Credits - Reigers’ Rooie
Credits - Reigers’ Rooie
Credits - Reigers’ RooieReigers’ Rooie is Amsterdam’s first spicy vodka. Rooie is a small-batch and handcrafted ginger vodka created in the heart of Amsterdam. The spicy bite of ginger and a hint of orange gives the vodka a strong and refreshing taste. A Reiger is a heron in Dutch and over the years, the heron has become an important part of Amsterdam’s city image. read more
December is a month full of festive events including Christmas dinner with family and friends. For many chefs (whether at home or at a restaurant) the perfect moment to show off. In search for original Christmas recipes we stumbled on glittering gravy which is served at The Fox Under The Hill Hungry Horse pub in England. A guaranteed and sparkling success! read more
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUK
Familievriendelijk restaurant LEUKThe recently opened restaurant LEUK (FUN in English) is located in the area around the Houthavens on the Danzigerkade nr. 8 in Amsterdam. A restaurant that is LEUK (FUN) for both parents and children. Good food from an international menu and a special menu for children. Restaurant LEUK already has a location in Bussum for more than seven years. At their new location in Amsterdam they have a children’s playground of in total 150 m2 including a babysitter!
We’re always willing to give some free publicity for great Christmas decoration ideas! Recently we spotted Rolf’s German restaurant in New York City. They have been famous for their Christmas decorations for years now and they have a lot of old videos to proof that! Their Christmas decoration is absolutely over the top and according to most on the internet, gorgeous. If you think you can beat them, let us know!
In the heart of Utrecht on the Bakkerstraat 7, Désirée Stroes and Brian Steevens opened their Croquetten Boutique last November. The enthusiastic entrepreneurs sell croquettes in all shapes and sizes at this location. How about the following croquettes: ‘Pumpkin & Sage’, ‘Apple & Cinnamon’, ‘Mushroom & Parsnip’ or ‘Chicken & Red Curry’. You can also order a tasting of 6 small croquettes. Of course, they also have the original croquette on the menu, handmade and fresh! For the Holiday Season they have a special ‘Hazenpeper’ Croquet (with kind of Hare Stew). Another example of hyperspecialization. read more
At Horecatrends we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, amongst others about the Michelin stars in the Netherlands, we gained another restaurant with 3 Michelin stars and a link to an interesting article in the Washington Post about the fact that food-makers are taking salt and sugar out of food but they’re adding fat. read more
Christmas Coca ColaTwo lucky winners will fall asleep in the Coca-Cola Christmas truck tomorrow night. We all know this truck from the well-known Coca-Cola Christmas advertising that shows up every years during the Holiday Season. The iconic truck has been prepared for an overnight stay especially for this giveaway. Coca-Cola collaborated with Travel Blog Late Rooms. A fun and special marketing campaign! read more
Jajem 
The Amsterdam jenever brand Jajem exists 2 years this month. This will be celebrated in the Kopstootbar on the Leidseplein, which is also the first business the men behind the brand opened. Beside a party you can also buy Christmas ornaments filled with the young jenever! read more
Early November I received an app from my daughter from New York with the question if I had already written about the trend ‘cauliflower as substitute for chicken’. Seems to be popular in New York and you have to think of cauliflower prepared as buffalo wings or dishes like ‘General Tsao cauliflower’ instead of chicken. Since then I came across a couple of examples, time to start being creative with cauliflower as substitute for chicken! read more
Patent filed for unique zero-waste approach of converting by-product of tofu making into alcoholic drink. A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully turned tofu whey, a liquid that is generated from the production of tofu and is often discarded, into a tasty alcoholic beverage which they named Sachi. The innovative fermentation technique also enriches the drink with isoflavones, which are antioxidants that have many health benefits.
This December, Joe & Seph’s, purveyors of gourmet popcorn, will launch two brand new flavours, just in time for Christmas. Adam, Jackie and Joseph Sopher, the family behind the popcorn brand, have been hard at work in their London kitchen with their team of pastry chefs, creating the latest additions to their alcoholic Cocktail Range – Irish Coffee Liqueur with White Chocolate Caramel and Espresso Martini. With this article we want to inspire chefs to make gourmet popcorn for the holiday season! read more
At Horecatrends we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, amongst others about the fact that the Netherlands has its own Ice Hotel in Zwolle and a famous Dutch chef Henk Savelberg, earned a Michelin star in Bangkok.
