Random acts of kindness for Valentine’s Day

3-2-2015

McDonald’s uses the ‘random acts of kindness’ marketing technique from 1 February until Valentine’s Day. All over America their guests may be randomly selected to pay for their meal with selfies, hugs, high fives, and other forms of love.

Random acts of kindness

In 2009 we already wrote about the unexpected friendly gestures the Hyatt hotel group did to their guests. They gave away free massages, offered breakfast and randomly selected guests that didn’t had to pay the bar tab. Also companies like KLM used acts of generosity in the past. With the prominent position of social media in our lives these unexpected gestures are a strong stimulant for positive mouth-to-mouth or ‘mouth-to-media’ advertising.

The effect of the gestures by McDonald’s

On the internet more and more videos and pictures with the responses from guests who are offered a free meal are posted. This works out great. The company invests in an advertising campaign and free meals, their guests talk, write and share videos with their friends about it.

At the website of RAK, random acts of kindness, you will find a lot of inspiration for your act of kindness. They even have their own #RAKweek2015 for stories about random kindness from 6 to 15 February.

Dominique Ansel promises us a revolutionary new bakery concept

3-2-2015

Dominique Ansel, widely known as creator of the Cronut, Waffogato and the Cragel, will be opening a new concept bakery late Spring, ‘Dominique Ansel Kitchen’. Featuring a bakery menu that is largely ‘made-to-order’.

Revolutionary new bakery concept

According to his press office, the name of new bakery is ‘Dominique Ansel Kitchen’ and will be Cronut-free. And perhaps it has an even more radical idea – it changes the way bakeries operate by featuring a menu that is largely “made-to-order”. The chef elaborates about the way they are going to change the future of bakeries: “The kitchen will be arranged in a completely different way than a regular bakery, and a full brigade of chefs will be on station to finish, assemble, and even bake items to order. We think it’s a revolutionary yet obvious step for the evolution of bakeries. Just like people want their espresso pulled fresh, their juices made when they order it and a sandwich fresh built – it should be the same for pastry. So, imagine fresh folded chocolate mousse, made to order fruit tarts, hot beignets, and more.”

We once saw the enormous line of people outside the bakery waiting to be able to buy a cronut or a cragel. We can’t wait to see pictures and hear how guests experience this revolutionary new bakery concept and we wish the team all the best with the preparations and the opening of ‘Dominique Ansel Kitchen’.

More about the Waffogato, Cragel and the Cronut.

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.

Tap Takeover Oedipus Brewing

30-1-2015

The Amsterdam brewers of Oedipus Brewing will take-over the draft at Café De Kaapse Brouwers in Rotterdam on 6 March. They will have a number of 17 beers on draft and will be the bartenders themselves.

Kaapse Brouwers

The Kaapse Brouwers is part of the Fenix Food Factory in Katendrecht, Rotterdam. They proclaim to be the first to bring the craft beer revolution to Rotterdam. The Fenis Food Factory houses culinary entrepreneurs with love for honest products and craftsmanship. Coffee, cheese, beer and many more products are locally produced and sold on premises.

Tap takeover

With many upcoming specialty breweries this tap takeover is a cool development that happens more often. There is for instance a tap takeover by Brew by Numbers at café In De Wildeman.
We are curious which café or bar will dare to continue this evolution of young enthusiastic breweries.

Food films are popular

30-1-2015

Food films are popular. We have the Food Film Festival in Amsterdam since 2011 and at the Berlinale they will also exhibit various food films during the Culinary Cinema program. Including the documentary ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’.

Last Tuesday we wrote about the popularity of food films in an article about the trailer of the film ‘Fucking Perfect’ of Sergio Herman. We used various examples from the past, but recently the program of the Culinary Cinema at the Berlin Film Festival (known as the Berlinale) was published. Which includes the documentary about the owners of El Celler de Can Roca, entitled ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’ which will premiere on 10 February.

Trailer of ‘Cooking Up a Tribute’

The documentary was directed by Luis Gonzalez and Andrea Gomez and is about Summer 2014 when Josep, Joan and Jordi Roca closed their restaurant for a period of 5 weeks. In these 5 weeks, they did a tour of the American continent: Roca n’Roll World Tour 2014. They visited six different places; Houston, Dallas, Monterrey, Mexico City, Lima and Bogota.

