French chef Cyril Lignac will be the new chef of the restaurant at the Amstel Hotel

23-2-2021

And we will make a reservation when it is possible! For everyone who has eaten at one of his restaurants in Paris, chef Cyril Lignac opens at the beginning of 2022 at the legendary Amstel Hotel! We have enjoyed our diners in his restaurant Le Chardenoux and Aux Prés, but he has three other restaurants called Ischia, Le Bar des Prés and Dragon. It is great to hear that this new chef will open a new culinary hotspot in Amsterdam, although we have enjoyed the switch of the kitchen of the restaurant at the Amstel Hotel to more simple and comfort dishes.

The restaurant at the legendary Amstel Hotel, owned by Katara Hospitality and managed by InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, becomes the first restaurant of the French celebrity chef, tv-star and author outside France. The restaurant, which is scheduled to open in 2022, will be based on Lignac’s successful formula in Paris.

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Trends we spotted | Week 49

8-12-2020

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

With this week links to articles about an AI-powered wine wall with facial recognition security and Pringles Passport attempts to satisfy a nostalgia for traveling.

Last October people could dine on board the world’s largest passenger aircraft, an A380 at Changi Airport. Would that satisfy your nostalgia for traveling a bit? And KFC introduced autonomous rolling chicken-dispensing pods in China, completely contactless.

At Pizza Hut you could enjoy a plant-based sausage, Beyond Italian Sausage, in the U.S. and Pancheros Mexican Grill introduced their ’12 Days Pancheros’ Holiday promotions. Inspiration for restaurants with take-out or delivery!

We spotted the MyPanera Coffee subscription a couple of months ago and now an European brand, Espresso House also launched a flat rate for coffee. Inspiration for other coffee corners? Especially if you have many people working at your location.

Dutch Television channel KRO-NCRV and restaurant chain Resto VanHarte are organizing a grand Online Christmas Dinner together. Inspiration for your country?

Sustainability: IKEA announced their plan to make 50% of their food menu plant-based by 2025 and we have spotted a new sustainable design for the seating at Schiphol Airport, called Blink. Interesting read for other venues.

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Green Boy Group launched Plant-Meat Protein™ | A plant-based protein powder for meat substitutes

17-11-2020

Green Boy Group announced today that it has launched Plant-Meat Protein™; a functional plant-based protein powder that is NON-GMO and developed as ‘meat’ grade. Plant-Meat Protein™ enhances mouthfeel, boost nutritional properties and enlarges the textured aspects in plant-based meat products.

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Trends we spotted | Week 45

10-11-2020

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

Vegan is getting more and more important! We spotted articles about Willicroft’s ‘This is Not Cheese’ products, vegan Mini BabyBel cheese, vegan Boursin soft cheese and a new sustainability label for fish alternatives called ‘friend of the Sea’.

With all the restaurants, pubs etc. closing in the UK, Burger King tweeted that people could help the industry by treating themself to tasty meals even from McDonald’s. And we spotted one of the first list of predictions for 2021, ten food trends according to Whole Foods.

Recently opened at The Connaught Hotel with its own entrance: The Connaught Patisserie. Take-away or delivery of an afternoon tea! And a great way to introduce your new hotel in Auckland, New Zealand by QT Hotels & Resorts. Their treasure hunt created a big buzz!

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CityHub just opened its first international location in Copenhagen

3-11-2020

CityHub, the award-winning champion of smart city travel, opened its first international location on the 8^th October 2020 in the diverse Vesterbro neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. CityHub Copenhagen marks the beginning of CityHub’s European rollout, following recent global financing from Dutch banks NIBC and ABN Amro.

 “CityHub Copenhagen is our largest location yet, and the first milestone towards international development. A city known for its pioneering design and hospitality excellence, Copenhagen is a perfect fit for the brand,” asserts CityHub Co-founder Pieter van Tilburg. read more

Nxt Museum | The first new media art museum in the Netherlands

16-10-2020

Opened on August 29, Nxt Museum in Amsterdam. Visitors can immerse themselves in the futuristic world of the first museum dedicated to New Media Art in the Netherlands. Their inaugural exhibition is ‘Shifting Proximities’. The museum is located in the up-and-coming North of Amsterdam and it presents eight large-scale, multi-sensory art installations, four of which have been commissioned by and are premiering at Nxt Museum. Each of the multi-disciplinary installations has been created in collaboration with local and international artists, designers, technologists, scientists and musicians, fusing creative ideas with pioneering academic research and technological innovation.