The 24th of November the 20th Century Fox movie Murder On The Orient Express premiered in Finland. On December 13, six people will board the train of rail operator VR to travel from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. The trip will last 13-hour, so the players will play an actual escape room game that will last 1000 km! read more
SKYE Hotel Suites Parramatta, a five-star hotel and one of the newest property additions to Sydney, Australia, has partnered together with ASSA ABLOY Hospitality and Intelity to provide its guests with state-of-the-art digital key functionality. With the implementation of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Mobile Access in 72 of its apartment-style suites, along with the use of Intelity’s downloadable mobile app, the property can now allow guests to quickly and conveniently enter their room with a swipe of their mobile device. You never have to worry again about forgetting the key card of your room! read more
KitKat pop-up Chocolatory
KitKat pop-up Chocolatory
KitKat pop-up Chocolatory
KitKat pop-up Chocolatory
KitKat pop-up Chocolatory
KitKat pop-up ChocolatoryThe first ‘KitKat Chocolatery’ in the Netherlands has opened on the 30th of November at Utrecht Central Station. In the pop-up store you can make your own KitKat bar, or as their slogan says ‘Create your own break’, until December 23rd. There are a number of KitKat Chocolatery stores in Japan, England, Malaysia and Australia.
Especially for King’s Day 2024, GiG is launching their hard seltzer ‘GiG Orange Anthem’ with a refreshing orange flavour for the ultimate King’s Day experience. read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
French flair in Utrecht. The French lemonade brand Teisseire – sponsor of the Tour de Fance – has collected the coolest hotspots in Utrecht in the city guide ‘Joie de vivre in Utrecht’.
Shop and enjoy Utrecht like a Parisian. With the city guide ‘Joie de vivre in Utrecht’ you can see Utrecht through the eyes of a Frenchman or Françoise. The guide also includes stories from French inhabitants of Utrecht, recipes of French delights and (non-alcoholic) cocktails. This guide is made in consultation with the blogger Liselotte of liefsuitutrecht.nl. ‘Joie de vivre in Utrecht’ can be downloaded from their website.
The Dutch love lemonade: almost a 25% even drink one or more glasses of lemonade per day. Most of the lemonade drinkers (80%) mix the syrup in the traditional way: with water. Only 13 percent will add the syrup to sparkling mineral water. These results came out a representative survey of more than 540 Dutch people from 16 years and older, commissioned by Teisseire.
In terms of taste almost half of the Dutch always drink the same flavor. Especially ‘traditional’ flavors such as strawberry and selected berries. Men prefer orange more often than women, while a lemon flavor is more popular with the ladies. Another difference between the sexes: men drink more limonade than women. A whopping 26 percent of men have one or more lemonade drinks per day compared to 20 percent of women.
As French brand, Teisseire emphasized on showing how something as simple as cordials can add a touch of French flair to everyday life. “Our dream is to turn any drink into a moment to enjoy,” says Michelle Blankenburgh, brand manager Teisseire Netherlands. “Transform your glass of water for example in a Virgin Mojito with Lime and Mint syrup or give your smoothie a boost with a touch of Currant & Elderflower syrup. This way you add a little joie de vivre to each day.”
Teisseire is present during the Avant Tour and the advertising caravan at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Teisseire has a French patio there where everyone is welcome to enjoy a glass of lemonade.
Café Rotterdam was already an icon on the Maas, but is lifted to a higher level after a major renovation. With the reopening of Café Rotterdam directly above the Cruise Terminal, the ‘Wilhelminapier’ gets a real boulevard look.
We already know for a while that rooftop terraces have become very popular worldwide. Paris, New York, Istanbul, every metropolis is graced with (roof)terraces with beautiful views. In Amsterdam we have some pretty roof terraces with great views, such as the Skylounge at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and the roof terrace ‘s at the former oil rig at the REM Island which is now a restaurant. The terrace of Café Rotterdam, at the same level of the Erasmus Bridge and the Cruise Terminal, offers a unique panorama of the Maas and the skyline. A new hotspot in Rotterdam this summer!
The interior of Café Rotterdam breathes Pre-war Rotterdam class: large windows that offer plenty of light, high ceilings and modern details. The Chef Merijn Sips (formerly Librije’s Zusje ** in Amsterdam) serves a Mediterranean cuisine with international appeal. A business lunch, a delicious Sunday brunch or a romantic dinner, it’s all there. Apart from the restaurant area, there is a long bar where you can enjoy a cocktail, Gin & Tonic, authentic Schiedam Jenever, beer or a glass of wine with the Dutch delicacy ‘bitterballen’ (small round croquettes). The new Café Rotterdam is the youngest member of the Dudok Group which is a leading company in the hospitality and event industry since 1991.
Implug also provides mobile charging points for smaller hospitality companies. A great ‘innovative’ hospitable gesture and certainly an added value for your venue with mobile payments in mind! And besides that, it’s another reason to have a drink at your venue!
