Trends we spotted | Week 38
25-9-2023
At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With links this week to articles including an initiative by DoubleTree by Hilton in Amsterdam that allows people to give away 100 litres of water per hotel stay. They have also used advanced Orbisk technology, powered by AI, to reduce thousands of kilos of food waste.
For the first time, there is now also a list of ‘The World’s 50 Best Hotels’ and Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel is launching a ‘Gouden Brood’ beer, a sustainable beer concept made from leftover bread from their kitchens.
Bijou Patisserie in Dubai is serving ‘Le Goûter Vault’: high tea from a jewellery vault. And in Venlo, the Daily Trade Fair Venlo has opened, over 15,000 square metres of exhibition floor with showrooms and a culinary stage!
McDonald’s Japan has added ‘Shrimp Nuggets’ to its menu, we think that many people in the Netherlands would like this menu item as well! At the Horecava, you can check out the pop-up of BUNKR, the first AI-controlled restaurant in the Netherlands.
New owner for tea and spice shop ‘De Droom van Utrecht’. It’s the fourth business of Dineke and Marc van Bommel now. They operate two Betjeman & Barton shops selling tea (accessories), crockery and delicacies in The Hague and one in Amsterdam.
And on Instagram, we came across a cool way to serve burrata – a burrata bar!
Rose & Vanilla | 200% crowdfunding for organic cakes without milk & gluten
21-9-2023
Rose & Vanilla, a Dutch patisserie that makes delicious, organic cakes without milk and gluten, has raised €300,000 with its crowdfunding through the platform CrowdAboutNow! This has reached the maximum 200% of the targeted loan.
Rose & Vanilla’s cakes are already being served at some restaurants and it is obviously a great and of course easy dessert to serve! One of our colleagues, Robin has been diagnosed with quite a few intolerances a few months ago; she writes blogs about her experiences in the hospitality industry. These are published on the Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy website. She is very happy with these kind of developments!
Trends we spotted | Week 36
12-9-2023
At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about among others FoodGPT by AI Palette in Singapore, a one-of-a-kind generative AI tool, tailored explicitly for the complex F&B landscape. And an initiative to help revitalize historic downtowns and creating the American Dream for owning your own business: Own Your Own.
At BotBar Coffee in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, robot Adam serves the coffee! And in the Netherlands and Belgium the wines are of very good quality, 35 gold medals at the Wine Inspection of the Low Lands.
Chef Jonnie Boer of the Dutch restaurant De Librije (***) is the new ambassador of Urban Cultivator. They recently introduced ‘Librije Backstage’ and vertical farming by Urban Cultivator. And spotted in Paris, the GalBar. A crêpes and galette bar, which they serve in a scone.
Belgian startup Dripl raised 2.15 million euros of growth capital to accelerate their refillution. Their self-developed Refill Points have been offering a healthy alternative to soft drinks since 2021 and help companies reduce their waste and footprint.
During the renovation of restaurant RIJKS® in the Rijks museum in Amsterdam, you can enjoy the skills of their chefs at the RIJKS® pop-up on the Zuidas. And chef Guillaume de Beer opened Bar Gui in Amsterdam, his dishes look delicious!
Shichiken sparkling sake | The alternative to champagne during the holiday season
8-9-2023
As the holiday season approach, the Japanese sake brewery Shichiken is, in collaboration with Belgian importer Kaori, bringing a sparkling surprise: ‘sparkling sake’. Sparkling sake has been appreciated in Japan for some time, but is still relatively unknown in our country. This refined and tempting alternative to champagne is increasingly being put on the menu by sommeliers of gastronomic restaurants and is rapidly gaining popularity. You can already find this Shichiken sake in many fine dining restaurants, but also in the Kaori webshop.
Latin American restaurant Selva opens on the 24th floor of the nhow Amsterdam RAI hotel
8-9-2023
Opening – A charming journey through the Amazon rainforest, this is what restaurant Selva offers. Amsterdam’s newest culinary delight opened its doors on the 24th floor of the iconic design hotel nhow Amsterdam RAI. This culinary destination is an ode to the rainforest – the lungs of the earth – and a creative fusion of Minor Hotels and Younique Concepts.
