Street Food petition
11-12-2013
In cities like New York and Bangkok diverse streetfood is commonly. The Netherlands lack a diverse streetfood offer. There is a law introduced in the ’30s that demands permets for streetfood. The permits are mainly provided to hotdog stands, deepfried dough during winter months and ice cream stands. At the moment the waiting list for permits is as long as thirty years for popular places like the Vondelpark. With the Streetfood petition initiator Steff Veldkamp from Vleesch noch Visch wants to put this issue on the political agenda and underline the fact that nowadays’ foodtrucks can be equipped like regular professional restaurant kitchens.
Christmas pop-up
10-12-2013
This recent year we have seen more and more pop-up stores that have made it go from hot to mainstream. Empty retail spaces fill up temporarily with stores or hospitality formulas. We also saw hotel lobbies that supported diverse pop-up formulas. So why not a pop-up Christmas store or Christmas village in your lobby? Why doesn’t your hotel collaborate with the local gardening center? They usually offer the most beautiful arrangements for the holidays and can use some extra exposure! Think of those beautiful snowy Christmas settings as in the picture that mesmerize your junior guests. This creates a win-win situation as you have great decoration and it will encourage guests to stay just a little longer, buy an extra cup of coffee. The first hotel that creates a collaboration like this will definitely earn a mention on horecatrends.com. Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Edible Christmas creations at Mandarin Oriental
9-12-2013
The Mandarin Cake Shop opened its doors in the 1970s and since 1987 Yves Matthey is the Executive Pastry Chef of this beautiful treat shop at the Mandarin Oriental. The signature items of The Mandarin Cake Shop include the cheesecake, the chocolate truffle cake, home-made XO sauce and rose petal jam, of which the recipe stays a mystery. There are beautiful (Christmas) cakes and pies for sale in the shop.
Healthy pizza with seaweed
6-12-2013
Company ‘Eat Healthy’ has introduced a healthy variation of the pizza. This frozen pizza is now available in England and Wales. This pizza is low in fat and sodium with a lot of vitamin and mineral rich ingredients. The pizza has toppings like mozzarella, cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, red pepper and garlic powder. To make the pizza healthier the company added a secret ingredient: seaweed. The seaweed is the healthy alternative to salt. According to the company you don’t taste the seaweed because the flavors of the other toppings will dominate. An average frozen pizza contains 300 calories and 13 grams of fat, the pizza of ‘Eat Healthy’ contains 172 calories and 5.3 grams of fat.
Christmas gestures Artbazaar
5-12-2013
Culinary creations made by Monique van der Meijden of ArtBazaar. In her atelier she creates rocks and trays out of oysters and scallops shells. Restaurant “de Compagnon” in Amsterdam displays her largest rock. Need more inspiration for Christmas? Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Cookbook restaurant Bord’Eau available via an app
5-12-2013
Years ago Ferran Adrià was one of the first chefs who released a cookbook with background stories about cooking at elBulli with pictures of the dishes. The recipes were included on a CD. These types of cookbooks we have seen more often in recent years. Nowadays we see more and more chefs releasing an app with dishes and background stories instead of a cookbook. Recently Richard van Oostbrugge, chef cook of the two Michelin starred restaurant Bord’Eau launched an app. Through the app you can see 14 digitally recorded preparations of his favorite creations. Besides the ingredients and the preparation, the lay-out of the plates is filmed from above which gives an inspiring look into the kitchen of the restaurant. The app is available for iPads with an iOS6 or higher.
Game cafe in New York
3-12-2013
A crowdfunding game café initiative in Manhattan was funded by 188 people this October. For $8.700,- the game café ‘The Uncommons’ was created in the Big Apple. In the café-toy shop- coffee house guests can play a wide range of board games for $5,- a day. The shop sells a range of (warm) alcohol free drinks, pastries and sandwiches. A six months membership ($150,-) will provide you with privileges like a 10% discount for all in-store items, possibility to reserve a table and includes the rental fee.
Christmas gestures
2-12-2013
Recently the Dutch paper ‘NRC Handelsblad’ published an article about what makes people happy. The writer, psychologist Sonja Lyumbomirsky gives as point number 1 that money can make happy sometimes, but focus on buying experiences (vacations, food and courses) rather than things. Things will get old quicker and are easier to compare to things of others or newer versions that come out later, this leads to more disappointments. This gives precisely the importance of hospitality, a good experience in a restaurant, bar or hotel contributes to the happiness of guests. As restaurant owner, you and your team contribute to creating a memory, especially with the holidays! The season makes it simples to create lasting experiences because your guests will already be in a merry mood and this can only be strengthened by dishes, decorations and hospitable gestures. This booklet will contain more photos than you are used to, but the images speak for themselves. Beautiful, simple examples of easily usable Christmas gestures. Download ‘Christmas gestures’ here.
Hotel offers Bike Butler service
2-12-2013
The Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver offers their members of the Fairmont Presindent’s Bluc an exclusive Bike Butler service. With this service, hotel guests can explore the environment in an ecofriendly way. The hotel rents out 20 bikes, for free, and the bike concierge Marc Henley prepares the bikes and fixes accessories such as helmets, locks, water bottles and maps. Marc Henley has 20 years experience of cycling in Canada and can provide the best cycling routes and tips.
Christmas tree illuminated by sprouts
2-12-2013
Sprouts aren’t exactly beloved vegetables amongst children. The London Southbank Center shows the hidden powers of sprouts, making the vegetables became a lot more attractive. The battery system of five power cells with each 200 sprouts creates a chemical reaction by using the natural electrolytes from the sprouts to power lights in a Christmas tree. The initiators expect that the 1000 sprouts will lighten the tree for a month, after which they are replaced to keep the tree illuminated throughout the holiday season. Other types of fruits and vegetables can also be used in the battery system. The vegetable-powered battery was created by scientists from The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair.