I am glad that I will soon get a new phone, the current battery is low within no time! And I am not even a fanatic user of a lot of apps on my phone. The rapidly dying battery has become a well-known social problem that especially affects the younger users up to 35 years. Thankfully more and more mobile charging stations are placed at public places like the library, at airports and railway stations but also in the hospitality industry. And the welcoming gesture remains hospitable even if you let them pay, your guests are already happy that they can stay online!
At the end of 2012 we’ve spotted the first charging station for cell phones in the Netherlands at Stravinsky eten & drinken in Hengelo (The Netherlands). Nowadays there are several parties that offer these charging stations like the pillars by Charge to go. These pillars are also equipped with a display to present advertisements to your guests. ^Marjolein van Spronsen
Entertainment company ID&T and manufacturer Coca-Cola have been partners in sustainability since 2012. Together they want to encourage visitors of festivals and events to recycle. This summer they are working together for recycling at festivals in The Netherlands.
ID&T and Coca-Cola are working together at three festivals: Defqon.1, Mysteryland and Welcome to the Future. At each festival there will be a couple of facilities available that will give people the chance to recycle. There will be ‘Green Teams’ walking around the terrain that encourage the visitors to throw their garbage in the right bins and they keep the terrain clean as well. There will also be a recycling-booth present where visitors can learn why recycling is important and how they can contribute.
Milou Hamelers, Recycling Manager of Coca-Cola Enterprises, says that they are very happy to work together with ID&T because their festivals attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. “This is a wonderful chance to show our involvement in sustainability and recycling.” she says. In an inspiring way ID&T and Coca-Cola would like to show people that a lot of garbage still has value after being thrown away in a bin.
Caorunn Gin from Scotland is a ‘wildly sophisticated Scottish Gin’ by Gin Master Simon Buley who prefers using wild, natural ingredients.
Caorunn Gin (pronounced “ka-roon”) is from the Scottish Highlands and is made at Balmenach Distillery, which main activity is distilling whisky. The distillery was founded in 1824, it has a rich history and has been active for almost three centuries.
Caorunn Gin is handcrafted by Simon Buley, using traditional gin botanicals such as juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, angelica and (Chinese) cassia bark(yes, there are more types of cinnamon!). Caorunn is the Gaelic word for Rowan Berry, one of the five locally foraged botanicals. On top of the Rowans, the gin is infused with Coul Blush Apples, Bog Myrtle, Heather and Dandelion.
The peculiarity of this gin is the combination of the five ingredients that are locally gathered by the Gin Master and the small batch, handcrafted process in the world’s only working copper berry chamber that was used to make perfume in the 1920’s. Because the people at Caorunn are great lovers of wild ingredients, they also encourage bartenders to go foraging and to collect delicacies in the wild that can be used for handmade cocktail ingredients.
Caorunn Gin is perfectly served with Fever Tree tonic water and a slice of red apple to further invigorate Caorunn’ s dry and crisp taste. In Scotland they like it strong, one part Caorunn and one part premium tonic water.
Leonie van Spronsen has lived in NYC and became a fan of the bakery of Dominique Ansel. She now follows his Instagram account and loved the communication around the opening of the bakery in Tokyo.
Last Saturday it was finally opening day at the DAB (Dominique Ansel Bakery) in Tokyo, loyal followers of his Instagram account had been prepared for this day a long time and it did not disappoint.
Dominique Ansel seems to be one of those rare people that truly understands hospitality. It’s not about just making beautiful products (which he definitely does by the way) but it’s also about guest experience, it’s about appreciating your customers, it’s about interacting with your customers, it’s about creating a brand experience, and boy is he the master of that. See the snapshots of DAB Japan’s opening day on Instagram.
By tracking the opening day like this on Instagram and explaining and sharing his ideas, his vision and his activities, Dominique Ansel is clearly busy building a hospitality empire. And by being such a humble, cool and inspiring person on social media, there is no one in the world you would want to have that empire more than him.
The next step? Maybe return to Europe to turn us into line-loving pastry fans as well? I vote for Paris! Leonie van Spronsen
On 29 June, a pilot with foodtrucks starts at 24 locations in Amsterdam. At these locations fifty food-entrepreneurs and their foodtrucks will rotate every half-day.
This Monday 29 June the foodtruck pilot ‘Tasty Streetfood’ kicks-off in Amsterdam. At 24 locations in Amsterdam around fifty innovative food-entrepreneurs will sell their food on the streets. The entrepreneurs will change location every several hours taking shifts on the various locations. The city of Amsterdam is the first municipality in the Netherlands that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to provide street food from foodtrucks at various spots in the city, besides the well-known food truck festivals of course.