Trends we spotted | Week 32
11-8-2023
At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles including a couple of them on reservation fees at restaurants in the hope that this will reduce the number of no-shows. In New York, more and more restaurants are turning to this system. Leonie van Spronsen recently wrote a blog about this subject. It’s kind of a double standard that lots of guests don’t want to pay a restaurant fee while we pay, without any problem, in advance for tickets to Taylor Swift.
A unique combination; a Latin-American fine-dining experience on a London train, the Supperclub.Tube. Also in London: the Vagabond’s Wine Bars where you can choose from as many as 140 varieties of wines!
Aperol sorbet floating in prosecco, sounds delicious! It’s served at Il Terrazzo in department store Nordstrom in NYC. The sorbet is made by il Laboratorio del Gelato. And also in NYC – the hottest new sushi bar is hidden in The Vault of Saks Fifth Avenue. Great idea, an omakase inside a small corner of a retail outlet?
A touring mini club, Fandangoe Discoteca invites people to dance out their grief! Created by artist Annie Frost Nicholson and it will come to the Netherlands as well. And International Hotel Capital Partners is the new owner of Hilton Garden Inn Leiden Hotel.
Located 4.5 hours from NYC, in Watkins Glen, is the world’s smallest diner, which is also appropriately named ‘World’s Smallest Diner’. And we read about an Instant Noodle Factory in Queens, they serve 88 different instant noodles options with 30 different toppings.
The popular experience, Dining in the Dark, is returning to Amsterdam on August 31, this time it takes place at the NOMAD aan het IJ. And we love the design of the Costa Rican Suitree Experience Hotel with treehouse style rooms.
Paying in advance for Taylor Swift, not for your restaurant reservation
11-8-2023
Leonie van Spronsen blogs about how we find paying in advance completely normal (a year in advance!) for a ticket for Taylor Swift and prefer not to do so for a restaurant reservation.
This blog was previously published in Dutch at the website of Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy.
Tempo by Hilton Times Square has opened as part of TSX Broadway
10-8-2023
Hilton recently (August 8) announced the opening of the 661-room Tempo by Hilton Times Square, the first hotel from Hilton’s newest stylish and contemporary lifestyle brand. Located in TSX Broadway, a new 46-story tower featuring experiential retail, cutting-edge entertainment spaces and the historic Palace Theatre, the hotel matches the ever-evolving needs of the traveler whose ambitious spirit calls for both moments of relaxation and inspiration.
They have some special rooms like their ‘Wellness’ rooms including sports equipment but for the romantics among us: they also have 31 ‘ball drop rooms’ for New Year’s Eve!
4 minutes read
Trends we spotted | Week 31
7-8-2023
At horecatrends.com we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
With this week links to articles about among others a collaboration fit for a king by Sorted Food and The Earthshot Prize. And Vignerons du Terroir, the champaign tasting, will be held in the beautiful ConcertLab in the Dutch city Utrecht on October 1.
KFC Canada bids final farewell to its bland old fries with a fry funeral and funeral procession and McDonald’s in the USA has announced a new spinoff restaurant called ‘CosMc’s’.
Mel’s in NYC is officially kicking off their F.O.M.O (Friends Of Mel’s Oven) Pizza Series with limited-edition pizzas created by chefs Daniel Boulud, Gabriel Kreuther, Jean-Georges, and Junghyun Park. Although we have seen more of these kinds of collabs, we love them!
A colleague spotted the Dorian Speakeasy in The Hague on Instagram (see the post by Food Queen) and it’s high on her ‘go-to list’. More details in the link in this article. And South Korean brand LOTTE Hotels & Resorts opened the first overseas hotel in Vietnam.
Chick-fil-A has just announced the construction of the first 75-car drive-thru in Atlanta. According to the company’s Twitter, the concept features a four-lane drive-thru that’s split into two sets.
ICE! at Gaylord Hotels returns for the 2023 Holiday Season
31-7-2023
Gaylord Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s extraordinary portfolio of 31 hotel brands, last week announced the return of its iconic ICE! event for the 2023 holiday season. ICE! At Gaylord Hotels – more than 2 million pounds of ice at each of the brand’s five resorts transform into colorful, larger-than-life, story-driven holiday showplaces featuring characters and scenes from beloved Christmas classics. It is all part of the brand’s So. Much. Christmas. extravaganza, featuring dozens of holiday activities, entertainment, unique dining experiences, and more.
With the start of August and a real autumnal summer week here in the Netherlands, we love to publish the first article for the Holiday Season!
