Pantone Café: color on the menu
24-8-2015
Inspired by the Pantone colors the Monaco Restaurant Group opened the Pantone Café in Monaco near the Grimaldi Forum, on the 14th of July. The exterior, interior, trays, chairs, napkins, tables and the food, everything has a color code matching the Pantone colors. Color is on the menu here!
Pantone
The Pantone café is inspired by the Pantone color matching system. Lawrence Herbert started in 1963 with the Pantone color systems company and in the meantime the system has become a cult. In 2010 we wrote about the Pantone Hotel in Brussels. And now the Monaco Restaurant Group (they’re the group behind Song Qi, the Beefbar and Le Bouchon in Monaco) realized the Pantone Café.
About the Pantone Café
The café serves sandwiches, salads, ice cream, drinks etc. and every food item is matched with a Pantone color. You can order a chocolate éclair (Decante Chocolate 19-1625) or a prosciutto sandwich (Parma Brown 18-1531), the packaging is tailored to these colors. You can order an Aperol Orange which is served with the colors 17-1464. The Pantone Café is open until 9 September, so if you go to Monaco ……
Great pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pantone-Cafe/1668295040069683
Ripples coffee printer
10-8-2015
With Ripples coffee printer, you can print images and text on cappuccinos or lattes.
Ripples coffee printer makes latte art
The Ripples coffee printer can personalize a cup of coffee. The printer can print messages on the coffee like for example birthday congratulations or your name.
Within 10 seconds
The machine costs about € 915, – and combines 3D printing with an ink-jet system. The ink is made of natural coffee extract and is available in so-called ‘Ripple Pods’. The images can be chosen from the online Ripple library or uploaded via the Ripple app. One print takes about 10 seconds.
Wifi
The Ripples coffee printer has a WiFi connectivity and automatically prints on coffee cups up to 17 cm high and 11 cm in diameter. Printing Latte Art was seen earlier in Taiwan, at the Lets Caffe. However, that system was based on printing with cocoa and was not available to third parties. Additionally Ripples focuses its marketing much more on printing catchy messages rather than portraits alone.
Do you have a secret menu?
23-7-2015
Hot in the USA: secret menu’s at fast food chains. From fast food chain In-N-Out, to Shake Shack to McDonald’s. Why not create your own ‘secret menu’ as a cafeteria or small fast food chain?
Last year I did visit the fast food chain In-N-Out in California, my daughter who worked and lived in New York already heard about their (not-so) secret menu. Recently I saw a video of Anthony Bourdain discussing his appetite for burgers of In-N-Out. This chain has been offering customer-created riffs on the menu which have been passed down through word of mouth since the 1960’s. At their official menu it has just three burgers (a hamburger, cheeseburger, and the ‘double-double’), it’s ‘not-so-secret’ menu adds six more. I tasted the iconic ‘animal style’ burger with a lot of grilled onions and mustard. Did I like it? Well it certainly was the most tasty fast food burger I have eaten on the West Coast. But I didn’t eat many!
How to create a secret menu
The appeal of the secret menu is a delicate matter for restaurants. You can’t promote them because of the fact that it will instantly lose its secrecy factor. It’s a matter of involving your fans and let them spread their favorite ‘secret menu’ through social media and locally through word of mouth. For more information read the article ‘Secret Burger Menus, Explained’ on Eater.
You can even check the secret menu’s at fast food restaurants in your vicinity at the website Secret Menus. At this website I even read that one of the secret menus at In-N-Out is called the ‘Flying Dutchman’. Just two patties and cheese, very trendy without gluten! ^Marjolein
Chizza by KFC in the Philippines
17-7-2015
KFC Chizza (#KFChizza) is KFC Philippines’ newest product. It consists out of chicken fillet topped like a pizza!
Chizza
A combination of two of the most well-loved food in the Philippines chicken and pizza, KFC Chizza features KFC chicken fillet topped with pizza sauce, pepperoni, bell peppers, pineapple tidbits, and melted cheese. A chicken fillet (pizza) crust in style of KFC and the taste and ingredients of pizza all in one.
