Pop-up winter chalet by York & Albany
18-11-2015
In the cosy courtyard of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant York & Albany, an alpine-style winter chalet is installed. If you’re in London this is a great place to share cocktails and a snack platter.
Pop-up winter chalet
This summer York & Albany brought the beach to downtown London. We wrote about their beach shack where seaweed Martini’s and Bacardi Rum slush in mini buckets and alcoholic popsicles with for example Pimm’s liqueur were served. This winter the beach shack is replaced by a pop-up winter chalet, complete with fairy lights, pine cones, lanterns, blankets to wrap yourself in and an open fire on the terrace. They will be serving a snack platter by chef Will Stanyer, raclette, venison Kromeski and rainbow trout with horseradish mousse, sweet treats like coconut and lychee snowballs and baked Alaska. All accompanied by hot or cold cocktails, including York & Albany’s own Winter Spiced Old Fashioned with home-infused vodka. The chalet is open from 30th October until the 28th of February 2016.
Inspiration
We read about the pop-up winter chalet in an article from The Telegraph about Christmas pop-up restaurants. We don’t have that many pop-up concepts in the Netherlands so we hope this pop-up will be an inspiration. If you check the website of York & Albany you can even find some great cocktail recipes.
#tousaubistrot Parisian hospitality industry reacts to the attacks
17-11-2015
#tousaubistrot by ‘Le Fooding’ is an initiative calling all people in Paris to return to the bistros, brasseries and restaurants tonight (November 17). In order to join in a minute’s silence in memory of the victims. The occasion will be held in their establishments and on their terraces at nine o’clock.
Le Fooding initiates #tousaubistrot
The gourmet magazine ‘le Fooding‘ invites, through social media, all his friends, partners, followers, visitors of Paris and all the french who can afford it to go out for dinner tonight. Besides the minute of silence in memory of the victims of the attacks of last Friday #tousaubistrot also aims to provide help to those working in the hospitality industry. In addition, the founders of ‘Le Fooding’ also want to show that Paris is Paris and it won’t be changed by fear. As one of the cartoonists from Charlie Hebdo so clearly implied in his view of the events of November 13: “Friends from the whole world, thank you for #prayforParis but we do not need more religion. Our faith goes to music! Kisses! Life! Champagne and joy! #Parisisaboutlife. ”
What should a restaurant owner do if there is shooting in the neighbourhood?
Since my daughter lives and works in Paris, I hardly slept the night of 13 November. Luckily she was at home and we soon had contact. However it took a while to locate friends and colleagues. This process was accelerated through WhatsApp and social media. The safety check of Facebook was a great initiative and provided incredible support. Yet the whereabouts of one female colleague remained unclear until three o’clock in the morning. She was visiting a bar that night and the bar owner closed the doors and barricaded them, as soon as they heard that shootings took place in other bistro’s. He tried to protect his guests this way and because her mobile phone was not charged, it was impossible to have contact. I am certain that there are many more stories in which owners of French restaurants have undertaken action or were just unable to do so. What would you do?
The French have a saying that will certainly describe the atmosphere tonight at nine o’clock, ‘Chantons sous les armes’ roughly translated as ‘Lets sing, despite the tears’. We wish all the restaurants, many guests and we will be with them in our thoughts at nine o’clock tonight. ^Marjolein
Dorset’s culinary food plaza along the highway
13-11-2015
A collaboration between AVIA and Willem Dankers’ restaurant Dorset creates a gastronomic experience in their food plaza along the highway, A1 (Lonnekermeer).
The term full service gas station takes on a whole new dimension. Thanks to a unique partnership between AVIA and restaurant Dorset in Borne, a visit to the renewed gas station along the A1 will become a gastronomic experience. Homemade pasta, stewed veal cheeks or fresh baked sourdough bread instead of a simple meatball. Gastronomy along the highway!
Dorset’s culinary food plaza – service, convenience and quality
The renewed AVIA gas station will be reopened by the end of this year. Willem Dankers of restaurant Dorset in Borne was asked to create a new concept regarding the food-related activities. AVIA’s Niek Weghorst: ‘A full service gas station is all about service, convenience and quality. Our customers, no matter how diverse, should experience a moment of rest like at home. In our vision this includes tasty and healthy food.’
Truckers eating stewed veal cheeks?
