Decorative ceramics for restaurant
7-11-2014
Gastronomy, art, design and music come together in the whirlwind of enthusiasm that is André Amaro. The Amaro Creative Industries company originated in catering on festivals but expanded into a ‘peerless creative monster’. André Amaro created a unique collection of ceramics in collaboration with Nanda Smits. The Stroomhuis in Eindhoven, studio and residence of André Amaro houses a unique ceramic studio nowadays.
Ceramic worshippers
A part of the collection is (re)produced by a small family owned factory in Portugal. Amaro found this ceramics worshipping family close to his native village. By outsourcing a part of the production the team keeps its hands free for the dev elopement of future products to keep the collection dynamic.
Fennel bottle
The fennel bottle is designed, baked and finished in Eindhoven, can contain 20 cl of liquid and weights 550 grams. A gracious item to serve just that little extra experience at the table. The ceramics collection also includes a kale bowl and a garlic-salt-and-pepper shaker which are great for decoration as well.
Tea Gastronomy – The Dutch School of Tea by Dilmah
30-10-2014
Tea is more than just a popular hot drink – its possibilities are in a constant evolution. You can combine tea with cheese, process it in dishes, cocktails or mocktails.
School of Tea
The Sri Lankan family business Dilmah organized the first Dutch ‘School of Tea’ at the estate ‘Duin & Kruidberg’ in the Netherlands. During the lessons, the visitors were given information about the production process and types of tea (the white-, green-, Oolong and black tea) and the distinction of the teas based on the scent. Of course, the visitors also received detailed information on making a perfect cup of tea and masterclasses were given about pairing tea and food.
Tea & Cheese Pairing by Betty Koster
Betty Koster, cheesemaker and owner of Fromagerie L’Amuse in Amsterdam, lets the audience experience how well tea and cheese go together. She presented cheeses from France, the Netherlands and Italy, which she combined with Natural Jasmine Green Tea and Ceylon Souchong Black Tea. Betty Koster has been experimenting with combining tea and cheese for years, we already wrote about it in 2011.
Tea Gastronomy by Jeroen van Oijen & Hidde de Brabander
During the ‘School of Tea’-program Chef Jeroen Van Oijen showed participants how to make a typical Dutch soup ‘snert’ (kind of pea soup) with Dilmah Ceylon Souchong as ingredient. The smoky taste – that in a normal ‘snert’ comes from the sausage – was in this case replaced by the smoky flavor of the tea. Chef Hidde de Brabander used the tea as sour-substitute in a dessert; sacher biscuit with bitter almond and sour pear. The vinegar was replaced by Japanese ‘yuzu juice’ and the water by a green tea. The dish was combined with a Ginger and Rose black tea.
Tea Mixology by Robert Schinkel & Tess Posthumus
Bartender and tea sommelier Robert Schinkel created – along with award-winning bartender Tess Posthumus – a series of surprising tea cocktails such as Souchong Ceylon with Johnnie Walker, Jasmine Green Tea with tequilla and a cocktail of Earl Grey with Ketel One. As mocktail they presented a mix of French Rose & Vanilla tea with pear juice, ginger and fresh lime.
Dilmah shows the potential of its teas
Recently we wrote about restaurant Vermeer who won the Dutch ticket to the final of the ‘Global Real High Tea Challenge’, organized by Dilmah.
Packaging-free supermarket
19-9-2014
Many initiatives are designed to make supermarkets more sustainable: we have spotted the first dump supermarket in Amsterdam, there is a supermarket chain in Denmark selling local products and we have seen how supermarkets work together with restaurants to reduce their waste.
Bay & Buy
Wim van Dijk hopes to open a new concept through crowdfunding: the first packaging-free supermarket in the Netherlands ‘Bag & Buy’. In this store customers can pick their own products from containers, barrels and jars and can thereby determine the amount they need.
International developments
A comparable initiative can be found in several countries. In Germany packaging-free supermarket ‘Original Unverpackt‘ was funded by crowdfunding as well. The starting capital for this supermarket was collected in one day. Earlier this year ‘Robuust, the zero waste shop’ opened its doors in Antwerp and in France, Spain and Austria are a packaging-free grocery stores as well.
The crowdfunding for the supermarket ‘Bag & Buy’ in the Netherlands starts on 1 October. The crowdfunders also determine the location of this store: “Bag & Buy will open where there is the must enthusiasm” as said by Wim van Dijk. The initiator thinks he will need € 100.000,- to open the grocery store.
Pop-up coffee bar Black Box in Ghent
12-9-2014
Pop-up coffee bar
A work-out followed by an artisanal cup of coffee. This is possible in the pop-up coffee shop Black Box in the Belgian city of Ghent. The specialty coffee bar is located in a garage box of CrossFit Gent, a gym focused on the new form of fitness, CrossFit. As from 4 September Barista Yf Feller serves freshly made coffees, for a month.
