Scandic Hotel in Stockholm revitalizes the Vasateatern theater
23-2-2015
After years of having stood empty the Vasateatern theater in Stockholm will be revived. A vibrant cultural scene for theater and music will become a reality when the theatre is connected with the Scandic Grand Central hotel, along with restaurants and bars it will create a one-of-a-kind hotel. The design for the ‘Vasateatern’ is a cooperation between the leading hotel chain in the Nordic region, Scandic, and the owner of the property, KLP Fastigheter.
The foyer of the theater (from 1890’s) was already part of Scandic Grand Central, but now the whole theater will be back in the spotlight. Guests will be able to step directly from the hotel’s bistro into the historic and beautiful theater, where legendary Swedish actors and actresses have performed.
The plan for the Vasateatern theater
Scandic Central Hotel has already distinguished itself as an ambitious venue for concerts and clubbing. With the theater the hotel will be able to attract a larger audience. The theater will be rented to companies that produce smaller musicals, theater and dance performances. The restoration of the theater takes place under the guidance of antique experts and depending on the length of the renovation, the theatre is expected to reopen in the spring or summer of 2016.
In Amsterdam the Supperclub will settle at the Odeon theater
Recently it has become known that the property of the Odeon theatre in Amsterdam is sold to the Supperclub. The Supperclub is forced to move to a new location after 20 years. The Odeon is a large and impressive building in the heart of Amsterdam with a rich history as amongst others, a former theater, cinema and concert hall. What exactly will be the interpretation remains a surprise but with the Supperclub this is definitely something to look forward to.
Hospitality with a story at PRESSROOM
23-2-2015
PRESSROOM opens her doors in Amsterdam in the spring of 2015. The restaurant is located in the former building of the Dutch newspaper ‘De Tijd’. This was the place where stories arose, were written and were eventually printed in ink. These three themes: ‘time, ink & stories’ play a big part in the story of PRESSROOM and have been decisive for the selection of the staff, the interior and menu.
Hospitality with a story
PRESSROOM started looking for staff with an innovating recruitment campaign. Through this campaign, the restaurant has casted characters based on their personal and unique stories. The recruitment is completed, but they were looking for, among others, the following character’s; ‘The Mastermind’, ‘The Fortune Teller’, ‘The Flavour Maker’ and ‘The Brewer’. If you have to fulfil those functions, you do have to create a story around them. 😉 The interior is also based on a PRESSROOM with classic typewriters, ink bottles of glass and large rolls of printing paper.
All day drink&eat
PRESSROOM has selected an all-day drink&eat menu for every part of the day. Coffees are made with a machine of ‘Van der Westen’, also called ‘the king of the espresso’. With lunch and dinner it is all about sharing. The dinner menu is a combination of international cuisine with local produced products. You can drink a cocktail until late at the Library Lounge or the bar. PRESSROOM lives from early in the morning until late at night because the story must go on…
In Japan the Hen-na hotel will be staffed entirely by robots
9-2-2015
The Hen-na hotel, will be staffed with robot receptionists, porters, cleaners and waitresses. So if you’re interested in robotic service, you will have to wait till this summer to be able to sleep in this hotel.
The Hen-na hotel has a Dutch touch
The Hen-na hotel (which means ‘strange’ in Japanese) is located at the ‘Huis Ten Bosch’ theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki. Check out the above placed video, showing you our Dutch buildings, canals, streets and the replica of the royal palace in The Hague, in Japan!
Staffed entirely by robots
This is how it works – on your arrival, you will be greeted exclusively by a robot, you will hand over your luggage to robotic porters and check in at a front desk, staffed with blinking robots, reported The Japan Times.
The main objective of this technology is to reduce labor costs. Of course the hotel will use the latest in facial recognition technology and allow guests to open their door by simply presenting themselves in front of their room, without a key. The president Hideo Sawada promised the ‘most efficient hotel in the world’ when announcing the new hotel in a news conference. The accommodation at the hotel will cost approximately $60 per night.
We couldn’t find interesting pictures or video’s about the Hen-na hotel yet, except for this one. That’s why we choose to place a video about the ‘Huis Ten Bosch’ theme park in Japan.
Italian restaurant ‘modern style’ in Leiden
9-2-2015
From the walls The Godfather and Berlusconi (in graffiti form) look down on the tables with bright red chairs. Zucca is an Italian restaurant in Leiden (The Netherlands) but slightly different than a more traditional Italian restaurant. But they serve artisanal pizzas and dishes created with real Italian ingredients and love for their origin.