The concept, a food plaza with a spacious kitchen and a counter with a variety of fresh products, meals, fruits, delicacies and snacks. Both to take with you or eat in, says Willem Dankers: “The concept is based on fresh, healthy products and meals with a lot of variation, taste and of course quality. For example customers can order a fresh, homemade pasta, lasagne, hot chicken, stewed veal cheeks or an organic cappuccino with a warm muffin. Fresh fruit and delicacies. In other words, a complete assortment of food with with plenty of choice with an international look and feel. Of course, everything is top quality, delicious and tasteful.”
All products get a Dorset quality label, the restaurant has recently been awarded a Bib Gourmand, and is listed in the top hundred best restaurants of The Netherlands and a member of the Alliance Gastronomique.
Culinary take-a-way or the classic meatball
Dorset’s food plaza is not only for visitors. Next to the standard assortment, there are also ‘take-a-way’ dishes on the menu. The menu will be updated regularly. “We want to offer as many variation and surprises as possible, in fact the same way we work in our restaurant.” Says Willem Dankers.
Inspiration
An unique collaboration between a gas station and a local restaurant. In 2011 we spotted collaborations between supermarkets and local restaurants in England. Look around in your surroundings with whom you can collaborate and both profit from it!
Traditional French table service at Restaurant Hemingway
11-11-2015
‘Back to the Classics’, restaurant Hemingway from Grand Hotel ‘De Draak’ (the Dragon) is going to implement traditional tableside food preparation for two days this month.
Restaurant Hemingway is part of the oldest hotel and company in the Netherlands, Grand Hotel De Draak in Bergen op Zoom. The team of the restaurant is going to implement traditional French tableside food preparations. Examples of this are flambéing, filleting etcetera at every course of their menu on Thursday the 26th and Friday, the 27th of November.
‘Back to the Classics’ with the traditional French table service style
A French serving style is not very common, but is seen at some exclusive upscale clubs and restaurants. The waiter typically has a fancy cart that carries different types of food for the guests to look over before they decide what they would like. Sometimes this is only done for appetizers or deserts, and sometimes it is done throughout the entire meal.
At restaurant Hemingway one can chose a four course meal with a classic dish at each course. During the evening they will cut smoked salmon, fillet sole at the table, serve chopped sirloin steak with flambéed lardons and they finish with ‘cerises flambées’. There’s a lot of craftsmanship to witness on these evenings in restaurant Hemingway.
The craftsmanship of preparing classic dishes at the table is disappearing
In recent years, more and more restaurants stopped preparing the classic dishes at the table. This is mainly due to the labour intensity but it also isn’t taught anymore at the institutions. The classic tableside preparations are no longer regularly practiced and they seem to disappear due to these causes. Fortunately they are still used with some regularity at high-end restaurants. Often in a fancy way, such as preparing ice cream at the table through nitrogen, or preparing a cocktail at the table or the bar this way.
One will find variations of the classic dishes such as Crêpe Suzette regularly in the top restaurants. Like at Maison Lameloise (***) of chef Éric Pras where they still prepare a delicious Crêpe Suzette at your table.
In the end the traditional French table serving styles guarantee a show and your guest will experience a night out instead of just having dinner! We love to experience it in restaurants and we do wish the guests of restaurant Hemingway lot of fun and the team the best of luck on 26 and 27 November!
Dim Sum Now
11-11-2015
On 4 November Dim Sum Now opened an eatery in Amsterdam, ‘De Pijp’, for eat–in and take-out. Dim sum is part of an international revival, will dim sum also become more popular again in The Netherlands?
Healthy and tasty
After selling dumplings and gyoza at various festivals became a success, the owners of Dim Sum Now felt it was time to take the next step. These entrepreneurs, Guido van der Meijen and Ting Yiu Cheung have found a natural flavour enhancer to use in their dishes. Because of the fact that the food is being steamed, no flavour and nutrients are lost. That’s what makes dim sum so healthy and delicious, and that’s also the reason why it has become increasingly popular. The founders Guido and Tin Yiu see the eatery as an opportunity to make dim sum accessible to everyone. Dim Sum Now is dim sum from now – it’s all in the name.
Dim Sum Now
The counter is filled with steaming steam baskets full of dumplings and gyoza. Each of them served in five different variations with pork-, chicken-, duck-, fish- or a vegetarian filling. Next to that there are specials such as the BBQ Bun, the Lotus Leaf Wrap and sides like edamame and seaweed salad. On the façade of the eatery is displayed in mint green neon letters that they are selling ‘baskets of steamy goodness’. The eatery can be found at the Ferdinand Bolstraat 36 in Amsterdam. In addition, it’s also possible to pick up the dim sum or have it delivered to your home.
