Croquette made of Shiitake mushrooms
3-12-2015
A croquette with Shiitake mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms are healthy, delicious and a good substitute for meat. FungiFuturi grows delicious and super nutritious mushrooms in the cellar of an abandoned office building in Eindhoven. They are crowdfunding an innovative snack line of mushrooms. The first product of the line is the shiitake croquette, they presented these croquettes during the Dutch Design Week last October. The video above is about the shiitake croquette, with still 12 days to go, the project has already been funded for 144%.
Shiitake mushrooms fresh from the city farm for mushrooms
The founder of the city farm for mushrooms is Doreen Westphal. She is a designer and founder of ‘Mensch Made’. Doreen has a mission: to produce nutritious food without further exhausting of the earth. Mushrooms are tasty, healthy and contribute to the ‘circular economy’ involving the maximum reuse of raw materials without impairment loss. Doreen: “Mushrooms are my great passion. That is why I founded the city farm for mushrooms in Eindhoven in May 2015 and called it: FungiFuturi.”
DWDD pop-up restaurant
3-12-2015
Yesterday was the official opening of the DWDD pop-up restaurant and the presentation of the accompanying cookbook ‘DWDD cooks with Kranenborg’. Horecatrends attended the presentation and took the following pictures of the presentation, food and restaurant.
DWDD pop-up restaurant
Right in front of the studio of the successful Dutch TV-show ‘De Wereld Draait Door’ (The World Keeps Turning), on the Westergasterrein in Amsterdam, the DWDD pop-up-restaurant is now officially open. The pop-up restaurant is in cooperation with famous Dutch chef Robert Kranenborg. During the next three weeks a five course dinner will be served here for € 79,95. The profit of this project will be donated to the ‘Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Foundation’. On the menu is a selection of forgotten classics that were discussed at the TV-show DWDD in the last four years. Chef Robert Kranenborg is a regular guest who presented, almost forgotten, classical dishes in cooperation with famous chefs from The Netherlands, Belgium and France. Guests can choose between three main courses during their lunch or dinner.
I already tasted a few dishes during the opening and really enjoyed the bastilla with pigeon and the cervelas de fruits de mer (sausage made of fish and seafood).
DWDD cooks with Kranenborg
Do you prefer to cook at home? The cookbook ‘DWDD cooks with Kranenborg’ will be available (€ 24,99) starting today, unfortunately only in Dutch. The cookbook contains all the recipes that Robert Kranenborg presented in the ‘De Wereld Draait Door’. Like Matthijs van Nieuwkerk said, ‘a history book and a cookbook’. The book, in honour of DWDD’s 10 year anniversary, contains exclusive ‘forgotten’ dishes like grilled woodcock, haggis and timpano. Including an easier recipe to prepare at home. ^Bram Kosterink
Process wine into…
1-12-2015
Bram Kosterink likes to drink or serve a fine wine! In this article he will give a few examples of how wine is used in an entirely different manner. He writes about Pinot Noir Sea Salt and Wine Ice Tea.
The fact that wine and the hospitality industry are friends is well known! Processing wine and using or selling it as an entirely different product is not well-known. In what ways can you use wine other than to support a dish or to use it in sauces? For inspiration he collected some examples:
Process wine into Pinot Noir Sea Salt
Prepare your own sea salt with the taste and colour of Pinot Noir. Creating your own Pinot Noir sea salt is easier than baking an egg. Use 5 till 10 ml Pinot Noir for every 50 grams of coarse sea salt. Let the Pinot Noir reduce to a syrup (will take about 15 to 20 minutes). Add the salt to the wine once it’s reduced, blend it well with a spatula and let it dry on a plate for at least 12 hours. The result: Your own Pinot Noir Salt! The salt tastes great on a sirloin or tenderloin! Read Brain Sullivan’s article in The Huffington Post for more details.
Tip: Prepare the sea salt with the same bottle of Pinot Noir you’ll serve during dinner.
Process wine into Wine Iced Tea
An iced tea made of wine grapes. The tealeaves are completely replaced by freshly harvested grape skins which gives the tea the sophisticated taste of wine. The Wine Iced Tea is available in the flavours Chardonnay, Cabernet or Pinot Noir. Each iced tea has its own ideal ‘wine’–food combination. For example, the Chardonnay goes great with salads and white meat. The Cabernet does taste great with hard cheeses, pâtés and stews and the Pinot Noir is perfect with baked salmon, lobster and paella’s. The iced tea doesn’t contain any alcohol, which makes it child friendly.
Tip: It would be nice to serve parents a real glass of wine, and their kids a Wine Iced Tea!
Other examples of products that relate to wine are The Real Wine Gum and Writing with wine.
Zorri Cress
30-11-2015
Koppert Cress introduces a new cress, the Zorri Cress. Healthy, tasteful and beautiful in compositions on the plate.
