interactiveSQUASH | Focus on the fun not the burn!
How sports is getting affected, in a positive way, by the newest technology. interactiveSQUASH is an example of how sports and technology can influence athletes in a positive matter. read more
How sports is getting affected, in a positive way, by the newest technology. interactiveSQUASH is an example of how sports and technology can influence athletes in a positive matter. read more
Last week, Coca-Cola launched its new brand: FÏNLEY in the Netherlands . FÏNLEY is a refreshing, alcohol-free, and low-calorie beverage which you can drink as refreshing drink in the afternoon or as a mocktail in the evening. It will be available in 6 surprising and sophisticated flavors at supermarkets, a few cinemas and gasoline stations. read more
Although CuliAir can’t been seen as a trend anymore, it remains special to see that the concept is still named as a ‘trend’ on various websites. The concept was initiated by masterchef Angélique Schmeinck in 2003. CuliAir is a culinary enjoyment at the highest level, literally and figuratively. If you want to experience something special, from the beginning of April till September it’s possible to book a diner in this floating restaurant. The restaurant consists of 14 spots and is a once in a lifetime experience that’s expected to stay trendy in the upcoming years as well. read more
Spring officially started last week and we’ve already had a few days of sunshine. Hopefully the start of a sunny summer period. Summer also means… ICE CREAM! What can we expect this summer as it comes to ice cream? We have seen a lot of videos about the Hawaiian Shave Ice which is basically nothing more than shaved ice! read more
At the recently opened ‘The Malt Vault’ in Utrecht they have over 130 types of whisky on their beverage list. At ‘The Malt Vault you just have to sit back and relax while enjoying your whisky. Inexperienced whisky drinkers can order a mini whisky tasting whereas the experienced drinker can discover new kinds of whisky’s. read more
Last week the official launch of Tito’s Handmade Vodka took place in the Netherlands. This American brand was last year’s fastest-growing vodka brand in the world with a growth percentage of 64.5%. The vodka is 100% gluten-free and is made of corn, consists 40% alcohol and doesn’t have any added sugar or gelatine. That’s why it’s pure vodka. read more
Restaurant The Carter in Sydney, Australia is inspired by the queen and king of American pop culture: Beyoncé and Jay Z. The restaurant starts as a restaurant by day and transforms into a club with live entertainment in the evening. A must-see for fans. read more
Last week Betty Koster was cited in an article on NU.nl about the combination of blue cheese and chocolate. “Cheese and chocolate are a great combination” she said. By reading the article my thoughts took me back to the theory of cooking I had at the hotel school. Every week we got to see the serie Kitchen Chemistry by Heston Blumenthal. One of the episodes was entirely devoted to chocolate. How it is made and why it melts more quickly when it is not tempered? All these questions were answered in the episode about chocolate. read more
At Horecatrends we spot a lot of national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write articles about, the smaller trends we use in our column ‘Trends we spotted this week’. This week amongst others wine infused coffee and New York gets a Fried Pickle restaurant.
