Five-star hotel educates local youth
27-11-2013
The Ritz-Carlton is the first five-star hotel at Aruba. Next to the 320 rooms and 450 local jobs the hotel brings education to the island as well. Together with maritime biologist Dr. Richard Murphy from the Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, the hotel developed an innovative environmental curriculum for primary school students. The education modules will be available on the Green Aruba website to learn about the island’s unique environmental assets and how to protect them. The youth is introduced to the ‘Ritz-Calton Succeed Through Service Program’ to enhance their leadership qualities. Though these and other collaborations Prime Minister Mike Eman and Bill Marriott agreed to a long-standing commitment to enriching education on the island and a Green Aruba.
TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten veggies
26-11-2013
TOP Foodlab reintroduces forgotten vegetables through a new product range. With interesting names like ‘witches turnip’, ‘spine pumpkin’ and ‘kidney cabbage’ these vegetables get a second life. The witches turnip is bitter when it’s raw, but sweet if it’s done. The spine pumpkin has a sweet nutmeg-alike taste and the kidney cabbage has a spicy, mustard-alike taste. These old crops are not edible raw but pickled for conservation and consumption.
Update: The article is a hoax by TOP Foodlab. With these ‘forgotten’ vegetables TOP Foodlab wants to raise awareness for the real forgotten vegetables; 40% of the vegetables that are wasted in the entire food chain from producer to consumer.
Disposable tableware at Qbic Hotel London
25-11-2013
Qbic Hotel London will replace all the hotel porcelain by sustainable design disposable tableware. The hotel will use the product lines: Sucadrops (made from sugar cane), Hampi (made of palm leaves) and Aspenware (made of wood). The disposable tableware is part of the products by the Dutch company SD Trading. After using the disposable tableware, it will be composted and spread out over the roof of the hotel. Additional benefits are the decrease of the dishwasher use , which saves energy and reduce of staff costs.
A theater of wines
22-11-2013
A tent at a festival or celebration for wine lovers. Register Viticulturist and Sommelier Barbara Verbeek is the creator of this concept together with Barend Havenaar of Champagnebar.nl. They want to put all your senses to work in their wine theater. Barbara completed the wine academy for viticulturist in 2001. She got her title sommelier and wine and foodpairing expert in 2002 and recently became a Registered Viticulturist. She runs the wine theater events and celebrations at events like Manifesto, Valtifest and “A Day at the Park ‘.
Luminous carpet
21-11-2013
Philips started a partnership with carpet specialist Desso. The companies will develop innovative light-emitting carpets based on LED lighting. It will be possible to integrate LED lighting in surfaces, which also gives the carpet a safety function such as painting out emergency exits and escape routes. The luminous carpet brings atmosphere and inspiration in areas and it will appeal to the senses of people. It is a new innovative way to inform people in areas like offices, hotels and conference centers. Philips and Desso are working on pilot projects, but in 2014 they will introduce the product name.
Ghee Easy
20-11-2013
Ghee-easy makes traditional Indian cleared butter from Holland. In India Ghee is used to bake and fry food. It doesn’t splatter nor burn and has a smooth nut-alike taste. According to the traditional Indian Ayurvedic philosophy, Ghee is healthy, stimulates the digestion and supports the absorption of nutrients.
Baileys Chocolat Luxe cocktails
19-11-2013
The dark days before Chrismas deserve special winter cocktails. Baileys Chocolat Luxe inspired us with three different cocktails. The Rococo serve is created by Bompas & Parr from the U.K. and served in a high glass with ice and raspberry. Liqueur expert Missy Flynn from London came up with the Chocolate Black Forrest (with cherry liqueur) and Chocolate mint (with mint frozen into ice cubes).
Sugar Factory American Brasserie
18-11-2013
Saturday night, 11 PM, New York City. As expected, the bars, restaurants and cafes in the meatpacking district and throughout Manhattan are bursting with people. But what I did find to be unexpected, were the insane crowds at Sugar Factory American Brasserie, I mean eating desserts is not exactly my idea of a crazy night out! The Vegas native restaurant with a focus on sweetness opened in the Meatpacking District April 2013 and has not had a silent moment since! They feature a “normal” menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the crowds get wild for the candy store at the front, the endless desserts and the candy cocktails. We know New Yorkers love places that are new, unique and fill a specialized niche and this is exactly what sugar factory does. Where else would you go for a fishbowl of gummy bear cocktails (or any other cocktail inspired by candy), chocolate fondues with 6 special types of chocolate and 15+ types of dippers or specialty desserts as red velvet pancakes or specialty variations of the classic sundae? If you are planning to visit New York, get on that reservation because they are hard to get and will remain that way for a while I expect!^Leonie van Spronsen
Build your own burger at McDonald’s
18-11-2013
McDonald’s is testing the concept of ‘Build your own burger’ in Laguna Niguel, California. Consumers can make a choice between different toppings and create their own customized burger. The new Dollar Menu gives consumers the opportunity to choose from five types of sandwiches and different sauces and toppings. McDonalds thinks that customization is an opportunity and wants to respond to the shifting eating habits and compete with the other major players in the market. Whether the concept will be implemented is the question.
Elegant bottle packaging transforms into ice bucket
18-11-2013
Veuve Clicquot has introduced a new limited edition packaging. The packaging looks like an elegant bottle sleeve, but can unfold into a functional ice bucket. De packaging has the characteristic yellow and black colors and the inner part consist of a water-resistant coating against leaking. Convenient and stylish!