Food films are popular and easy to combine with a good meal

In Amsterdam we have the Food Film Festival and we hope that during the next edition they run most movies that are exhibited at the Berlinale. During the Berlinale the Michelin-starred chefs Paco Pérez and Christian Lohse (amongst others) will serve menus inspired by the films. The American chef Alice Waters and the president of the Slow Food movement Carlo Petrini will be honored during this Culinary Cinema. We wonder if it will be such a great tribute as Alain Passard received in 2014. And whether the menus that are inspired by the movies will be prepared by the chefs at the Berlinale as original as the chefs at the Dutch Food Film Festival did during last year’s lunch (Proefwerk). In the article from the website Fine Dining Lovers you can see the list of all the culinary movies shown at the Berlinale. You can book tickets on the website of the Berlinale.

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 | Pastaiola

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 city.
A great trigger to start a Dutch 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 Pastaiola and is owned by Jolanda Vrijenhoek. This truck offers Italian pasta and originated in the bicycle scene offering nutricious meals during sport events. Monica Abdoel write about it in the book ‘Reizende Sterren’, unfortunately it 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 with over a hundred trucks on one location every May.

Dutch food truck special | Just Like Your Mom Catering

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 city. A great trigger to start a Dutch 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 Just Like Your Mom Catering and is owned by Etjen van der Vliet en Sandra Smit. ‘Just like your mom, we’ll take care of you. The book they’re mentioned in, ‘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.

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.

Fucking Perfect

27-1-2015

The trailer of the film “Fucking Perfect’ about master chef Sergio Herman is released last week. The film runs in the Dutch cinemas as from 19 March.

Films about chefs

We have already seen a few great examples of films and documentaries with chefs in the leading role, like “The taste of the soul‘ about chefs Erik van Loo and Cees Helder and their restaurant Parkheuvel in Rotterdam (Cees Helder was the first Dutch chef to receive 3 Michelin stars in the Netherlands). Great examples are also the movie about El Bulli and the documentary about Michel Bras. All wonderful movies where the chef and his passion are playing the leading role. The chefs often give the viewer an insight into how they work, but also in their life and their passion for the products they work with. The trailer of ‘Fucking Perfect’ promises this as well.

Fucking Perfect is about ..

The film ‘Fucking Perfect’ follows Sergio Herman from March 2013 until the summer of 2014 and shows the enormous drive of the chef. The pursuit of perfection and the sacrifices he makes to reach his goal. The trailer promises an intimate and honest portrait of Sergio Herman with a peek into the kitchen, his private life and shows the choice he made to start making new dreams come true at the peak of his culinary career. In 2003 he closed his 3-star restaurant Oud Sluis, to start building a new ‘dream’ in Antwerp (Belgium), restaurant The Jane.

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!

Creative dreams in the hotel rooms of The Hospital Club

26-1-2015

The Hospital Club launched fifteen unique new hotel rooms in their creative hub in the heart of London.

Sleeping in The Hospital Club means…

The luxury boutique bedroom extension to The Hospital Club provides members, guests and clients with a welcoming home-from-home where they can work, rest and play. Guests can fuel their creativity at the restaurant. The hotel rooms have a unique twist, like in their amenities which include inspiring turndown cards (brain power tool kits by the School of Life) and an erotic mini bar by Holloway Smith Noir available for those wishing to explore their creativity in other ways! There is a cocktail trolley at 7pm each evening and suite guests can enjoy a bespoke bartending experience in their rooms, with their own personal bartender. Rooms are available in four sizes: small, medium, large and suite.

Association with the contemporary art world

Continuing the strong heritage and association the Club has established with the contemporary art world, each room features the works of individual artists, including Alyson Mowat, James Alec Hardy, Dominic Beattie, Noah da Costa, Rick Guest, Jacob Love, Harriet Clare, Kristof Jeney, Christian Thompson and David Degreef.

Being part of the creative hub as guest

All bedroom guests have full access to the facilities of the Club including the production and screening facilities and the enviable schedule of member events which include comedy nights, mixology classes, industry networking drinks as well as premium ticketed events such as chef master classes.