If you like to read the whole article, click the title. Enjoy reading! read more
Paying with your fingertip? It’s possible at Proud Camden, a London based bar. Customers are able to pay their drinks here with Fingopay. This technology links your finger veins with your debit or credit card. Payments can be done both quicker and easier. It’s not only a unique and safe way of paying, you’ll don’t have to worry if you left your wallet at home! read more
At the beginning of this year we wrote about the Happy Drinks The Battle. With this initiative Pierre Wind and the ‘Trimbos-instituut’ wanted to challenge the hospitality and hospitality schools to make the supply of non-alcoholic beverages more exciting and more diverse. Monday the 6th of March at the finals of the Happy Drinks The Battle, Mark Jędrzejewski, bartender of De Smaakambassade, was awarded as Happy Drinks Mastershaker 2017. From the winning drink ‘The Madonna (like a virGIN)’, a special edition handmade syrup will be created. This will be done by Pinky Rose. This syrup will also be available for hospitality businesses. They hope that the The Madonna (like a virGIN) is going to be the mocktail of 2017! read more
What about a dessert calzone with your own taste of chocolate or as you could say BYOC – Bring Your Own Chocolate. Pizza Pilgrims in Shoreditch London added an option on their menu where you can calzone your favourite chocolate bar. So if you’re obsessed with chocolate, you know where to go for a custom-made chocolate calzone. read more
The Shweeb is New Zealand’s newest adventure activity and world first overhead monorail pedal powered race circuit. The faster you pedal, the faster you will finish. The Shweeb is located in Rotorua within the Agroventures Adventure Park in New Zealand and the core market is very broad; from four to 89 year-olds. Google was also positive about the idea and submitted an investment of one million dollars. A great monorail circuit for an adventurous nature reserve. read more
Did you always ate cereals for breakfast and are you an ice cream addict? Well Ben & Jerry’s turned your nostalgic breakfast into an ice cream: Ben & Jerry’s Cereal Splashback. Put your PJs on, watch your favorite television show and enjoy a scoop (or two) of breakfast ice-cream. As it’s not going to be sold on the Dutch market, it might be interesting for ice-cream shop owners. read more
A couple of top restaurants in Rotterdam, In den Rustwat (IDRW), Parkheuvel and Amarone hosted the first edition of the Smeele Hospitality Inspiration Sessions. During this unique inspiration tour hospitality entrepreneurs and chefs enjoyed watching and talking about the interiors of these three restaurants and got some great bites from the chefs they visited. The patrons told colleagues how they have addressed their interior modifications and which choices they had to confront. A great way to get inspired if you’re thinking about remodelling your interior. read more
Recently, a new joint opened up in New York City’s East Village that focuses solely on serving biscuits around the clock. You Americans reading this will probably think yummy, what a great idea! But for most of us Europeans it’s like, what is that? A cookie? No, biscuits are basically hearty scones that are traditionally served with fried chicken in the US. The founders of Empire Biscuit felt like this traditional side dish deserved some more limelight and opened up a 24 hours biscuit shop last month! At Empire Biscuit you can buy biscuits with many different fillings, depending on the time of day of course. This seems to spark a new battle in the cities’ culinary networks, because who makes the best biscuits? ^Leonie van Spronsen
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.
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 (link) 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.
InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam has opened the first Champagne Suite by Dom Pérignon on October 17. The luxurious appearance and quality of Dom Pérignon returns into the interior of the suite. For the design and styling LM Flower Fashion and Puurflow were attracted. The suite is characterized by high-gloss black and silver with solid wood furniture. There is a stage for leading Dutch and international artists to exhibit their designs and creations. At this moment the exclusive soccer table by Piet Hein Eek is exhibited in the suite. In collaboration with the Nation Museum and a number of Dutch photographers hang replicas of artworks in the suite. Watch the video of the Dom Pérignon suite.
The new ‘Cava Brutal’ is a non-traditonal, non-conformist bubble. The cava from Spain has a 18-month maturation (reserva) and is composed with the indigenous grape varieties Macabeo, Xarello, Parellada and Chardonnay. The ‘Cava Brutal’ is produced at winery DO Cava, located in the heart of the Penedés and Cava region, near Barcelona. Superrebel.com has developed this special cava in collaboration with Spanish winemaker Joan Rovira (agricultural engineer and oenologist). The bottle has a striking design, the bright orange color combined with black gives the bottle a clean look.
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.
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.
Hotel ‘Palacio de Sal’, recently renovated and unique in the world. The hotel is located in Bolivia, South America, and is entirely made of salt. The hotel has 24 rooms of which 8 double rooms and 16 twin rooms. The walls, floors, chairs, tables, beds and ceilings are all made from salt. Only the mattresses and toilets aren’t made of salt. Not only the hotel consists of salt, but also the restaurant meals are based on salt. Hotel guests are not allowed to lick on the walls. From January 2014 the hotel expands to 8 double and 22 twin rooms.
