Give your guests the choice of the cordial syrups by Agroposta
22-5-2015
Great to serve this summer, a lemonade box with the sachets of Agroposta, like a tea box. 1 sachet + 200 ml of ice water = 1 glass of refreshing lemonade, add some mint leaves … and done!
The cordial syrups
Agroposta cordials are offered in small secure sachets and filled with 32 ml of concentrated syrup with the following flavors:
Refreshing Lemon – created from the lemons grown and handpicked in the Croatian Islands of the Mediterranean.
Sage – a mild, subtle and distinct flavour. It’s made from handpicked sage flowers from the Adriatic coast.
Elderflower – The elderflower lemonade tastes just sweet enough. The aromatic elderberry blossoms is also picked by hand.
Raspberry – this lemonade tastes sweet with a subtle sour undertone. The raspberries are also handpicked in the many forests and mountains in the Balkan region.
Lavender (natural tranquilizer) – The lavender syrup is not too sweet and slightly different. The syrup is made from the ecologically cultivated Lavandula angustifolia plant that is also handpicked.
About Agroposta
Agroposta is a Croatian company founded in 2004 and with a lot of experience in organic farming. The company started in 2011 with the production of the cordials. Agroposta has its own factory in Zagreb, completely designed according to EU standards in terms of food and provisions. The requirements of HACCP are also strictly maintained. Agroposta stands for sustainability, love for the environment and fair trade in all processes and in all products.
Rembrandt ‘The Naked Truth’ during five-course dinner
21-5-2015
The Rembrandt Tower Boardroom and the Rembrandt House Museum are joining forces for a pop-up restaurant. For two weeks, guests can eat between artworks about nude studies by Rembrandt and his colleagues during a five-course dinner at top notch level with breath-taking views of the Dutch capital.
The exhibited etchings are an exclusive preview of the exhibition ‘The Naked Truth’ held in the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam from 12 February until May 14, 2016. Last July we wrote about the first edition, which turned out to be a great success. This second edition from 21 September to Rembrandt’s death anniversary on October 4 will be on the top floor of the famous Amsterdam Rembrandt Tower as well. It’s one of the rare moments when the boardroom opens its doors to the public.
With its special location and excellent service, the Boardroom normally is a popular venue for private business meetings of Top 500 enterprises from the Netherlands and abroad. The 360 degree view from the tallest building in Amsterdam is impressive: on clear days even Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam can be seen.
Repeated due to the large success
What began in 2014 as a one-off initiative is repeated due to the large success. Alexandra Hutter, founder and director of the Rembrandt Tower Boardroom: “The response we received last year during ‘Hemels Rembrandt’ (translated as ‘Heavenly Rembrandt’) were overwhelming. Dutch personalities like Gerdi Verbeet, Eva Jinek and Cornald Maas enjoyed this unique synergy of art and gastronomy, like many others. Due to popular demand and to our great joy we organize a new edition this year. ”
Rembrandt Tower Boardroom supports the Rembrandt House Museum in the purchase of an important work by one of Rembrandt’s pupils, made in the workshop of the museum. This original work is also shown at ‘Hemels Rembrandt’. Rembrandt’s nudes were controversial, because he wanted to create a realistic picture: sagging breasts, folding pockmarked bellies and thighs, he did not hesitate to portray such “flaws.” This horrified fellow artists who prefer to draw graceful, classically proportioned models.
Reservation
Enjoy art and gastronomy in Amsterdam at high level during the Hemels Rembrandt weeks and book from 2 June onwards. Keep in mind that the prices are as exclusive as the event.
Boco – the next step in fine dining for the masses
19-5-2015
Leonie van Spronsen, lives and works in Paris and recently had lunch at boco bistrot where you get food made from recipes by top chefs.
It is an ongoing process, chefs decline Michelin stars, close down their Michelin starred restaurants to start a gastropub like Ron Blaauw, Michelin starred restaurants start selling take-away chicken and what self respecting chef doesn’t have a bistrot or tapas bar next to his restaurant? The fine dining world is becoming more and more accessible for the world to taste.
The French brothers Vincent and Simon Ferniot want to take this to the next level. Boco, a French F&B concept started in Paris, bringing together 8 different chefs that are renowned and celebrated in the culinary world for a fast casual, take away concepts. Every day they sell the favourite dishes of those 8 chefs made after their recipe in beautifully recyclable glass packages. On the display you can see who created the dish next to a full description of the biological ingredients.
Boco creates a culinary experience for everyone, a chance for anyone in the area to improve their daily life with a small look into the kitchen of an awarded chef. And if they want to – they can try a different chef every day of the week.