Bullet proof coffee
A special coffee on the menu is the ‘bullet proof coffee’. This is a creamy coffee made from butter from grass-fed cows, coconut oil and French coffee, what gives a boost, both physically and mentally.
For people who don’t like coffee, various activities are organized on location as well. For examples, a second-hand clothing market and an indoor picnic.
Pay-as-you-wish
A special aspect of Black Box is that there’s no pricelist available. Guests give a contribution and are allowed to choose what they think is fair to pay. Black Box is an example of a ‘pay as you wish’ concept which we may years ago in Vienna, Der Wiener Deewan. The system from ‘Pay as you wish’ is used for charity as well, like we spotted in 2007 at restaurant Trien in Herpen. Trust is a more recent example that opened in Amsterdam last year.
Food bloggers at restaurant Karakter
12-9-2014
Hand picked oysters from Zeeland in the south of the Netherlands, mussels, scallops, parsnip, mackerel, ‘gortepap’ (kind of porridge) and wines from Dutch wineries. The chefs of restaurant Karakter in Rotterdam, Pety Breugem and Nathan Vermunt, prove that Dutch cuisine taste great with their menu that consists entirely of products from Dutch soil, both the wines and the dishes. Horecatrends was invited to taste the menu, along with a number of food bloggers. Inviting food bloggers for the release of a new menu, is a great idea to generate more attention. If you are reading this and you own a restaurant; have you ever give this idea a thought, instead of or next to your standard advertising? Especially with food bloggers with many local followers, this might be an addition to your marketing strategy.
Bram Kosterink consultant at Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy
FG Shop sells lunchboxes
26-8-2014
Last week we’ve visited the rewarded Michelin star chef François Geurds** because of the launch of the FG Out of the Box Experience and the recently opened FG Shop. The store is part of the former Hofplein station at the end of the new ‘Luchtsingel’, a pedestrian bridge that connects several creative parts of Rotterdam.
CHEF Culinary road trip
6-8-2014
The movie CHEF tell the story about chef cook Carl Casper who resigns at a top restaurant in Los Angeles for a culinary road trip in Miami. To promote the film, that premiers in the Dutch cinemas on 4 September, a CHEF food truck travels through the Netherlands. This truck is co-developed by the creators of the book “Reizende Sterren” a cookbook with the signature dishes of different food trucks. The Cuban sandwiches that the truck serves are based on the sandwich recipe from the film.
#Cheftruck
The foodtruck serves its culinary specialties at the Car Art Festival in Delft (9-10 Aug), Haarlem Jazz & More in Haarlem (13-16 Aug), Magneet Festival in Amsterdam (22-24 Aug), Rrrollend Leiden (Aug 29-30 ), Smaak Karavaan in Tilburg (31 Aug), Vlietdagen Leidschendam-Voorburg (13-14 Sep), and can be tracked online via #ChefTruck #ReizendeSterren.
Instock waste restaurant
1-8-2014
The pop-up waste restaurant Instock is open for a month now and gets positive reviews. The founders, who met at Albert Heijn, put food waste literally on the menu. The cooks in the pop-up restaurant prepare left-overs of the supermarket chain that would otherwise be thrown away. The ingredients depend on the daily harvest and is pciked up at the stores with an electric minibus. Instock is open every weekend for a three-course dinner on Friday and Saturday (17:00 to 23:00) and Sunday brunch (from 10:30 to 17:00).
(Un)avoidable food waste
All the food served is still meets the required quality standards. “You can differentiate between unavoidable and avoidable food waste. Wasting food that is actually no longer consumable is inevitable, but we avoid food waste while it is still suitable for consumption.”
Bacchus Wine festival
30-7-2014
This summer, while the outdoor festivals are sprouting everywere, the Bacchus Wine Festival is definately worth mentioning. At this festival there is room for 250 different types of wines! For this stunning variety of wines the organization works close together with ten well known wine importers from Amsterdam and its surroundings. The festival takes place at the ‘Amsterdamse Bos’ from 5 to 7 September.
The comfort standard at the festival is higher than most outdoor events. With real wine glasses, flushing toilets and several rolling kitchens it should be fine with the luxe experience.
Voldaan Amsterdam
18-7-2014
As an interior designer Matthijs Tukker worked for several hospitality entrepreneurs until November 2012. This was the point where he took the first steps to create a restaurant of his own. Through crowdfunding he was able to collect the necessary investment and ten months after the start, the restaurant opened. “Soup with balls” is the motto of the restaurant that is neatly called ‘Voldaan’ (translated: Satisfied). The products are mostly organic and vegetarian, special attention is paid to people with gluten and / or lactose intolerance and there are no refined sugars in the food.
The interior has a raw and warm look & feel. The open kitchen is the check-out counter at the same time and there are jars for sale with homemade dips, toppings, chutneys and compotes. The restaurant invites to stop over for a healthy bite and quickly and satisfied continue on the road again. See the location here.