Pizza slices and boxes in the tree, spotted in New York and easily to recreate golden cutlery. A tree full of fortune cookies in a Chinese restaurant or golden chopsticks in a Japanese tree, all easy to execute ideas to customize your tree! Just consider what you sell (ice cream cones in an ice cream parlor or espresso cups in a coffee bar) and spray it in a Christmas color, easy and stylish! Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
This article is only available in Dutch.
It’s winter again. Fatigue, decreased energy and concentration problems are signs of a winter depression. On average about 600,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from winter depression. To give more relief, Bagels and Beans offers fifteen minutes of ‘sun’. Bagels & Beans has decided to introduce the phototherapy glasses again in collaboration with phototherapy specialist Goodlite. Guests can use the glasses for fifteen minutes and it will give them a better mood and more energy.
McDonald’s Italy has introduced its new local burger ‘Gran Piemontese’. The burger comes from the Piedmont region and is made of 100% meat of the famous Italian Piedmonts cow breed. The ‘Gran Piemontese’ will be available in nearly 500 locations of McDonalds in Italy. Earlier we spotted the app ‘TrackMyMacca‘ in Australia, where the guest can see where the ingredients originate from and what happens before they are served.
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.
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.
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.
Paulaner International has opened its first micro brewery ‘Paulaner Brauhaus & Restaurant’ in New York City. This is the first Paulaner Brauwhaus that opened in America, perhaps more will follow in the future. At the ‘Paulaner Brauhaus & Restaurant’ six of their special beers are brewed according to the original German ‘Beer Putiry Law’ established in 1516. On tap they will have the beers München Lager and München Dars, Hefeweizen (wheat beer) and two seasonal beers. The Brauhaus & Restaurant have got some bites like the famous German pretzels, sauerkrauts and different types of sausages.
‘A luxury travel blog’ compiled a top 10 Spa hotels all over the world at exotic locations. We visited the wonderful Spa hotel ‘Pankor Laut Resort‘. The ‘Pankor Laut Resort’ is a privately owned island located three miles off the West Coast of Malaysia in natural surroundings. The combination of luxury, the beautiful nature and the ancient wilderness create an environment where peace and magically memorable moments come together. Watch other beautiful examples of the top 10 Spa hotels at ‘A luxury travel blog.’
The Grotta Palazzese in Polignano a Mare in the Italian region of Puglia is a unique cave hotel with a restaurant. The hotel has 25 rooms and is partly carved out of the limestone rocks. From some rooms you have a brilliant view of the Adriatic sea and the restaurant has a half open cave ceiling. The restaurant opens from May to October.
The Yeatman is a luxe hotel in the heart of the wine cellar district of Porto with view on the city and the Douro river. The 5-star hotel is specialized in wine and gastronomy. All rooms have a Portugese ‘wine partner’ that hosts the room decorations, from pictures of the vineyard to branded artifacts. The wine partners hold weekly wine dinners at the hotel with meals that are cooked by Michelin star chef Ricardo Costa*.
Taylor’s Port sponsors the Master Suite 008, one of the most luxurious suites in the hotel. The bed in this suite is placed in a gigantic 28.000 liter wine barrel. According to the legend, the barrel is over a hundred years old. Check here the photos of this phenomenal hotel.
Through the Nightswap website people can lend out their house or room and get a night in someone else’s house in return without any financial transaction taken place. It’s possible to collect nights and spend them all in once, home swap at the same moment or to buy extra nights. The website offers insurances as well and is an alternative for peer-to-peer websites like Couchsurfing.org and Airbnb.com with a slightly different business model.
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.
It’s hardly avoidable to prevent company outfits in the hospitality industry from being stained, burned or teared. Although it isn’t representative to keep wearing them, it’s a waste to throw them away. Next to that, the clothing sizes of personnel often differ and clothing that’s to wide of tight isn’t representative either. Horecahemden.nl thinks it has the solution for company clothing with a deposit for the shirts. For used items the entrepreneur gets € 10,- off, even if the blouses are stained or teared.
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.
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.
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.