Inspiration
Dim sum is currently very popular in cities like London and New York. Top chefs who are inspired by the Asian cuisine are also using the small steamed Chinese snacks in their kitchen regularly. For example, I recently ate delightful dim sum ‘Peking Duck’ at Tim Raue (**) in Berlin. And since you can make almost unlimited variants by using different ingredients and flavours, we expect that dim sum will also become more popular in The Netherlands. ^Marjolein
Ski slope at the Christmas fair
10-11-2015
At Potsdamer Platz in Berlin a ‘Winter’ fair has already opened with a ski slope! Something different than the ‘standard’ skating rink!
Every year more cities are hosting an authentic ‘Christmas or Holiday’ fair at the end of the year. The most beautiful locations for Christmas fairs in the Netherlands are in the South of Limburg (Valkenburg), but also in Leiden where the Christmas fair is located on water… Both with skating rinks, an addition to the winter fun at Christmas fairs.
Dry Ski slope at the Christmas market instead of an ice rink
Last week I spent a couple of days in Berlin were we visited the ‘Winter’ fair at the Potsdamer Platz. They don’t have a skating rink (yet), but one can glide down a ski slope on tires. It is a dry ski slope with some fake snow from which one can glide on snow tires.
In my perception a dry ski slope is much more sustainable than an ice rink! Furthermore, winters are rare therefore children can’t learn how to skate on natural ice, so the group that knows how to skate is getting smaller. ‘Rutschen’ from a slope on a snow tire is a lot easier! ^ Marjolein
If you are looking for more inspiration, check out other Christmas markets all over the world. Fodors collected 10 holiday markets in this article.
Rotterdam ranked 4th place in the top 10 cities by Lonely Planet next year?
9-11-2015
With a lot of new initiatives in town, it wouldn’t surprise us! Like for example RiF010 will open in 2016. The ‘Steigersgracht’ (part of the river De Rotte) in Rotterdam will be separated from the rest of Rotte. The water will be purified and a wave installation will be placed in this part of the river. Several kinds of water sports will be put into practice in RiF010.
RiF010
At the beginning of the new, closed ‘Steigersgracht’ a ‘wave installation’ will be placed. Every 8 to 9 seconds, this installation will push a 1,5 meter high wave through the canal. The waves will make the RiF010, the ideal place for surfers in Rotterdam. Besides being the ideal place for surfers, the clear water makes RiF010 suitable for diving lessons, kayaking, stand up paddle surfing or bodyboarding as well.
The beach house
At the edge of the canal a wooden beach house will be placed. The beach house will offer a beautiful view on the surfers, paddle surfers and divers. Besides the view, it will also provide changing rooms and showers. The beach house will be located between the RiF010 and the actual river De Rotte. The location makes canoe trips on the Rotte through the centre of Rotterdam possible.
Construction and opening
The city initiative got most of the votes from the Rotterdam population last year. At this moment, the promoters of RiF010 are busy planning the entire project. It’s expected to open in 2016 and will be accessible to the public.
Ranking in the top 10 cities by Lonely Planet
We believe that initiatives such as RiF010 will certainly contribute to an even higher ranking in the recently published top 10 cities by Lonely Planet.
Catch your own fish at restaurant chain Zauo
4-11-2015
The chain of Zauo restaurants in Japan serves fresh fish at the next level. Fresher is not possible, since guests can choose to catch their own fish.
Pricing policy at restaurant chain Zauo
It is even cheaper if the visitor catches his or her own fish. For example, the regular price for a red snapper is ¥ 3.360 (€ 25,=), but if the fish is caught by him- or herself, the guest only pays ¥ 2.499 (€ 19,=). The guest benefits in three ways: it is cheaper, it is fun and the fish is as fresh as possible. The fish can be prepared in various ways amongst others as sushi, tempura, pan fried and as soup. Restaurant Zauo has several locations in Japan and is very popular amongst residents and tourists.