Graffiti as art
The staff wears shirts with ‘I’m Italian, what’s your super power?’ And a classic work of art as the Mona Lisa now wears an eye patch and the Venus by Botticelli wears sunglasses. In short, no classic design for this Italian restaurant but graffiti and a contemporary decor. An artists collective created the artwork on the walls that can best be described as a mix of classic and now, with a big wink. The Madonna by Rafael carries a baby in soccer outfit and Botticelli’s Venus is surrounded by graffiti figures and angels on a Vespa scooter.
Italian restaurant ‘modern style’
The interior may be anything but traditional Italian, their dishes taste like they are served in a trattoria in Italy. The pizza crusts (thin!) are made in a glowing stone oven and their pasta’s, anti pasti and secondi are made from fresh ingredients.
New offshoot
Zucca is part of Witteman Hospitality Management, led by Ruud and son Singha Witteman. They now have six restaurants, five of which are located in Leiden. They are known for their accessible hospitality concepts, aimed at a large audience.
Spin to win
These entrepreneurs continue to innovate. Often by thinking and acting ‘out of the box’. Like everyone who will be eating on a Tuesday or Wednesday at Zucca’s; can give a twist to the ‘O Fortuna Rad’ after checking out. There can earn prizes for their return visit, like a complimentary bottle of wine or even up to 50% off on the next dinner.
Wheelys, a full service café on wheels
5-2-2015
Wheelys is a full service café on wheels. The bike serves coffee, tea, cold drinks, juices, pastries, fruits, salads and sandwiches. Everyone can buy the bike and ride through the city, the only thing that you have to do is to pay a small monthly fee. We wonder how how it is regulated in these countries with the licenses.
Wheelys
There are several advantages of the café on wheels. You will have minimal startup costs, minimal running costs, it is ECO-friendly, healthy and very profitable. With one single Wheelys you can earn up to $700,= in one day. In the first four months that Wheelys has been around they sold more than 30 cafés to more than 10 countries.
The café was founded by Thomas Mazetti, former head of a successful advertising agency. He brought other thought leaders from Scandinavian superbrands like IKEA and H&M in to his team. Together they created Wheelys.
A social dining app: Chattable
4-2-2015
Chattable is a social dining app which brings people together in a whole new way.
Social dining app
With the Chattable-app on your phone you can see which restaurants are affiliated with Chattable anywhere in the world. You can see the affiliated restaurants in the overview screen with the opening hours, type of kitchen and the distance from your current location. You can also see if someone already made a reservation or if there are people waiting in the restaurant. Your table guests will not know your name, your gender and your appearance until they sit down with you at the table.
Chattable restaurants have a special ‘Chat-Table’ reserved for people who are coming alone, and like to eat with company. According to Martin Opdam, cofounder of the app, a lot of the people who eat alone grab their phone, tablet or eat in their hotel room. Millions of people all over the world are eating alone. The app is developed to bring these people together.
Increasing sales for hospitality businesses
The amount of business stays and single person households increases, this makes that more and more people are having dinner alone. Next to this there is an increasing need or face-to-face contact instead of digital contact. Research of The University of Hotel Management Maastricht, commissioned by KHN (Royal Dutch Hospitality Association), shows that the expenditures are higher when people eat together. The restaurant owner has more tables for other guests if he brings the people who are eating alone together, which creates a win-win situation.
The restaurant owner pays a low pay-per-use rate for everyone who sits down and checked in through the app. The margin of the owner remains guaranteed.
The app went live on 12 January 2015.
Hart & Ziel competition
2-2-2015
The Mariënhof in Amersfoort (The Netherlands) challenges start-ups, entrepreneurs, everyone to come up with the ultimate hospitality concept for the conservatory and adjoining terrace. The Hart & Ziel (translated as Heart & Soul) competition is the chance to start your own company at the Mariënhof. A wine tasting concept, a tapas bar, a combination of a book store and coffee company, anything is possible. In the first two year you don’t have to pay the rent and with a starters budget it’s the chance to chase your dreams.
Competition
The competition exists out of three phases. In the first phase of the challenge the participants make a creative concept. The concept has to be a proper description of the idea and must include a moodboard to give the jury a first impression.
At the second phase the best 8 till 10 participants will be chosen. These participants will develop their concept into a complete business plan. The participants are offered two training sessions to support writing a good business plan.
A top three will be chosen from the submitted business plans. These are the three finalists who have the chance to win. At the final day on 15 May 2015, the finalists will pitch their plans for the judges and the audience. The winner will be announced on the same day. The winner will be selected by three parties: the jury, the audience and the opinions of the people of Amersfoort.