Those interested could apply until 12 March and in total the municipality received more than 150 entries. The initiatives were valued based on a points system that valued food (whether organic, locally produced, innovative), innovativeness of the concept and sustainability.
Because the food trucks change location between the various designated spots every few hours, a wide range of street food offerings will be available on every location. When drawing up the rotation schedule, the municipality will take the requests from the owners into account as much as possible. Check the locations on this image or maps.amsterdam.nl/markten. Want to know where your favorite foodtruck is located at the moment? Download the Streetfood app via ‘Reizende Sterren’ (Travelling Stars) http://reizendesterren.org/reizendesterren.org/?p=344.
The Aspire soda is a fat burner for everyone that wants a healthy alternative at the terrace.
In general the number of refreshing healthy drinks at a terrace can be counted on one hand. Most soft drinks are loaded with sugar and plain water will soon bore you after a few glasses.
Recently, there are several terraces that serve a soft drink that is sugar free, contains no calories and even promises to burn body fat. It’s ‘Aspire’, a lightly carbonated canned refreshing drink. The drink contains caffeine and is available in the flavors ‘Cranberry’ and ‘Apple with Acai’. The ingredients increase the metabolism, suppress appetite and the drink claims to accelerate weight loss. For the desired effect the producer recommends drinking two cans per day for two weeks, and to combine the drink with a healthy lifestyle (of course).
With ingredients like guarana (energy), caffeine (energy), green tea extract (increase the immune system), L-carnitine (to stimulate body fat burning) and taurine you will buy yourself a booster and body fat burner that does not cause a sugar dip afterwards. It certainly complements the range of beverages at most of the terraces nowadays, not the least because it tastes nice! The drink is already sold at Hampshire Hotels, SportCity, Mövenpick, Healthcity and Corpus. Have you spotted it somewhere else?
This takeout container should actually have been invented in the Netherlands! But McDonald’s has worked with the ad agency Tribal Buenos Aires in Argentina to create this McBike packaging.
This cyclist-friendly packaging is a recyclable, compact container for a burger, fries and a drink. The burger and the fries each have their own compartments. You can attach the package to your bicycle’s handlebars. The design ensures that the drink is kept upright.
The McBike package is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen is one of the most cyclist-dense cities in the world. But it’s also launched in Medellin, Colombia. We’re lucky, Amsterdam is also on the list of McDonald’s to launch the McBike … ..
The Dutch band Kensington and Hooghoudt distillery will end this summer with a bang. They join forces for a rooftop concert somewhere on a roof in the Netherlands.
The rooftop concert will be held at the end of the festival season, early September. Consumers can win tickets for this special experience by buying a Hooghoudt bottle or a Hooghoudt Kensington package at one of the Gall & Gall stores in the Netherlands. The Hooghoudt products contain a unique code that could provide access to the concert. The promotion runs from 22 June to 15 August 2015.
It’s also possible to win tickets through the online cocktail maker tool of Gall & Gall. The practical website guides you to the perfect cocktail recipe and looks a bit like the Gastronomixs tool. After choosing a cocktail recipe people can submit suggestions for ingredients. Anyone that sends in suggestions for ingredients via the website, can win a Fever-Tree cocktail workshop as well.
Hooghoudt started the collaboration with the band Kensington to attract a broader audience. Check out the road movie from Hooghoudt about these talents from Utrecht. Besides working with Kensington, Hooghoudt works together with young and enthusiastic professionals since January 2015. They call them their ‘Seasonings’ and award-winning bartender Lennart Deddens is one of them. With the ‘Seasonings’ they want to inspire and give everyone access to special mixes and exciting recipes. “But inspiration is more than just good taste, it’s also acquired by shared experiences, such as a unique rooftop concert” says Niels Grootenboer, marketing manager at Hooghoudt.
The campaign “What drives you?” is an initiative by WaterReijk Marketing in collaboration with businesses, residents and visitors to the region. The campaign aims to acquaint the Dutch audience with the stories from the region.
Besides the launch of the online magazine www.enwatdrijftjou.nl, a life sized milk carton from Weerribben Dairy was revealed and is one of the examples of how the campaign is being promoted throughout the country. The carton was unveiled by entrepreneurs Klaas de Lange from Weerribben Dairy and Martin Kruithof of the Restaurant Lindenhof.
Via the famous icons such as Giethoorn and the Weerribben the campaign seduces (online) visitors to explore other stories and secrets from the area as well. The stories are told by entrepreneurs, residents and visitors in the form of videos, interviews, blogs and photos in the online magazine. The first stories are movies of the Weerribben Dairy and Restaurant de Lindenhof. Various event posters, social media and joint promotions will support the campaign.