The Zorri Cress
On a regular basis Koppert Cress introduces a new cress, this time the Zorri Cress. Zorri Cress is the sprout of the Nasturtium. This is a spicy decorative plant which has been growing in our gardens for centuries. The plant originates from the Andes and arrived in Europe in the sixteenth century via Peru. The leaf is shaped like a shield, and the spicy taste of the product combines well with refreshing dishes both warm and cold. Zorri Cress is available year round. The optimum temperature at which the quality is the best maintained, is between 2 and 4 ° C.
Besides the cresses Koppert Cress regularly introduces flowers that can be used in the kitchen, such as the BlinQ Blossom® in 2013. With the introduction of the BlinQ Blossem® the focus was still on storytelling around the product. Nowadays the cresses of Koppert Cress are so popular with chefs that a single introduction of the cress is sufficient.
Meals That Get You Laid
27-11-2015
A cookbook as inspiration for restaurants. Not only because of the recipes, but due to the idea behind it. Meals That Get You Laid, in the Netherlands awarded with the title ‘best gift for men in 2015’. Unfortunately so far only available in Dutch.
Meals That Get You Laid
Writing about a cookbook isn’t something we often do, but the idea behind this cookbook could well inspire a number of hospitality entrepreneurs to offer dishes with a sexual, humorous touch. Meals That Get You Laid, a manual in the style of a cookbook, describing all the tricks to make a woman completely defenceless. Explaining the combination of the right ingredients, atmosphere, music, and beverage choices. One of the writers is working in the hospitality business, it is therefore most likely that this theme will get attention in the hospitality industry as well.
What can a man learn from it?
According to the writers, the man will learn how to seduce a woman with the use of astrology presented over 12 different chapters. They indicate that astrology is total nonsense, but they are convinced that women believe in astrology. Who are these writers/friends? The compilers of the book are a photographer, a graphic designer, an architect, an advertising executive and an hospitality entrepreneur who regularly come together to go through things in life. Of course also to eat and drink. The cookbook with beautiful pictures made by Jaap Vliegenthart, contains 12 chapters. One for each zodiac sign. Each chapter has a starter, main course and dessert and a wine suggestion for every dish, focusing on the characteristics of the star in question. The dishes are easy to make, but look amazing. The book is full of tips and tricks to make good use of the characteristics of the particular lady. Such as a playlist at the end of each chapter, for maximum impact. Of course there are shopping lists, anything to make it as easy as possible.
The first edition was funded by crowdfunding. The book is published by the friends themselves. Their website has been transformed to the webshop, to order the book. A book with a sexy trailer.
Experience retail
25-11-2015
Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters is getting more and more into the ‘experience retail’ with the acquisition of Philadelphia-based Vetri Family restaurant group.
Experience retail
As the writer of the article at Eater.com states: “Experience retail” swaps dinner-and-a-show for dinner-and-some-shopping. As a mother of a daughter who loves to shop at Urban Outfitters, I have to admit that it would be great to be able to say; “take your time while you’re shopping, I will be at the restaurant or at the nail studio”. Imagine all that within one shop.
As a response on their stock decline of 6,94% over the past three months they started as a clothing and home goods retailer. It expanded into a more general lifestyle arena, with concept stores including in-house nail bars and performance stages as well as restaurants from great American chefs, like Marc Vetri, Michael Symon and Ilan hall since spring 2014. In April 2014 Space Ninety 8 opened, the Williamsburg Urban Outfitters concept store that includes an auxiliary branche of The Gorbals, the restaurant of Ilan Hall’s.
Urban Outfitters has been experimenting with the ‘experience retail’ since 2008, at that moment their store in Los Angeles, Space 15 Twenty, including a nail art studio, a skateboard shop, a performance stage and an Umami Burger outpost.
Read the full article on Eater if you want to know more.
Inspiration
Is co-creating an experience with local restaurants, a benefit your shoppers can’t buy with a click on their mouse? Is it perhaps one of the answers to the growing e-retail business? In the Netherlands we currently have multiple chefs who fit the current retail concepts. However if we change it around and imagine that restaurant chains start selling clothing or other goods via shop-in-shop formulas is prohibited according to the Dutch government. With all the current developments in today’s world it is necessary to review the legislation as a response to the competition of the retail with respect to the hospitality industry. ^Marjolein
Zen Tea, Chinese High Tea
20-11-2015
Lotus restaurant in Vlijmen offers a Chinese High Tea with six different kinds of tea. A Chinese tea ceremony with sweet and savoury snacks and a refreshing dessert. A real Zen Tea.
High Tea has been popular in The Netherlands for a while now, in several restaurants it’s even on the standard menu. Besides the ‘standard’ High Tea, we’ve never heard of a High Tea at a real Chinese restaurant in The Netherlands. Our colleague Lennert Rietveld from Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy met Willem Man while he was giving a presentation about culinary trends for Chinese entrepreneurs at Koninklijke Horeca Nederland. He enthusiastically told him about his High Tea service at his restaurant Lotus, the Lotus Zen Tea.