More information about boco:
Pimento: ginger, chili, lime, tonic, no alcohol and refreshing!
18-5-2015
Pimento – they say you have to take a sip and experience the surprise of ginger and the shock of chili. Pimento is a unique and innovative beverage made in France.
It has a strong taste like an alcoholic drink, yet it contains no alcohol. It is low in sugar, very spicy and full of taste. The chilli peppers come from Jamaica and the ginger from China and Ivory Coast (Africa).
Mixing with Pimento
Plenty of bartenders have created cocktails with Pimento. The recipes are described here.
The main uses are as follows: Neat (on the rocks with lime) / Mixed with fruit juices / Spice Beer (Pimento + beer) / (Virgin) Spicy Mojito (Pimento to replace the sparkling water) / Hot Mule (Pimento + Vodka + lime) / Spicy ‘n’ Stormy (Pimento + dark/spiced rum + lime + Angostura) / Hot Bomb (Jägermeister + Pimento).
The drink seems to be especially delicious mixed with a dark rum and lime. Rums such as Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry, Gosling, Brugal or Kraken are currently very on-trend throughout the world and their flavours are really enhanced when mixed with a good ginger beer. But it’s also a great mixer with Jägermeister, vodka or gin. Pimento is bottled in Saverne (near Strasbourg in eastern France) by La Licorne (Karsbrau – Karlsberg Group), one of the biggest French breweries. Their head office is located in Paris. In the Netherlands the beverage is sold through La Source.
Bonaire’s beer is here: Bonaire Blond!
18-5-2015
Bonaire Blond is island inspired and brewed with ingredients of Bonaire. The pale beer has a fresh hint of lime and an aromatic spiciness from Aloë Vera flowers that grow at the local Onima Aloë Vera Plantation.
Bonaire Blond
Bonaire Blond is an artisanal brewed pale beer with a double fermentation in the brewing process and a third fermentation on the bottle. The pale beer is made from Barley malt only and has a light yellow-gold colour. Bonaire Blond is fresh, tasteful and the only Bonairian pale beer with character. This beer has aged at least four weeks longer than normal, which enhances the flavour in every aspect.
Another great initiative from the owners of Restaurant At Sea
Bonaire Blond is an initiative from the owners of Restaurant At Sea (watch their story here), who thought it was a deficiency that the island did not have its own beer. Consumers responded very positive and therefore, they have decided to sell it at other places as well. The beer is now exclusively available at Jibe City Hang Out Beachbar, Little Havana, La Cantina and Restaurant At Sea.
In 2014 the owners of Restaurant At Sea launched a commercial for their own At Sea Cornetto.
New disposable packaging for wine: the Flex Keg
15-5-2015
The new disposable packaging Flex Keg for wine casks is a durable solution for any caterer. The Zeddams Wijnhuis in the Netherlands has developed a disposable container that is fully recyclable and lightweight.
The market for wine on tap is growing fast in the Netherlands. Until today the draft wines were always delivered in steel casks. According to Eddie Kempers, creator of the new packaging, it is about time for a disposable container that is completely recyclable and lightweight. “Compared to the new Flex Keg, steel casks have the disadvantages of weight, returning for deposit, risk of theft and high CO2 emissions in transport”, he says. “The new Flex Keg was born after two years of intensive research.”
The Flex Keg
The Keg Flex consists of a sturdy cardboard box that contains a plastic vacuum bag of 20 liters. The packaging is entirely made of recycled materials. The Flex Keg weighs only 800 grams and can be folded completely flat after use. The PET upper and lower lid and the plastic bag are recyclable plastic waste and the cardboard is recyclable paper waste. Sales Director Erik Zwart sees tremendous opportunities for the hospitality industry; “The savings on waste is huge, 27 bottles of wine aren’t used instead of the Flex Keg. This has an equivalent of 8 to 10 kilograms of glass waste!”
The wine from the Flex Keg
Zeddams Wijnhuis offers the Flex Keg with a choice of 6 accessible, recognizable wines which they import from Italy and Spain themselves. “In these countries the transport costs are low, which you can see back in the price per liter. The reseller will notice this directly.”, Erik Zwart says. The wine will have the same constant quality in the Flex Keg, there is no chance of oxidation because of the special packaging. The wine will stay perfect for 12 weeks after opening. With the method used you will never taste cork or find other impurities in the wine. In most cases is it possible to connect the Flex Keg to existing beer and wine tap installations, and no CO2 or nitrogen is needed! Zeddams Wijnhuis also supplies dispensing systems that can be tested for a trial period of two weeks.