One of these joint promotions is with Klaas de Lange from Weerribben Dairy. The story of Klaas in the Weerribben is one of the stories in the campaign, it is brought into the country via a life-size milk carton. In the milk carton hides a refrigerator with cups of milk to promote the campaign.
WaterReijk Marketing intends to bundle remarkable stories of the area in this campaign. Entrepreneurs, residents and visitors are also invited to share their story and become ambassadors of the region.
Look for vendors who sell allergen free products! It can make your life a lot easier.
Do you already have an allergy information menu? Is it part of your food safety plan? Late last year we were busy with the new legislation but it’s no news anymore. A lot of restaurants have an indication on the menu that an allergy information menu is available, but there are also restaurants without any information. And of course you also have restaurants who think they can get away with mentioning the possible allergies you could have.
Meanwhile, there are several producers entering the market who have taken the allergens as a guideline for their products. Like for example the Valuas croquette developed by Master Chef Eric Swaghoven from restaurant Valuas (*). Recently we came across the products of VA Foods (in the Netherlands) they sell a line of snacks for those with allergies. They use high-quality fresh and pure ingredients as much as possible and try to avoid flavor enhancers, preservatives and colorants.
If you find it difficult to make meals without the allergens, start looking for producers who have already done a lot of work for you. For example, VA Foods sells products such as croquettes, hot dog, puff pastry, ragout and bread. Their products all meet the internationally recognized VITAL-2 standard. So the products are gluten free, lactose free, peanut free, nut free and free from other common allergens. By finding this kind of suppliers, you can make it easier on yourself …
Pop-up food concept ‘Eten Centraal’ opened at Rotterdam Central Station on 16 June. It is a new initiative by The Food Line-up in collaboration with NS Stations. The pop-up location changes every two weeks with another small street food entrepreneur from the city.
The Food Line-up was one of the initiators of the street food debate about new permits that would benefit diverse and sustainable street food. Now they’ve set their crosshairs on high traffic destinations like the Rotterdam Central Station. With pop-up stores like ‘Eten Centraal’ railway stations will surprise travellers with a weekly changing selection of several local entrepreneurs. The focus is now on empty shop spaces that require temporary filling at Rotterdam Central. If successful, this may result in temporary fillings of empty spaces at other stations. It makes stations thus even more attractive for everyone.
Every two weeks during “the Switch” a new business will build up in the pop-up store. In 46 days, more than seven Rotterdam heroes will serve a diverse menu including Old Scuola Pizza Napolitana, Man met Bril Coffee, Saté man with Toko to go, Fritez Haute friture, Pinky Rose lemonade, Jumble Korean Food and Rotterdam brewers. The website and Facebook will show the complete list of entrepreneurs and time tables.
“The pop-up street food concept is truly groundbreaking,” according to Lotte Wouters and Maartje Nelissen. “For the first time a high traffic location like this provides room to small local businesses next to the fixed formulas and usual suspects on locations like these. Travellers can now also enjoy the offerings of local entrepreneurs at Rotterdam Central Station, one of the most prominent places in the city, and taste the identity of the city and its inhabitants. “
The initial establishment of an innovative European kebab franchise will soon start in Alkmaar.
Entrepreneurs Sinan Gul, Hans Verloop and Baris Kürkcü took the very popular Baba Rafi format from Asia to Europe and adjusted them fully to European standards and trends. With a strong focus on healthy and sustainable dishes, Baba Rafi also wants to reach out to women and children and that distinguishes the formula from all existing kebab, döner or shawarma formats.
In order to finance the initial establishment of Baba Rafi Europe, the entrepreneurs made a successful appeal to the public: 176 private investors invested € 250.000,= in the company via Collin CrowdFund.
Baba Rafi is the largest franchise chain in the world in the field of kebab products. With more than 1.300 locations in Asia where the concept is immense popular. The Asian concept is fully adapted to the European market where respect for the food, the customers and the environment play an important role. One of the initiators, Baris Kürkcü: “Every niche in the food industry, from fries-, hamburger and chicken formats to sandwiches, has seen a trend towards more sustainable and responsible food, in the recent years. With Baba Rafi we introduce a kebab concept that is tailored entirely to the needs and desires of the modern conscious consumers. The dishes are freshly prepared with a minimum of E-numbers and maximum sustainable and organic ingredients. We have worked closely with a culinary consultant and nutritionist during the development of the dishes. The dishes are suitable to eat for lunch. For everyone, thus emphatically including women and children.”
