitors can enjoy the ‘Toilet Xperience’ this summer. Going to the bathroom in a small festival village, with the accompanying animation.
Scoop toilet Xperience during the festival Extrema Outdoor
Visitors of Extrema Outdoor (Houthalen (Belgium) from 22 to 24 May 2015), will be able to enjoy the Toilet Xperience. It’s the first festival in the world to host the Toilet Xperience. Visitors will receive a VIP treatment, with the cleanest toilet seats, 3D images in the toilet cubicle, urinals that turn into a video game, so you can play a game with your urine! In addition, you can buy small festival gadgets. All this in an odorless and silent space. Visitors of this festival are the first place to enjoy this Xperience and no longer need to use dirty and smelly rows of toilet booths. After Extrema Outdoor the Toilet Xperience travels around Europe.
Signature cocktails or mocktails, with a spoonful of jam
24-3-2015
Are you already busy determining your terrace menu? Will you serve the popular cocktails and their non-alcoholic alternative, the mocktail? It might just be the 2015 hit, bartenders on the terrace shaking signature cocktails and mocktails. Latest trend in cocktails: serve a spoonful of preserves with your cocktail.
Cocktails and mocktails are hot
This past year we especially noticed a rise in the cocktails with beer in America. But mocktails are on the rise in popularity as wel. Women like to quietly sip on a cocktail and for girls who aren’t allowed any alcohol yet, a mocktail is a delicious and trendy alternative.
Various liquor brands invest in bringing cocktails to the crowd, last year we spotted the cocktail truck from Grey Goose Vodka for example. This is the most intimate cocktail bar in the world on four wheels (a Citroen H van) and part of an advertising campaign.
A cocktail with a spoonful of jam
The jam cocktails are being served in Madame Geneva, one of the most popular cocktail bars of New York City. It’s located in the back of restaurant Saxon + Parole of chef Brad Farmerie. According to the guys behind Tasting Table, the cocktails with jam aren’t even on the menu but they are so popular that the bartenders often make them on request. They are simple to make, vodka, sugar syrup and lime juice with a spoonful of jam to top of it. The jam taste is up to you, ‘choose your own sweetness adventure’. Because of the thicker consistency of the preserves, you’re able to decide whether you want to sip your cocktail quite sweet (keep stirring) or just only dip the jam, making the taste of the vodka more important. Take a look for a recipe by bartender Brett Hughes (working at Madam Geneva) at the website of Tasting Table.
That’s one way to avoid taking the stairs, take the slide!
24-3-2015
Rapidly from the second floor to breakfast? At The RedDot hotel in Taiwan you can take a slide! Hotel guests go back to their childhood, smiling on their way down.
The slide in the RedDot Hotel
General Manager Stephen Wu of the RedDot hotel in Taichung City invented the slide, inspired by the open slides at Google headquarters. Costs: 100,000 US dollars for the 30-meter stainless steel tunnel slide. The slide consists out of 102 stainless steel parts! Watch the video for more great details in the RedDot hotel like the barber chair in the lobby and the neon lights art… Which hotel in The Netherlands is going to install a slide?
Daalder mobile payment app
23-3-2015
The Dutch company Daalder launched its mobile payment Daalder app last week, an independent e-wallet for mobile payments in the Netherlands.
About Daalder
Daalder is an Amsterdam based start-up founded by entrepreneurs Renz Millenaar, Reinhard Spronk and Romke de Vries. Thomas de With, former director of the Global Transaction Bank at Deutsche Bank in the Netherlands is member of the Daalder Advisory Board. Business that are connected through Daalder receive payments via the ‘Daalder Webkassa’ (freely translated as ‘Daalder webbased cash register) which makes payments immediately visible. In addition, it is possible to send live updates and special offers to Daalder users.
Dutch Street Food app
20-3-2015
‘Reizende Sterren’ introduces a street food app for the Netherlands. Soon the food trucks and festivals throughout the Netherlands can be found through the street food app.
The ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ provides an overview of Dutch street food
entrepreneurs, food trucks and other mobile kitchens. The recent pilot with food trucks by the municipality of Amsterdam shows that it’s the perfect timing for such an app. In addition to visibility at festivals and events, users of the app can see where food trucks are located in the city, at designated spots on the street.
The launch of the ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ will take place in May 2015
The street food app for consumers
• Free to download from the App Store (Apple & Android)
• Overview with foodtruck entrepreneurs, product information and their signature dishes
• Push notifications of promotions, recipes and tickets
• Current events calendar
• Information about festivals, markets, events, parties, permanent pitches
• Real-time locator with GPS
• Link with social media
• Consumers rating system
Statistics Data
With a consumer rating system within the app, it is possible to collect valuable data about consumer behaviour and appreciation that can help in the development of street food in the Netherlands. The street food app will collect data from every festival / event / food truck and ‘Reizende Sterren’ will provide an annual (public) overview of relevant information via an online analysis map.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop
20-3-2015
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop is a unique store in downtown Amsterdam. In the shop you can find pancakes and Belgian waffles made from certified organic ingredients that are freshly cooked.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop: Shop with breakfast bar
In the shop they make good old-fashioned Dutch pancakes and Belgian waffles with delicious fillings and toppings. The focus is on certified organic ingredients. Cooks prepare your dish right in front of you. Besides the pancakes and waffles they also serve organic coffee, tea, chai latte, hot chocolate and fresh orange juice. They have a breakfast bar, and if the weather is nice, you can sit on one of the benches outside. Of course you can also have your pancake for take-away as well. In the shop you will find organic snacks, drinks, coffee, honey and chocolate.
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop in Amsterdam
Andrea Steinmetz, owner of The Happy Pig Shop, at the Rosmarijnsteeg in Amsterdam, notes that it is very busy since the shop opened in October last year. She has especially noticed that reviews on TripAdvisor have much effect on the people coming in. On her website she placed a prominent button from TripAdvisor:
Bravo: The Happy Pig Pancake Shop Amsterdam rated “excellent” by 25 travelers.
Our colleague Armand Sol experienced the influence of TripAdvisor himself recently, he wrote a blog about it (in Dutch). Inspiration: Is your business established in an environment where international guests pay a visit, ensure that are good reviews on TripAdvisor. A friendly request for a review can provide new guests though this channel.
(c) Marloes van Doorn
(c) Marloes van Doorn
(c) Charlie Wessels
(c) Marloes van Doorn
