Favorite night snack worldwide
Buzzfeed made a video with an overview of the most populair midnight snacks after going out. The Netherlands isn’t mentioned, what is our most populair drunken dish?
Buzzfeed made a video with an overview of the most populair midnight snacks after going out. The Netherlands isn’t mentioned, what is our most populair drunken dish?
The most northern part of North Holland gets its own local market under the name of ‘De Kroon van Holland’ (translated as The Crown of Holland) on 3 and 4 May . For tasty snacks from the region, local gems and local quality produce visitors can go to Anna Paulowna. During the weekend there are several demonstrations and workshops. There is for instance a BBQ workshop by Andy McDonald from ‘Echte Stokers’ in Schagen, Andrea van Lieshout teaches you how to create delicious dishes with Texel Asparagus and Ans van den Burg shows how to make real Wieringer Shrimp croquettes. Both Saturday and Sunday closes with a local produce dinner. Sign up for the workshops via www.facebook.com/kroonvanholland.
On 12 and 13 May 2014, the first Dutch fair by and for bartenders will be held under the title “The Perfect Serve Barshow”. The Westerliefde and WesterUnie in Amsterdam are the stage for seminars, tastings and competitions with ‘guest experience’ as communal interest. A sneak peek in the program shows that Steve Okhuysen, bartender and owner of Old Fashioned Cocktail & Absinthe Bar in Ghent, Belgium will tell about the mythical Absinthe and Andrew Nicholls will elaborate on the diversity, quality and versatility of rum with the Authentic Caribbean Rum label. See the full program here.
Not every restaurant is happy with guests who post food photos on Social Media. The photos are often blurry or improperly exposed whereby the dish looks unsavory. To give guests the opportunity to shoot professional photos, restaurant El Burro in South-Africa placed a portable light studio in the restaurant. Guests can choose various colored lights and once they have chosen the perfect mood lighting, they can take a photo and upload it on Instagram with #dinnercam. The device is developed by MWEB Wi-Fi network. Guests receive a free copy of their photo.
To promote the buffet, caterer Albron uses Magneet Visual® signs at Center Parcs. The sign works with a magnetized sub layer and a top layer with printed images on PVC-free foil that contain an iron coating. At Albron Center Parcs two layers of Magneet Visual® are used, one with a chalkboard-look, the second consists out of outline cut products that can be manually adjusted. The system is developed by BSB Reclame.
Ten Dutch top chefs will work together during the Gastromarket ‘Food from Heaven’ on Thursday 29 May and Friday 30 May. Ten top chefs from ten restaurant in The Hague will serve ten dishes at Michelin star level, in combination with music and a food market. Participating restaurants are: Zwetheul, Savelberg, Calla’s, Hanting, Brasserie NL, Savarin, Villa la Ruche, Des Indes, Pearl and Brasserie Brut. A ticket costs € 100,=, you can find more information here.
In May Haagen-Dazs will introduce two special ice cream flavors in Japan. The ice cream brand comes with the surprising flavors carrot-orange and cherry-tomato. These ice creams contain only 8.5 percent milk fat and are a lot healthier. We already know juices with the flavor carrot-orange so why not ice cream? With these flavors the brand responds to the current hype of healthy food.
Looking for a new job? Do you love brunching for free and Aperol Spritz? The ‘Aperol ® Brunch Society’ in America is looking for a new ‘Chef Brunch Officer’ (CBO). The CBO will visit several restaurant hotspots to taste the Aperol Spritz cocktail and makes sure the staff makes the right Aperol Spritz cocktail. The recipe: 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and 1 part soda. The CBO will visit restaurants twice every weekend, all summer long, gets a free brunch with friends and get paid for it! To apply, people need to upload an Instagram video of 15 seconds with #Brunchforaliving @AperolUSA and tell why they have to become the new Chef Brunch Officer. Click here to see a number of applications. Nice inspiration for restaurant owners: as restaurant you can invite a regular guests to taste new dishes.