Along with financial expert Hans Verloop and former McDonald’s CEO, Herman de Haas, the team of Baba Rafi wants to realize the largest kebab chain in Europe. There is no comparable franchise concept in Europe but there is a 10 billion euros sales in kebab fastfood restaurants. The facility in Alkmaar will be the flagship store and serves as a model for the next Baba Rafi in comparably sized cities in the Netherlands and Europe.
Recently gin and tonic mixes are extremely popular. There was a Gin & Tonic festival, there are special restaurants and (pop-up) bars, there is a GINformatiecentrum and at every fancy food festivals you can get yourself a gin and tonic mix.
Usually the focus at the mix drinks is on the gin and the quality of the tonic if often neglected. This while a mix drink like a gin-tonic consists for ¾ out of a tonic and is thus crucial for the flavour. In recent decades the soft drink market is largely dominated by a few multinational companies that more focus on profit rather than quality. This changes now, more and more producers approach the market differently with more unique and qualitative products. Fever-Tree is one of them and since November 2014 the company is privately held and competing with the big boys at the London AIM stock market.
In 2004 Charles Rolls and Tim Warrillow decided tonic and mixers for cocktails in general could use a quality upgrade. One of the major components of tonic is quinine, that’s where the bitterness comes from. After months of research they discovered that there is a Fever Tree plantation that produces the purest quinine in the world and it’s located in Congo. They travelled to the rough Democratic Republic of Congo and visited this plantation. The ingredients for the rest of the tonic are collected in the same manner. Research, travel and conversations with ‘plant hunters’ a part of the development of new products. Fever-Tree tonic contains high-quality ingredients and natural cane sugar.
For Fever-Tree’s Ginger Beer and Ginger Ale three kinds of ginger are used, each from a different area. It’s fresh green ginger from Ivory Coast for the freshness, ginger from Nigeria for depth and intensity of the flavor and ginger from Cochin for an earthy, chocolate-like flavor.
The Mediterranean Tonic is our favorite. It contains citrus oil and herbs from the coastal areas around the Mediterranean. Lemon Thyme and rosemary are two of the ingredients that come from Provence and give the unique flower-like character to the tonic, which makes it an ideal mixer for vodka and lights gins.
The 31-year-old chef Michael Wolf (Oud Sluis ***, Vila Joya ** and Envy) will officially open Wolf Atelier on 21 June. He does this in 1920 railway bridge transformed into a glass surrounded restaurant next to the Central Station of Amsterdam.
Wolf Atelier is light and spacious, the monumental railway bridge has a characteristic industrial design and is equipped with 80 high glass windows. This workshop offers a 360 degree view of Amsterdam, due to the large amount of plants and earthy tones it looks like an urban garden. The open kitchen and small chef’s table provide constant interaction between Michael Wolf and his guests.
The menu contains two main sections. The so-called Gallery-section of the menu lists some of Michael Wolf’s current signature dishes such as ‘lacquered pork belly with fried langoustines, carrot cream and a sauce of spices.’ The Workshop-section is to pre-test dishes and consists out of experiments and cool innovations. After feedback from guests, only the best dishes will be continued in the ‘Gallery-section’ of the menu.
Michael Wolf: “This workshop space is tough and metropolitan, the ideal setting to strive for perfection. Everything must be right, really. Not only the food and wine but the ambiance, the music, the service and the cocktails as well, each telling its own story. I can’t judge whether I ask too much from myself and my team, the only thing that matters is that I’ve lived up to this moment since I was fifteen and can’t wait to start!”
AGC and Van der Valk have announced that architect Jasper Spigt from domainarchitecture has won the glass room design competition. The challenge was to show the versatility of glass as a material. In his design Spigt organizes the different functions of the hotel room with a single, folded glass wall.
AGC Flat Glass Netherlands has taken the initiative to create an “AGC room” at the new Van der Valk hotel in Tiel. With the intention to be able to show their glass in practice, to interested customers. This idea was developed into a design contest for a glass room. A form of collaboration where everyone benefits: AGC, Van der Valk and the winning architect. They created media value for all parties and a lot of attention on social media. Inspiration for other entrepreneurs who want to put their products in the spotlights.
In his design ‘Through the Looking Glass’, architect Jasper Spigt of domainarchitecture designed a glass wall from one piece for the hotel room. This wall has various functions in every section of the room, varying from transparent, matt, energizing, reflected, with lighting or art in it. In one section a wall of matt glass separates the sitting area from the bathroom, a bit further it expands like a ‘sky’ round the bed.
As the winner of the design competition Spigt receives a cash prize of € 2000,-. AGC Glass and Van der Valk hotel room strive to finish the glass room at the end of this year.
