Inspiration for the Holiday Season | From a sushi Christmas Tree to an edible pinecone
An edible pinecone dessert for the Holiday Season - generated with AI
A christmas wreath with bruschetta - generated with AI
We’re already in the third week of October, and more and more festive inspiration is popping up online. Pinterest remains a wonderful source of ideas, and this week we explored Christmas dishes. We found several fun creations that would look great on the menu of any grand café or bistro. We’re sure chefs could take these ideas to next level!
A bruschetta Christmas wreath, a sushi Christmas tree, an edible pinecone, and a Christmas bauble dessert are among our favourites. We also noticed that most restaurants share their Christmas menus on Instagram as plain text. In our opinion, a missed opportunity!
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Pinterest | Featuring Mendiants and an edible pinecone
Soon we’ll be heading to Paris again for inspiration, to enjoy good food and soak up the festive French atmosphere! In preparation, we’ve been browsing menus, and one thing stood out: the classic dish ‘Oeuf dur mayonnaise’ is back on menus everywhere! It’s the perfect candidate for a Christmas twist, like the stuffed eggs we spotted on Pinterest.
For shared dining concepts, a Christmas version of the Caprese salad is another great idea. You can also make a festive bruschetta wreath, or serve the Caprese salad in the shape of a candy cane. A pinecone-shaped salad would definitely do well on Instagram, and a sushi Christmas tree is simply brilliant. You could even create a croissant, profiterole, or madeleine Christmas tree for your breakfast buffet. Enthusiastic home cooks are turning all sorts of dishes into Christmas trees, you’ll find them all over Pinterest!
A sushi Christmas Tree for the Holiday Season – generated with AI
When it comes to desserts, there’s an impressive range of creative examples online, sure to inspire your own festive variations. We came across a mendiant Christmas tree (a bit like a florentine) and pastries shaped like Christmas baubles. With desserts, the possibilities are endless — from Santas to snowmen, or even an edible pinecone as the grand finale! And finally, a treat that’s been on Pinterest for years: the melted snowman cookie, still a festive favorite.
Christmas menus on Instagram
Try searching for #kerstmenu (Dutch for “Christmas menu”) on Instagram: you’ll mostly find menus written-out with a festive background. But on a platform like this, visual appeal is what really draws people in! Of course, guests want to know what’s on the menu but that information can easily be shared in the caption. We believe that a photo of one of your dishes with a caption like “So delicious… our [dish name] from the Christmas menu!” will stand out much more.
Take, for example, the Instagram post by Restaurant Zuid by Adrian Zarzo — much more eye-catching in our view! Or the Christmas post from the Munich Cricket Club in Canary Wharf, London: they only share videos and photos and refer visitors to their website for the full menu. Bistro Three Rooms by Platzki in Didsbury (Manchester) takes a similar approach: one post starts with a beautiful dish photo followed by a link to their website. And at NineB Restaurant Bar in the Novotel Leicester, they showcase a table filled with dishes from their Christmas menu, with a link to view the full menu online.
In our hometown Leiden, Café Visscher shared a short impression of their festive decorations last year, also very appealing! This year, they’ve posted a “mysterious” teaser inviting followers to subscribe to their newsletter to be among the first to hear about the Christmas menu.
A quick browse through restaurant websites also revealed that several places were already fully booked for Christmas as early as the beginning of October. For example, Grand Café Het Noorden in Aalten announced early October that they were already full for Christmas Day, accompanied by a cozy photo of their restaurant in holiday décor.
In short: let your beautiful dishes or interior do the talking and tempt your guests with mouth-watering visuals!
You can find more Holiday Season inspiration here!