The catching process at Zauo
The guest buys the bait at the restaurant at a price range between 100 and ¥ 200 (€ 0,75 and € 1,50) , and the fishing rods can be borrowed. Then you decide which fish you would like to catch and eat. You have to choose among others between sea bream, red snapper, flounder and lobsters. If the guest has problems catching the fish, employees are always willing to give advice. There is no such thing as a ‘catch and release’ here, once the fish is caught, he is bought. If the guest really doesn’t want the fish, the fish can be released for ¥ 200. If the fish is caught, the guest will hand it over to an employee so it can be prepared. Moreover, it can even be prepared in two different ways. If the fish doesn’t bite or if the guest fails in catching the fish, you can order from the menu. However this guest will not receive any discount! For guests who prefer anything but fish, there are alternatives, like fried chicken, chicken meatballs, fries and more.
Inspiration
Of course we are all familiar with the lobster aquariums which are sometimes even filled with fish. Or think about those fish ponds where you go to catch your own fish. They even sometimes have a restaurant located at these ponds where you can have your freshly caught fish prepared. Check out the video above to see the difference with the restaurant chain Zauo.
Joinn! Hotspot for Lounge, Work and Short Stay
30-10-2015
Joinn! in Houten (a city located in the center of the Netherlands) is a new location with flex offices, a lounge & food area and 25 city lofts. The building in which Joinn! is located was empty for more than 5 years and has been transformed from regular offices into a unique hotspot.
Redeveloped into a hotspot
In many cities all over the world, the transformation of old buildings is high on the agenda. The so-called ‘transformations’ also fit into the policy that many municipalities have to deal with in the Netherlands, such as the ‘Ladder of Sustainable Urbanization’. The company Vides, located in Houten, keeps busy with redevelopments. The past two years they have redeveloped the former PTT Post Office and NS Offices in Houten into the hotspot Joinn! The company opens its doors next week and provides workplaces for the self-employed, a lounge (food & drinks) and city lofts (short stay, stay between two nights to one year).
Joinn!
Vidès and De Wit architecten were charged with the redevelopment, involving a creative process at every turn of the conceptual interpretation. In the lounge they will be serving a healthy breakfast with great coffee, yogurt-to-go, fresh smoothies and pastries. For lunch and dinner a lot of local products will be served and during the weekend guests can meet for cocktails, bites and experience live music in the lounge in Joinn!
For the catering section, the beating heart of Joinn!, our consultant Guido Verschoor (Van Spronsen & Partners horeca – advies), has provided support and co-direction during the concept interpretation.
Sharing good moments at Joinn!
The combination of different functions within the building creates flexibility, dynamics and synergy. ‘Sharing good moments’ is their motto. From 6 November 2015 the old building will be bursting with energy and hopefully new connections and inspiring ideas will originate from here! More information on Facebook.
A slumber party at The Mark hotel
27-10-2015
At the 5-star hotel ‘The Mark’ in New York one can book a Slumber Party Suite. The hotel offers extra attention to the children of their guests by providing a sleep-over service and some more child friendly initiatives.
A slumber party for young guests
The Slumber Party Suite in hotel ‘The Mark’ is specifically designed for parents with young children, including their own tepee. Upon arrival at the suite, the children are surprised with chocolate milk, cookies and an in-room family movie.
The Mark Hotel really offers special extras that their young guests will love, and so will their parents. For the very young ones they even have a stroller available, completely in the style of the hotel. Designed in collaboration with stroller manufacturer, Maclaren. They’re ideal for a stroll through Central Park, located nearby. A tour through the ‘Metropolitan Museum of Art’ is organized for children from 10 to 13 years to teach them a bit about the art and culture of the city.
Rumor around the brand
In addition, the hotel has bicycles available designed in the style of the hotel (black and white stripes), including a black helmet and a basket. Do you prefer to stroll through Central Park? You can also enjoy a ‘lunch-to-go’ prepared by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The picnic basket includes luxurious ingredients, a blanket, cutlery and spices. In order not to get lost in New York’s largest park, The Mark also designed a map so guests can easily navigate through Central Park. Four legged friends are welcomed with open arms as well. The dog has receives his own basket of the brand ‘Molly Mutt’ and water bowls with a coaster that is specially designed for the hotel. This creates a ‘slumber party’ including the family dog! All those extras creates a lot of ‘rumor around the brand’.
Inspiration for hoteliers
The service that The Mark Hotel provides is very thorough. However if it inspires another hotel owner to personalize sleeping arrangements for children in a family suite, that would be wonderful. In addition, a family dog getting a warm welcome is quite unusual, especially in large cities. Hotel The Mark has inspired us before in 2013, with a 24/7 shopping service at the luxury department store, Bergdorf Goodman.
