Information about pensions at the PensioenCafe
31-10-2013
The Dutch pension fund Hospitality & Catering has noticed that the obligatory pension information sent to the customers is barely read. That’s why they have developed an accessible way to communicate pension information to the customers. The dynamic PensionCafé website contains information and videos to inform employees in the hotel and catering sector about their pension. Relevant information about, for example the influence of divorce and death on the future of their pension is easily accessible at the site.
STIMULI during Dutch Design Week
30-10-2013
As infants, we begin to experience new tastes by exploring our tactical senses. It is, in a sense, our original obsession. As adults, we still have an appetite to trigger those latent senses with fresh and unexpected delights. This desire is the motivation for the STIMULI — a sensory dining experience presented during Dutch Design Week.
STIMULI was brought forth through a cooperation between design studio Jinhyun Jeon, renowned Michelin star restaurant Treeswijkhoeve, and Ravanello Food & Concepts. Connected by their mutual passion for stimulating taste, they created an enhanced dining event: a five-course haute cuisine sensory menu served with tactile tableware — such as silicone ‘nipple’ cups, glazed ball spoons, and spiked tasting palettes — that excite the tongue, trigger taste buds, and alter the perception of salty, acidic, sweet, and bitter tastes for a new experience.
The project focuses on the subject of joint perception — sensorial disturbance inspired by phenomenon of synesthesia. The main objective of the food design experience was to understand how the human brain intuitively responds to different stimuli during eating, and as such contributes to a different way of producing consumer energy. This will provide insights outside of the existing food culture in which societal, technological, and environmental influences play an important role.
Read the full article by Hortense Koster
Naughty Stout dinner beer
30-10-2013
Beer sommelier Fiona de Lange has created a dinner beer together with De Leckere brewery from ‘De Meern’. Stout beer and Barley wine are combined for this special brew. Due to the composition the beer is expected to match great with red meat, game and stewed meat. Earlier this year the beer sommelier developed Royal Beer, especially made for the King.
Great Christmas ornaments for an Italian restaurant
29-10-2013
What could we write about this picture? Isn’t it great to have a Christmas tree full of glitter pizza boxes and pizza slices? Especially in a pizzeria….
Pop-up cheese store Castello
28-10-2013
Cheese brand Castello opened a pop-up store in New Babylon, The Hague. The pop-up store will be open for three months a culinary cheese experience. Consumers can taste forty kinds of cheese with matching wines. The goal is to surprise consumers and to come in contact with the consumers to get their opinion. Chef cook Joop Braakhekke opened the pop-up store and demonstrated the culinary possibilities with Castello. Soon the Castello pop-up store will open in cities like London, Berlin and New York.
Dishes with unusual ingredients
25-10-2013
Members of the New York’s Explorers Club get together once a year at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for a special dinner. During this dinner, the most unusual dishes are served, from tarantulas and mealworms to cows eyes. The chefs of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel transform the most unusual ingredients in culinary art, like a mealworm that suddenly looks a lot tastier. A good example of how insects and other unusual ingredients can be used in the hospitality industry.
Biodegradable champagne packaging
24-10-2013
The French designer Cédric Ragot has designed an innovative packaging for Veuve Clicquot champagne. The packaging is completely biodegradable and made of potatoes and recycled paper. The packaging is elegant and can be carried by the integrated handle. It will keep the bottle of champagne chilled for two hours after it has been in the fridge.
Dyslexic coffee mugs
23-10-2013
Designer Henry Franks has translated his dyslexion into a coffee mug. By designing the ‘Muglexia’ mug literally upside down he has given it an extra dimension.
Trust: Pay as you feel
23-10-2013
A new restaurant concept that focuses on community trust opened in the Albert Cuypstraat in Amsterdam. The ‘Trust’ restaurant brings food, art and pleasure together in an ‘Come as you are, Pay as you feel’ form. The menu is made by Hilary’s Table, the design by Cath Laporte and Alice Spadaro. The concept is inspired by Hugo Leemhuis, Ingrid Helsloot, Joyce Olivier, Maarten Zwemmer, Mariella van Mackelenbergh and Noor Lawant, the restaurant is ‘open unless closed’.
Check-splitter by Google
22-10-2013
A group of Google employees have applied for a patent that describes a process for splitting bill. This application might indicate the development of an app where (restaurant) bills can be divided easily and mobile payments are tracked automatically.
Is this the solution for ‘Going Dutch’ in restaurants, or just an unnecessary gadget?