Runner-up is the design ‘Colorize your stay’ by Kees Marcelis Studio Arnhem (Kees Marcelis, Judith Westgeest and Frank ten Westereind) in collaboration with Alverre Techni Glass. In this design, colored and folded glass walls are placed behind each other to organize the space of the room.
A total of seventy designs were submitted. Next to the winner and the runner up there were also two honorable mentions, Arcade and Cocon.
The multidisciplinary jury for the competition consisted out of Elfi van der Valk (owner and general manager from Van der Valk Hotel Tiel), Judith Kaart (marketing manager AGC Flat Glass Netherlands), Rob Seuntiëns (interior architect at Dutch Concept) and Michiel van Raay (editor Architectenweb).
Halal Fried Chicken in Amsterdam has announced special activities during the Ramadan.
Either this Wednesday or Thursday the Ramadan, the abstinence month for Muslims worldwide, will start. The exact date depends on the position of the moon and is determined on the final moment. In addition to the abstinence during the day is sharing meals between sunset and sunrise a key element of this religious month.
One of the catering businesses announcing special activities during the Ramadan is Halal Fried Chicken (HFC). The fast food store opened in December 2014 at the Vlugtlaan in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Soon a second restaurant will open at the Waterlandplein in the North of Amsterdam. Halal Fried Chicken claims to be the first Halal fast food restaurant in the Netherlands.
In addition to various halal burgers (chicken burger, beef burger and cheeseburger) HFC sells halal chicken pieces, tender strips, nuggets, hotwings, chicken wraps, fries and Coca-Cola. The restaurant sells combinations in different buckets and menus, as you would expect at a fast food restaurant.
In the beginning there was criticism to the halal certificates of the products at Halal Fried Chicken. This because of a discussion between various halal certifiers and Halal abattoir about what is and is not ‘halal’. The fast food restaurant preferred not to be the subject of the discussion and stated to act conscientiously, especially because it has the specific notation of ‘halal’ slaughtering method in the name. Nowadays the storm seems to have passed, or at least for HFC as a subject in this discussion.
Halal Fried Chicken has a committed community that makes themselves heard with quite some criticism, especially on Facebook. The fast food restaurant sponsors MaroComedy and Mystiek Productions that do the production of the stand-up comedy show ‘Couscous & Baklava 2.0’ together.
nhow Rotterdam opens a pop-up shop with hip and only local design products.
The lobby of the nhow hotel regularly changes its looks for example by providing space for exhibitions and experiences. With this pop-up shop, the hotel brings quality local labels to the attention of her guests in a temporary setting (until August 2015).
“We strongly believe in the power of local labels and designers and knew without a doubt that these were the kinds of products that we wanted to show our guests. We’re not so much concerned with the sales, but the story about our city. Rotterdam has much to offer when it comes to design.” says Hermann Spatt, director of nhow Rotterdam.
For example, the new shopping bags by Susan Bijl, various textual books with quotes from Mwah, designer socks by Alfredo Gonzales, exquisite porcelain cups by Label Aleph and books from photographer Ruud Sies are selected for the first edition of the shop. nhow also sells a number of small personal items including the nhow condoms with naughty lyrics like: ‘Use me now’ and ‘Do it now’. The products are usually affordable and easy to carry in the plane, making them original souvenirs.
Top chef Erik van Loo ** serves a butcher’s brunch with three butchers at Parkheuvel in Rotterdam on 19 July.
On Sunday 19 July butcher’s son Erik van Loo hosts a unique brunch with three butchers by the name of ‘To beef or not to beef’ at restaurant Parkheuvel. Herman ter Weele from Butchery ‘Ter Weele’ in Oene (GE), demo butcher Gertjan Kiers and culinary connoisseur Ernest Lebouille will join forces and will bone the meat live at the premises. They will give explanation and tell stories about the meat and boning craftmanship.
During the documentary ‘De Smaak van de Ziel (translated as ‘A Taste of the Soul’), it became clear that van Loo had much interest in meat because he is a butcher’s son. The idea for the brunch began when he got reactions about this after the documentary was premiered.
‘To beef or not to beef’ begins on 19 July at 12:30 and lasts until 17:00. An all-inclusive brunch including drinks costs € 150, -. After the boning from head to tail by the butchers, van Loo will make ten to twelve dishes with the meat. The tickets are sold via the IENS website and there are 120 tickets available.
IENS CarteBlanche is a culinary event where a renowned chef gets the chance to perform a special concept for one day. That may be something with his favourite ingredient, something at a particular location or something completely different from what he normally does in his restaurant. The chef will at get a complete carte blanche. Unique events for food lovers!