Project Foodography: plates that guarantee a perfect picture of your food
12-5-2015
We have already written many articles on how to handle the wish of your guests to photograph your dishes. Project Foodography is a concept that is developed around the art of food porn: dishes photographed on specially designed plates. The plates, called ‘The 360’ and ‘The Limbo’, offer ideal conditions to photograph the Michelin cuisine of restaurant Catit in Israël.
A perfect photo
There are quite a lot of solutions for chefs to ensure that the pictures of his or her dishes look as good as possible. In 2014 we wrote about the Dinnercam and the Apicbase.com was introduced in the Netherlands during Chefs®Evolution by Jonnie and Thérèse Boer (from The Librije***) in September. The device offers a chef and his guests the opportunity to make great quality pictures of what they eat and directly place the picture on their social media channels via the APIC device.
Project Foodography does this through special plates which reflect the light better or you can simply rotate the plate. ‘The 360’ plate has a rotating pedestal allowing customers to spin the dishes around and photograph the dish from all angles. The another plate, ‘The Limbo’ is kind of a mini-studio, it has a high back which reflects the light. This Instagram optimization dinner costs 100 pounds per hour (including the meal).
Foodography is a collaboration of restaurant Catit in Tel Aviv and Carmel Winery from Israël. Ceramic design artist Adi Nissani is responsible for the design of the plates. We spotted Moshik Roth, chef from & Samhoud|Places in Amsterdam in the video and we hope that he will introduce the plates in the Netherlands!
The ‘Scoff-ee Cup’ by KFC
7-5-2015
KFC in the UK has unveiled the first edible coffee cup. It’s called the ‘Scoff-ee Cup’. The cups are currently under development but most probably available from this summer onwards.
The ‘Scoff-ee Cup’ is made from biscuit, wrapped in sugar paper and lined with a layer of white chocolate. The chocolate keeps the coffee hot and the cup crispy. The biscuit slowly softens as the chocolate melts which it does in the mouth and not in the hand. The ‘Scoff-ee Cups’ will mark the launch of KFC’s Seattle’s Best Coffee (made from fairtrade Arabica beans) across England. We did spot edible coffee cups before, like the milk & cookie shots by Dominique Ansel.
Food scientist created the ‘Scoff-ee Cup’
Food scientists The Robin Collective created the edible cup in partnership with KFC. The cups are also infused with different scents (Coconut sun cream, freshly cut grass and wild flowers), that are known to improve your mood. And that together with a great coffee, there’s no better way to start your day!
Grandma’s dishes served in pop-up restaurant
4-5-2015
Oma’s (Grandma’s) pop-up restaurant is a restaurant serving traditional Dutch dishes. The dishes are prepared by enthusiastic seniors who still have energy and want to remain active. Benefit: reintegration of elderly and guests can enjoy meatballs, green beans and other traditional Dutch dishes.
Six Commercial Economy students from Hogeschool Rotterdam came up with the idea to establish a pop-up restaurant for seniors. Nowadays the loneliness of seniors is a big social issue and that’s why the students chose to do something about it. The idea is that the seniors will make their traditional meals which will be served in the restaurant.
Grandma’s dishes
Grandma’s soup, meatloaf or stew, who hasn’t got a fond memory of eating that particular great dish from grandma? At Oma’s pop-up in Rotterdam, guests can taste these delicious and traditional Dutch dishes. These dishes were prepared by seniors that mostly cook only for themselves and love to create more social contact this way.
A day full of activities
The seniors will have a day full of activities at the Saturday that they make their dishes. There will be a workshop by a professional chef and in the evening the seniors are preparing the dishes. These dishes will be served in the restaurant and after a nice meal the guests will get the opportunity to visit the kitchen and have a conversation with the seniors. Maybe even swap recipes! The six students are hoping that after this day, the people involved will maintain contact with each other.
Ideal white shirt for restaurants
1-5-2015
A white shirt that can’t be harmed by dirty stains! Really? Elizabeth & Clarke, the producers of ‘The Unstainable™ White Shirt, ensure coffee or red wine stains are history with the shirt. Besides that, it also perfectly fits every (women) body shape.
Every now and then there are some projects on Kickstarter that gain the money needed fast and exceed it by far. The Unstainable™ White Shirt’ is one of those projects. It looks like the ideal shirt to wear when working. Especially when you are clumsy and regularly get stains on your shirt 😉
Made with nanotechnology
Because of the nanotechnology, all kinds of water and oil based products are kept off. Transpiration will even vaporize before it reaches the fibers. Water based products, oil based products and transpiration are easy to wash off.
Elizabeth & Clarke think they have invented an affordable and easily washable shirt, ideal for women. We are very interested in the cleanliness of the shirt in a real restaurant environment.