Review
For the review of the concept there will be looked at the creativity, the promotional benefits for the Mariënhof, the connection with the core value of the Mariënhof, the addition for the City Amersfoort and the feasibility of the concept.
Location
The conservatory and the terrace of The Mariënhof are at the side entrance near ‘Kleine Haag’. The conservatory is offering approximately 35 seats and the terrace offers around 45 seats, both depending on the concept. The winner can use the wine cellar as well if it fits the concept. The wine cellar could have another 30 seats.
Participation
Anyone can participate from the age of 18. A starter who just came out of school, someone with years (hospitality) experience and a dream, The Mariënhof is open to anyone with a good concept.
By participating in the contest it is important to bring the necessary permits/documents into which are needed to start a business. The winner is expected to provide this by his / herself.
The concept can be submitted until 17:00 on February 6, 2015.
Watt a Hub!
29-1-2015
We Watt is a professional and original charging place for your restaurant. Give your guests the ability to charge their mobile or laptop while cycling and let them do what is good for their health!
In more and more articles we are kindly notified that sitting is the new smoking. We’ll explain what that means later on but in short it means that we have to get moving! As the owner of a restaurant or grand café you can motivate your guests to do so by placing a We Watt table in your company. Your guests can charge their mobile phone or laptop and charge themselves as well while enjoying your coffee or lunch.
Watt a hub in practice
We Watt offers the opportunity to combine to multitask; chat with friends or work while you recharge your device and move! The installations from We Watt are currently mainly found in businesses, public spaces (for example in France at various stations) and in a couple of restaurants. For example in one of the Amsterdam locations of Bagel & Beans, at Schiphol and in the Utrecht Medical Centre (UMC). With the latest version of the ‘Watt a hub’ – table you have a 500W generator, LiFePO4 battery 12.8V 10AH, 4 USB ports (5V) + Qi charging (19V) and your guests are able to set their own resistance. Watch the video of the launch of We Bike at the Belgian company Telenet.
Sitting is the new smoking.
We are already banning smoking from our environment. The new mantra for the next few years will be starting to move. Various studies show that if you as an adult sit more than four hours a day behind a computer screen, you’re 50 percent more likely to get sick. You burn less calories and the blood flow through your body diminishes while sitting behind your desk, which increases the risk of heart disease, vascular disease and diabetes. But apparently, the fact that we get more and more jobs where we sit behind our desks also affects our evolution! It’s recommended to walk when you can, regularly stand up from your chair and now you can also go to a restaurant where you can charge your mobile or laptop while you treat your body to some movement and a lunch!
Dutch food truck special – Fritèz
28-1-2015
The Summer of 2014 was one of thriving food festivals. With several events focused on mobile kitchens and a lot of food trucks on smaller festivals throughout the country, the open air food offer grew tremendously. This was partly due to the efforts of The Food Line-Up, ‘Vleesch Noch Visch’ and ‘Rollende Keukens’.
Dutch food truck in Amsterdam
Recently an article on Dutch news website Nu.nl announced that the municipality of Amsterdam starts with giving out permits for food trucks on the streets of the Dutch capital. A great trigger to start a food truck special at Horecatrends.com and highlight some of the food trucks mentioned in the (Dutch) book ‘Reizende Sterren’ (Travelling Stars).
The food truck you see on this page is called Fritèz – Haute Friture and is owned by Ruben Kruit. This truck offers organic ‘French Fries’. The book ‘Reizende Sterren’ is only available in Dutch. If you want to show your (favorite) food truck at the website please write to tip@spronsen.com. If you’re interested in the Dutch food truck scene we can definitely recommend the annual ‘Rollende Keukens’ event in Amsterdam in May with over a hundred trucks on one location.
Build your own pop-up restaurant
27-1-2015
Soullmate pop up furniture offers every catering entrepreneur or enthusiastic home cook the opportunity to open their own pop-up restaurant for one day or longer. Without having to invest in a kitchen or furniture.
Build your own pop-up restaurant with the Soullmate Event Truck
The trailer of the truck is filled with a complete restaurant for at least 60 people. This consists of seating and a professional outdoor kitchen. The idea behind the seating is based on old fruit boxes, with Sit & Heat, an energy efficient outdoor heater in the form of a cushion providing warmth and comfort. The trailer optionally provides the ability to be used as a stage.
Do you like to show your cooking skills or culinary art to people in other parts of your country? This truck will be easy to use as handy pop-up location! You can quickly calculate how many guests you have to welcome to earn enough: the truck has 60 seats and the rent will be € 1.750,= a day. Great to use at festivals or company parties as well!