#KFChizza; Inspiration for your country?
Sometimes you do spot food combinations that make you wonder whether the Dutch would love that! And then we came across this video, an ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken. We prefer a piece of chicken and a slice of old fashioned pizza on the side. KFC in the Netherlands, what do you think?
Playground CS is a pop-up beach opposite to Amsterdam Central Station
10-7-2015
A pop-up beach for young families with children opens opposite to Amsterdam Central Station on 15 July. For six weeks, the former construction site of the North / South metro line will be a pleasant and safe place to play.
Playground CS
The pop-up beach is named ‘Playground CS’ and will be located at the Prins Hendrikkade. The beach will be over 1500 square meters and approximately 250m3 sand is shipped to the spot from the former World Cup beach volleyball court at the Dam square.
Initiative
Playground CS is an initiative of a group of entrepreneurs and is supported by the municipality of Amsterdam. The project is part of the ‘City in Balace’ program, which experiments to find a healthy balance between the growth of Amsterdam and the city life in clever ways. The project is conducted in collaboration with Tosti Creative and Amsterdam Verbindt.
Program
Creative and sporty activities will take place on the beach every day for six weeks starting from 15 July onwards. Children can join activities like jeu des boules, a sand castle contest, child yoga, painting courses or an outdoor movie night. Although the initiative is mainly focused on children, it should be a nice place for parents and local residents as well. Adults can participate in tai chi or yoga classes in the morning, or start their day with a coffee and a newspaper in the sun. Cold drinks and snacks are for sale in a shipping container on the premises. More information about the project and its programming will be available on the Playground CS website.
Co-founder Joost Aartsen (Tosti Creative): “We hope to see five hundred happy faces daily at this exceptional location. It’s great that the municipality supports this initiative and wants to realize the project with ambitious entrepreneurs. The goal of this project is to form an Amsterdam collective to get the city in motion together. Anyone with good ideas is welcome to contribute.”
Magic Placemats, the new coloring
9-7-2015
Pamper your little guests with a magic placemat, a 3D digital coloring picture, and give them a visual experience in your restaurant. They are likely to remain in their seat longer, because seeing your own drawing come to life with the Prismar 3D Studio app is, of course, super cool!
The possibilities of the magic placemats
You can choose from standard magic placemats that can be brought to life in 3D with the Prismar app. The ‘magic drawings’ can be personalized and you can even create your own magic placemats. Photos of the magic personalized placemats can be shared through social media. Great for a ‘Share and Win’ campaign to gather email addresses, likes etc …
Additionally, certainly with older children, the possibility exists that they will be able to concentrate longer…. with the result that the parents can drink an extra glass of wine. It’s an ideal combination of old (coloring) and new (apps). So grandparents can enjoy watching their grandchildren draw a coloring picture and kids can still use their parents’ mobile or iPad!
#Wildplanting By Bram Ladage
7-7-2015
On 26 June, a team of Bram Ladage planted potato plants at several places in the city of Rotterdam. This #wildplanting promotion celebrates the beginning of the potato season. Potatoes plants are planted by end June and the result will be harvested at Saturday, 12 September during ‘The Potato Harvest Day’.
#wildplanten
In their video one of the potato plants is planted at the center spot of ‘The Kuip’ (football stadium of Feyenoord) and the greengrocer Mehmet was surprised. “The potato is a fine Dutch product,” said Rocco Ladage of the company. “With this wild planting promotion we want to draw attention to this wonderful natural product and invite everyone for the Potato Harvest Day.” The promotion can be followed on social media via #wildplanten.
Bram Ladage and storytelling
Bram Ladage uses storystelling to tell the story behind his company and the main product he sells. In The Netherlands we have a lot of snackbars (kind of Chips shops), Bram Ladage owns a lot snack bars in and around Rotterdam. In 2012 they organized a ‘get familiar with the origine of your fries’ day. Anyone interested could join his team at a potato farm in Numansdorp to lift some potatoes. These potatoes were processed into chips on the spot. Bram Ladage also auctioned the first crate of newly harvested potatoes, the revenue of this crate went to the Sophia Children Hospital in Rotterdam. And some golden potatoes were hidden in the field for extra prizes.