For those who love new art installations the Nxt Museum is a new ‘must visit’ museum in Amsterdam. So the moment you can safely travel to Amsterdam after Covid this museum must be on your bucket list! We have really enjoyed our visit to the Van Gogh exhibition in the museum L’Atelier des Lumières in Paris, an art installation that gave an insight in a couple of paintings with technology. The first exhibition in Nxt Museum looks much more futuristic though! In the first couple of weeks they welcomed some 4.500 people to enjoy the installations.

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Trends we spotted | Week 34

24-8-2020

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

This week, among other links to articles about healthy, immunity boosting shots whose popularity are growing rapidly. And we spotted a new environmentally friendly bentobox made from cocoa been peels which looks great for high end take-away meals!

For those who want to visit a corona-proof cinema, the ice cream company Blue Bunny created a food truck with outdoor movie screen! We would love to see a food truck like that next summer in the Netherlands!

We spotted a lot of new hard seltzers on the Dutch market this summer, with the latest addition, White Claw from the USA! Coca Cola will also release a Hard-Seltzer in the USA and we even spotted a Cannabis infused hard seltzer by Rebel Coast Winery.

In Seattle citizenM opened a new hotel, with a link to images at the website of concrete Amsterdam.  And we spotted another opening: the Sour Patch Kids store that will soon open for all candy lovers in New York!

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Trends we spotted | Week 31

30-7-2020

At horecatrends.com or hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the other trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.

This week, among other links to articles about the Robot Rosé that delivers wine to your room at hotel Trio in California and about a sustainable wine bottle made for 94% out of paper.

Select Palladium Hotel Group properties in the U.S.A. offer free medical insurance to guests and The new Tony’s Chocolonely Super Store is located in the heart of Amsterdam at the Beurs Building. With a video of the theme park they’re developing!

Pentatonic is a design and technology company that makes purpose from waste, they created furniture and textiles out of store waste for Starbucks and last year they created the Burger King Meltdown in the UK.

 We spotted a new hotel brand: the LyvInn, an extended-stay and transient hospitality concept and initial locations for this brand include Amsterdam. And an interesting read about apps trying to solve the surplus, here in the Netherlands we know ‘Too good to go’ but for example the app Karma makes an extra effort to prevent products going to waste.

For those living in London: there are about 45 Michelin star restaurants where you can eat out and pay partly with the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ discount.

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Virtual influencer as brand ambassador for Postillion Hotels

7-7-2020

Early 2021, Postillion Hotels will be the first Dutch hotel chain to enter into a long-term partnership with Esther Olofsson, the first virtual influencer in the Netherlands. This starts at the occasion of the opening of their new hotel in the World Trade Center (WTC) Rotterdam. Olofsson is fully computer generated and created by communication agency RauwCC. As a brand ambassador made from bits and bytes, she is prominent at the festive unveiling and opening of the new Postillion hotel and will be available as the most trusted city guide for hotel guests 24/7.

You can follow Esther Olofsson on her Instagram account, in addition, a complete profile of Esther has been compiled. For example: she was ‘born’ in Malmö, Sweden, is 29 years old and has lived in Rotterdam since 2019. Just like a real-life influencer, Esther works with local entrepreneurs and on behalf of brands that match her character and taste!

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Cloud Clubbing | On- and offline music events

8-5-2020

Due to the Corona Virus the recent months have been a little crazy and strange for everyone. Not being able to see friends and family, no longer being allowed to go to the gym and no longer being able to go to a festival or nightclub to enjoy your favourite music. The latter especially is such a pity during this time in which everyone can use a bit of fun and cheerfulness. For now, it looks like all music venues and night clubs will be closed until at least the 1st of September here in the Netherlands. Also, festivals, of which we have so many in the Netherlands, will not take place until the 1st of September or might not even be allowed at all until there is a vaccine against the virus.

A blog by our colleague Marguerita Vogelsang about examples from the nightlife and festival scene, an industry that has been hit unprecedented hard economically by the corona crisis. Nevertheless, she also spots all kinds of positive initiatives in this sector.

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