To create a good image of a hotel, a video is often used. A great way to promote the hotel is by a drone, like the video above. A drone can capture angles and views of the hotel that couldn’t be captured before and is relatively inexpensive to use.
#Throwback Thursday. We started in August 2007 with horecatrends.com / hospitalitytrends.eu, in July 2009 we posted an item about the Slow Cow drink from Canada. This brand advertised with the slogan: “This can contains a one week vacation”. A drink with soothing ingredients to relax, so the opposite of energy drinks. The drink has been working since 2008 to conquer the world from Quebec, Canada. On their website, they even posted that the drink will be sold in more than 50 countries in 2025! So they do think that the world really needs to relax.
On 5 May people in Amsterdam eat together during the “Freedom meals”. In restaurants, parks, homes and on the streets of Amsterdam thousands of citizens share tables. Various organizations and initiatives connect people through food. There are five StreetDinners organized by Bite Me throughout the city, where fifty volunteers cook in ten kitchens and collectively serve it for the visitors of these local events. Next to that, a huge dinner is organized at the IJ (1000 pax) and in several other local dinners are organized in the districts, see this link (Dutch) for an overview.
In Utrecht there is a discovery center developed by ‘Initiatief Domplein’ together with the municipality of Utrecht and the ‘Rijksdienst voor Cultureel Erfgoed’ (National Heritage Board). The DOMunder is located beneath the Domplein and it’s a place where visitors learn more about 2000 years of history through Roman, Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic remnants in about 75 minutes. With a special flashlight, visitors can explore archaeological findings. The DOMunder is open for visitors from 3 June onwards.
In Rotterdam, the collaboration between Bjorn van Dijl and ‘Schmidt Zeevis Rotterdam’ resulted in culinary hotspot ‘Salt & Tasty’. The restaurant measures a hundred square meters and has a large outdoor terrace as well. Salt & Tasty is located opposite to the new Rotterdam Central Station, at the Kruisplein. The refrigerated display is daily filled with fresh fish by Schmidt Zeevis and there are various salads and sandwiches available in the restaurant.
Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world. This day positive attention is requested for global issues surrounding nature, the environment and climate change. With the main focus on reflection and enjoyment. In the hospitality industry, we are seeing more and more examples of less food miles, organic and local products, but also the processing of ‘forgotten’ vegetables and meat such as rooster, goat and goose. In addition, we have the debate about whether or not to serve tap water (in Europe). Yet we still see that ‘special’ water is served from glaciers from the other side of the world ….. But you can also make “special” water in a simpler and more sustainable way. Last weekend I served my ‘special’ waters at our Easter dinner. Several courses, with each course another water. I just used tap water and added herbs, lemon , rhubarb and beetroot, depending on the taste of the dish. Nice and simple. And just like wine, it’s nice to see if the taste actually blends well with the food. The water with beetroot / lemon and mint tasted great with the starter of smoked eel and the water with rhubarb was very subtle which combined well with dessert. A nice sustainable gesture; the water from the tap and the herbs and vegetables from nearby! And even for those who do not drink alcohol, it’s a party! My suggestion for Earth Day.^Marjolein
Traders Hotels has launched its digital newsstand ‘PressReader’ in 15 hotels in Australia, Asia and the Middle East. Guest only have to connect with the Wi-Fi network and don’t need an account or log in. Through the ‘PressReader’ they get unlimited access to more than 2,500 global newspapers and magazines in 60 languages from 100 countries. They can read a newspaper or magazine at any time of the day, from anywhere in the hotel: a great gesture from to hotel to its guests.