Mobile charging stations are becoming increasingly essential ….
29-6-2015
Implug also provides mobile charging points for smaller hospitality companies. A great ‘innovative’ hospitable gesture and certainly an added value for your venue with mobile payments in mind! And besides that, it’s another reason to have a drink at your venue!
I am glad that I will soon get a new phone, the current battery is low within no time! And I am not even a fanatic user of a lot of apps on my phone. The rapidly dying battery has become a well-known social problem that especially affects the younger users up to 35 years. Thankfully more and more mobile charging stations are placed at public places like the library, at airports and railway stations but also in the hospitality industry. And the welcoming gesture remains hospitable even if you let them pay, your guests are already happy that they can stay online!
Mobile charging stations are rapidly evolving
At the end of 2012 we’ve spotted the first charging station for cell phones in the Netherlands at Stravinsky eten & drinken in Hengelo (The Netherlands). Nowadays there are several parties that offer these charging stations like the pillars by Charge to go. These pillars are also equipped with a display to present advertisements to your guests. ^Marjolein van Spronsen
Dominique Ansel opened a new bakery – in Japan!
25-6-2015
Leonie van Spronsen has lived in NYC and became a fan of the bakery of Dominique Ansel. She now follows his Instagram account and loved the communication around the opening of the bakery in Tokyo.
Last Saturday it was finally opening day at the DAB (Dominique Ansel Bakery) in Tokyo, loyal followers of his Instagram account had been prepared for this day a long time and it did not disappoint.
Hospitality, guest experience by Dominique Ansel
Dominique Ansel seems to be one of those rare people that truly understands hospitality. It’s not about just making beautiful products (which he definitely does by the way) but it’s also about guest experience, it’s about appreciating your customers, it’s about interacting with your customers, it’s about creating a brand experience, and boy is he the master of that. See the snapshots of DAB Japan’s opening day on Instagram.
By tracking the opening day like this on Instagram and explaining and sharing his ideas, his vision and his activities, Dominique Ansel is clearly busy building a hospitality empire. And by being such a humble, cool and inspiring person on social media, there is no one in the world you would want to have that empire more than him.
The next step? Maybe return to Europe to turn us into line-loving pastry fans as well? I vote for Paris! Leonie van Spronsen
Start pilot foodtrucks in Amsterdam
24-6-2015
On 29 June, a pilot with foodtrucks starts at 24 locations in Amsterdam. At these locations fifty food-entrepreneurs and their foodtrucks will rotate every half-day.
Foodtrucks in Amsterdam provide ‘Tasty streetfood’
This Monday 29 June the foodtruck pilot ‘Tasty Streetfood’ kicks-off in Amsterdam. At 24 locations in Amsterdam around fifty innovative food-entrepreneurs will sell their food on the streets. The entrepreneurs will change location every several hours taking shifts on the various locations. The city of Amsterdam is the first municipality in the Netherlands that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to provide street food from foodtrucks at various spots in the city, besides the well-known food truck festivals of course.
Selected from 150 entries
Those interested could apply until 12 March and in total the municipality received more than 150 entries. The initiatives were valued based on a points system that valued food (whether organic, locally produced, innovative), innovativeness of the concept and sustainability.
Locations and Streetfood app
Because the food trucks change location between the various designated spots every few hours, a wide range of street food offerings will be available on every location. When drawing up the rotation schedule, the municipality will take the requests from the owners into account as much as possible. Check the locations on this image or maps.amsterdam.nl/markten. Want to know where your favorite foodtruck is located at the moment? Download the Streetfood app via ‘Reizende Sterren’ (Travelling Stars) http://reizendesterren.org/reizendesterren.org/?p=344.