Lotus Zen Tea
Zen Tea was created during an inspiration session with the staff and it’s definitely a good way to fill up the less busy moments. Lotus Zen Tea starts with a refreshing towel, followed by a Chinese tea ceremony. According to the ritual, all the teacups will be placed on the table and the first cups of tea will be poured. Next to tea, guests will also get a glass of rosé. Then the sweet snacks will be served which were made in cooperation with de Vermeulen & Den Otter bakery. Think of macarons with flavours like lychee, ginger and green tea, diced coconut cake, lemongrass cookies and lightly salted cashew cookies. After a zen moment more savoury snacks will be served. Steamy baskets containing dainty dishes such as Sieuw Mai and Ha Kaauw, prepared by chef Tak Kee Yeung will be stacked on the table. The Zen Tea ends with ice cream made of red pepper and star anise with fresh fruit. The ice is specially designed for restaurant Lotus by ’t Heusden Ijshuys. The Zen Tea is also available in an completely vegetarian kind, it lasts about two hours and costs € 25,= per person. Restaurant Lotus also has designed special gift vouchers. Sounds great right? The magazine Pâtisserie & Dessert has also written an extensive article about the Lotus Zen Tea.
BuzzBar developed alcoholic ice creams for adults
19-11-2015
BuzzBar has designed various ice cream bars specifically for adults. The ice contains liquor and only natural ingredients. They also produce ice cream bars that are suitable for vegetarians.
BuzzBar as an alternative for the cocktail
The average ice cream bar contains about 2 percent alcohol, so you won’t get really drunk, but it could be a great alternative for a cocktail in the summer. The ice cream bars and popsicles come in a lot of different flavours, some examples are: Mojito, raspberry and lemon sorbet with lemon vodka, whiskey and chocolate, strawberries with rum and vanilla combined with cognac.
Inspiration
The ice cream bars could be a fun idea for a cocktail bar, this way guests can taste their favourite cocktails ice cold. Maybe people will even toast with BuzzBars in the future?
Pop-up Eat Your Drink opened in London
19-11-2015
At the downstairs of Benefit’s flagship store on Carnaby Street, Eat Your Drink, has opened. They’re deconstructing cocktails in weird and wonderful creations for shoppers to taste, touch and smell. This adult pop-up is free to enter from November 17th to December 24th.
Eat Your Drink
Smith & Sinclair founders, Melanie Goldsmith and Emile Bernard, wanted to create something that will shock and awe. Well they did! Whilst running a series of dating nights, focused on the concept of ‘adult play’, they created a lux, sensual sweet, with a high alcohol content, to get people talking and cause a stir. The sweets were so popular that they became the focal point of every evening. The excitement for the Pastilles was impossible to ignore and a year on they’re retailing in Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and many more shops! Smith & Sinclair have now created signature edible cocktails for over 32 alcohol brands including Langley’s Gin & Beluga Vodka. And now they’re opening the pop-up store Eat Your Drink. In which they sell cocktail-flavoured candy floss, dip dabs and boozy fruit pastilles.
The pop-up store must look like a ‘magical, glittery labyrinth’, it has been created by the founders with the help of a theatre designer. At the labyrinth customers can experience alcohol by consuming it in unusual ways.
Inspiration
The shop will stock products that are not available at their online store, including candy floss jars to pour vodka into. Like we already wrote in an article, the vodka will melt the candy floss, this way creating a delicious cocktail. In the Netherlands, the real WINE gums from Vinoos by AMS are sold: no sweets for children but adult luxury food. We wrote about the real Wine gums in april 2014 and at this moment the gums are sold all over the Netherlands. Luxury hotels even use them as night sweets on the pillows of their guests.
Pop-up winter chalet by York & Albany
18-11-2015
In the cosy courtyard of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant York & Albany, an alpine-style winter chalet is installed. If you’re in London this is a great place to share cocktails and a snack platter.
Pop-up winter chalet
This summer York & Albany brought the beach to downtown London. We wrote about their beach shack where seaweed Martini’s and Bacardi Rum slush in mini buckets and alcoholic popsicles with for example Pimm’s liqueur were served. This winter the beach shack is replaced by a pop-up winter chalet, complete with fairy lights, pine cones, lanterns, blankets to wrap yourself in and an open fire on the terrace. They will be serving a snack platter by chef Will Stanyer, raclette, venison Kromeski and rainbow trout with horseradish mousse, sweet treats like coconut and lychee snowballs and baked Alaska. All accompanied by hot or cold cocktails, including York & Albany’s own Winter Spiced Old Fashioned with home-infused vodka. The chalet is open from 30th October until the 28th of February 2016.
Inspiration
We read about the pop-up winter chalet in an article from The Telegraph about Christmas pop-up restaurants. We don’t have that many pop-up concepts in the Netherlands so we hope this pop-up will be an inspiration. If you check the website of York & Albany you can even find some great cocktail recipes.