Pretty soon we will be drinking from aerosols. Turbo Tango is the first beverage from an aerosol. The drink is available in the UK from the 19th of August 2011.

The city of Amsterdam offers a terrain in the Eastern district to the Magneet Festival (Magnet Festival) from the 19th of August until the 11th of September. This is a crowdsourced event where everyone is cocreator and owner. Under the motto “No spectators, only participants” everybody is involved in some way.

This printer makes customized chocolate. It’s developed at University of Exeter and like most 3D printers, the device works by depositing successive layers of the building material.

The perfect restaurant for the meat-lovers. The [M]eatery just opened in the SIDE Hotel in Hamburg, Germany (part of the Design Hotel Group). This is a modern steakhouse, which provides a meat locker room where you can watch the dry-aging process of the meat, through a wall of glass.

To celebrate the festival season, Pringles developed an app to create your own rockband. Watch the movie.

You prefer your whisky cold, but not watery? Than try the Whisky Rocks. Keep these rocks in your freezer, and they will perfectly cool your drink.

Supermarket chain Tesco has developed a virtual shop at a subway station in South Korea. People can shop with their smartphone from billboards and get their order delivered when they get home.
Update: The Bilder & De Clercq grocery store from Amsterdam introduced an interactive wall.

There is a one stop shop in Oslo that combines a stylish cafe, laundry and a library. The philosophy of the Laundromat concept is to offer a warm and friendly environment where you can meet a diverse mix of visitors on your laundry day.

This furniture lights up your garden, looks nice, and is very comfy. Vondom designed this furniture of recycled materials.

This insects hotel is located in the Dutch province Limburg (village Beesel), next to a large frog pond, with the aim to house insects and to stimulate nature.

Perfect for the smaller (hotel) bathroom. Drawers and cabinets are incorporated in the bathtub, where you can nicely storage all your towels and shampoo. Designed by Royo Group.

Is the glass half full or half empty? That’s the everlasting discussion between optimists and pessimists. This glass, that’s always half full can solve the discussion permanently.

A kitchen knife for the wannabe Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. With this knife you’re the kung fu master in your own kitchen (for a moment).

For the men that want to jump into the action after a night out there is the limited edition Viagra beer from Brewdog. The beer is a wink to all products that are released before the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, therefore its especially for the ‘Royal Parts’.

Planning a wedding can be a full-time job. The Wedding Café & Lounge, located in Mumbai, offers couples a place to arrange all the aspects of the big day, while enjoying a dinner. From a florist, to a travel agency to plan the honeymoon, to suppliers of the bridal make-up.

After spotting the first champagne which is drinkable with ice, is this cognac as well designed to drink on-the-rocks. This limited edition is developed by ABK6 Cognac and was launched on the Vinexpo in Bordeaux. By adding ice, hints of peach, lemon sorbet and iced mint will dominate the taste.

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With this clever box-system of swissRoomBox, almost all types of cars can be tranformed to a caravan. The boxes will be assembled to your back-seat and trunk and contain a small kitchen and shower with hot water, a bed and a table. The options of the boxes are expandable. An extra carbox on your car is recommended, because of the size of the boxes.

Making sushi is normally a job for experts. But there is a new tool that makes it easier to create this delicious Japanese dish. And it comes squared instead of the normal round shape! Ross Patten introduced the Rice Cube during the Australian MasterChef. After a few slide movements with the futuristic device you will have the perfect squares.

The Scottish whisky brand Johnnie Walker just opened and experience center in Shanghai. Besides an explanation of the destillation process there is an interactive blending table and a porcelain bottle collection in with Johnnies journey to China painted in the typical Chinese style.

The wake up pillow is the ideal weapon in the battle for sleapyheads. The remaining hours of sleep are set with a pull on the label, the weight on the pillow works as a snooze button. That’s a rapid wake up and no more noise for others.

This first environmentally beneficial billboard is launched in the Philippines by Coca-Cola and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and consists of the Fukien tea plant. These plants absorbe each 13 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This billboard also makes use of recycled materials, such as old bottles of Coca Cola.

Not only are these sugar sachets practically mono-dosed to 1 teaspoon of sugar, but these funny designed sachets are cheering up the table as well.

Funny tablecloths and placemats, inspired by ‘The Last Supper’ of Leonardo da Vinci. See the pictures here.

Supermarkt chain Tesco has launched a test with a new prototype navigation system in one of its stores in London. The system is compatible with Android smartphones and shows the location of the phone in the store. Customers can enter their shopping list in to the application which displays the perfect route for all your grocery.

After exclusive pop-up picknicks in Montreal, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin it is New York where the concept ‘Le Diner en Blanc’ unfolds on the 25th of August. The dinner guests must be dressed in white and bring their own table, chairs and food. The location is secret untill a few minutes before the start of the dinner.