Last year there was already a CarteBlanche at Parkheuvel, when the theme was based on the renovation of the restaurant.
Hendrick’s Gin created an ultimate experience at Taste of Amsterdam with the ‘Garden of Unusual Delight’.
A critical visitor Taste of Amsterdam could have spotted the Garden of Unusual Delight on the event map already. Ordering an ‘unusual’ Hendrick’s Gin at the FeverTree bar gave access to a hidden garden behind the booths.
Through the secret channels of Hendrick’s Gin, Armand got the tip to order the ‘unusual’ Hendrick’s Gin and tonic at the FeverTree bar. After ordering he was taken to the secret garden where he arrived in an oasis of peace, certainly compared to the rest of the popular festival.
A flamboyant host welcomed all the guests, with only a handful of other curious visitors there was plenty of room to site down on the picturesque bistro sets, bean bags or romantic benches. The bartenders had three standard cocktails on the menu and saw special requests as a challenge to be extra creative in the preparation process.
The special bar, VIP feeling and contrast of the peaceful garden to the rest of the festival gave an exclusive total experience. The #SocietyOfTheUnusual by Hendrick’s Gin seems a guarantee for more unique experiences around the liquor brand. So keep your ears and eyes open and ‘expect the unexpected’.
Recently we spotted the sample platter at Friska. Their healthy, responsible roles with fresh ingredients are served at the Amsterdam Food Halls.
Often the small details in new concepts catch our eye. At Friska, designed by van Ommeren Architects, we think the wooden trays amplify the concept. These are specially designed platters to serve Friska’s from. You don’t often see architects design such a platter especially for one product.
Friska’s in their own words: “Part-time sushi, part-time wrap, fulltime Friska. Healthy, organic and 100% gluten free. Friska’s are healthy rolls with fresh ingredients. Easy, ready to eat and easy to eat with one hand. They have a lot of standard choices in Friska’s but you can also create your own roll. Choose your favorite wrap, create your own stuffing with different grains and fresh vegetables and your Friska is ready.
Disney is taking wedding cakes to a magical new level by creating interactive cakes with classic Disney tales. They created this great fairytale wedding cake with the help of projection mapping.
It’s just a simple white cake with no frills, that at the moment supreme, will light up with images projected on the cake. As you can see in the video above, the animations seem to be scrolling down the tiers adding a very Disney touch to the celebration. And who wouldn’t be living happily ever after with a wedding cake like this?
Earlier we wrote about the artistic collective ‘Skull Mapping’ by Antoon Verbeeck and Filip Sterckx, they created a cartoon in and around your plate. By playing with movement within the projections they created optical illusions on the table. Even before that we wrote about restaurant Sublimotion in Ibiza that also uses video projection for a total experience.
Several visitors of Maastricht were, totally unexpected, pampered last weekend.
Last weekend some lucky visitors of Maastricht were unexpectedly surprised by two waiters. They placed a bistro set on various places in the bustling city and invited some visitors to enjoy a cup of coffee with the famous pie from this region and a musical performance. Watch the video impression here.
With the “What you want?” campaign the city demonstrates that a visit or experience of the city doesn’t only depends on the hospitable services in hotels, restaurants and retail. The atmosphere and what you can experience are also very important. From arrival to departure, from cultural visitor to shopping lover, the city has to leave a lasting impression to everyone from young to old.
John Aarts, alderman of economy from the city: “Maastricht has no clichés. Boring is a word that doesn’t exist here. Around every corner awaits a new impression, behind every façade a surprise. Although the city is small, it’s unique character is made by the atmosphere displayed throughout the city. You don’t visit Maastricht, you experience Maastricht.”
The Kindle Allison is a stylish patio heater with a dual functionality.
During ‘Taste of Amsterdam’ the stylish patio heaters at the Visaandeschelde booth were a real eye catcher. Just like the delicious Oosterschelde lobster “en brochette” that was served by this restaurant, but that’s just a mouthwatering side note to this article.
The patio heaters are from America and were rented at Héman. Kindle Living from Los Angeles is the creator of the patio heater. The company describes the design process simply as “We saw a need and set out to fill it. No more goosebumps”. There are six different models including a limited edition with a production series of only 101 pieces and a useful dolly to move the patio heaters. Moving the heaters is not necessary with the slim model that can be connected to an existing gas line. Earlier this model was awarded two Silver A ‘Design Awards.
Ugly and purely functional gas heaters are history and using these heaters adds style to the terrace. The bottom of the heater can be illuminated in eight different colors and can be equipped with a handy shelf for glasses. Although your cocktail will get warm before you know it 😉
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