About The Hospital Club

The Hospital Club is a unique hub in the heart of London, offering the members of the creative industries the environment and facilities they need to create, connect and collaborate. As part of London’s creative community, the role of the hub is to discover and host the best creative talent and produce, publish and celebrate their work. In addition is The Hospital Club Studio London’s most central and luxuriously appointed TV production facility (which regularly hosts WATCHDOG (BBC), THE AGENDA (ITV) as well as clients including Disney, MTV and BBC Comedy.

New York meets Brabant in café ‘De Vooruitgang’

23-1-2015

City café ‘De Vooruitgang’ (re)opened the doors in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) on 8 January 2015. A fire in the kitchen in April 2013 almost completely burned down the monumental building. Now the monumental façade is restored and the interior and layout are completely renewed.

City café ‘De Vooruitgang’

The new layout creates a lot of light in the building. This makes the café suitable for every moment of the day. The interior is based on urban influences from New York combined with the domesticity of Brabant (The Netherlands). This is created through the stairs behind the bar and the Dutch design prints at the kitchen wall. Other interior design elements: Persian carpets at the wall and there is a wall of plants with over 2.000 plants.

Eat, drink, read, meet, talk and listen

In city Café De Vooruitgang everybody should feel at home. In the middle of the big open kitchen there is a specially designed BBQ grill where the chef prepares his dishes. On the new menu of the café there will be dishes from the grill like burgers with bacon, steak and their specialty: chicken. Besides that, you can go to the café for a pasta or fish. The bar offers a range of specialty beers and wine.
During the lunch at café ‘De Vooruitgang’ there will be wraps, croques and sandwiches with salmon, cheese or a home-made meatball.

Dancing in the café

Every Friday and Saturday the café is opened till late. There will be DJ’s to create an ambiance to dance after dinner. Every Thursday night the DJ-wannabe’s can show their talent during the ‘Spin-inn’.

CORK2CORK sustainability initiative of the NH hotel group

22-1-2015

NH Hotel Group recycles two tons of cork in its hotels. The CORK2CORK initiative from the NH Hotel Group has so far yielded more than 1994 kilograms of recycled cork.

More than 75 hotels of NH Hotel Group in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Germany have collected corks from wine bottles since the start of the project, which were then used for the construction and isolation of hotel walls and floors. This CORK2CORK makes a substantial contribution to the realization of the sustainability goals of NH Hotel Group.

CORK2CORK

CORK2CORK is part of the sustainability policy of the NH Hotel Group and has been rolled out in cooperation with Amorim, a global producer of cork and building materials of cork. It’s their goal to give a second life to bottle corks used in hotels by reusing it as construction and insulation material. The collected corks account for 8000m2 of wall and floor space used for the construction and renovation of more than 300 hotel rooms.

“We are very proud of the result of this Cork2Cork program. We have given a beautiful natural product a second life. This is one of the example projects which shapes our sustainability policy towards internal and external stakeholders,” said Mónica Chao Janeiro, Director of Environmental Management and Sustainability of NH Hotel Group. “The enthusiastic response and the beautiful result of this action motivates us to continue on this path with sustainability projects in our operations.”

Natural cork as material

After recycling natural cork, it is excellent to use for the production of wall and floor covering. Thanks to its insulating effect, cork is capable to counter sound effects and contribute to energy-efficient heating or cooling a building.

Ice cream without fat and only 99 calories

21-1-2015

NIZO food research has produced a soft ice cream without fat. The unexpected creamy ice cream also contains 25% less sugar than other soft ice cream and contains only 99 kcal per 100 grams.

Properties of ice cream without fat

Regular ice cream has more than 160 kcal per 100 grams. The unhealthy characteristics are mostly caused by sugar and saturated fat. The reduction of these ingredients in ice cream normally have a negative effect on the texture and other properties. With the implementation of natural proteins, the creamy properties of fat and the body of sugar are replaced.

Horecava

During Horecava NIZO was present with the ice without fat at the ‘Innovation Lab’ and recently they’ve published an introduction video of the product combined with an explanation of the company which was partly made during the event. The research center has been researching proteins for more than 60 years now and is focused on creating healthier foods based on vegetable and animal protein.