Mama Gaia Academy | First online hospitality academy with a plant-based focus

2-6-2022

The unique Mama Gaia Academy recently launched, this academy prepares participants for a job in the hospitality industry for free and in just six weeks. This way, the academy wants to tackle the staff shortage in the hospitality industry. In a short online training course, people with little or no experience are trained for a job in the kitchen or operations. The English-language programme is easily accessible and participants can watch short informative videos on their smartphones at any time of day. In order to accelerate the transition to more plant-based options in the hospitality industry, vegan cuisine is central to all modules. The Academy was set up by the founder of social enterprise Dopper, known for the refillable water bottle that reduces the use of single-use plastic. The course is made possible by among others Gulpener.

2 minutes read

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All the food festival inspiration you need

17-5-2022

The sun is shining and the Netherlands is enjoying the outdoors! There are plenty of festivals where we can go again! We love to visit a food festival, don’t you? We’ve seen some nice small scale festivals like last weekend FestiValk and the ‘Shit hot Fest’ in April, below a list of small, fun and tasty food festivals in the Netherlands and some nice international concepts, maybe inspiration for the Dutch hospitality industry and festival organizers! We found among others the Fête du Champagne et Vins, an oyster festival, a tapas festival, Singelpark dinner and an espresso martini festival..

You can organize a small scale festival within your own company or companies or build a ‘festival’ with fellow hospitality entrepreneurs, what’s stopping you as long as there are no festivals happening in your area? In this article some inspiration!  

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A list of special food bikes and food tricycles

2-5-2022

In the Netherlands we cycle a lot and who is not familiar with the bike from which ice cream is sold? Or a coffee bike in a hiking area? But there are many more bicycles from which oysters, cocktails, fries, smoothies, cotton candy, cheese, churros and pizzas are sold. There are a number of professional food bike rental companies, but we also know a number of enthusiastic one-man businesses such as the ‘Oyster bike’ of Jolijn Géboers in Amsterdam and the ‘Cocktail bike’ of Niels den Boogert. With the summer approaching, a list of ‘food bikes’ and ‘food tricycles’! Maybe time for a small-scale food bike / food tricycles festival instead of a food truck festival? And then a joint work-out from the Bakfiets Gym afterwards!

3 minutes read

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Trends we spotted | Week 17

29-4-2022

At horecatrends.com 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 amongst others Château Galoupet in France, they produce exceptional sustainable rosé and Accor, Ennismore and Country Garden’s Funyard will develop more than a thousand JO&JOE hotels in China.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters partnered with Oatly to serve first-annual ‘Earth Day Latte’ and we can imagine the Pearlsuites by Pierpaolo Lazzarini at our Dutch lakes!

A 50-Pin Challenge with Bowling at the Kabukicho’s Shinjuku Copa Bowl, inspiration for other Bowling centers? And in Amsterdam the Anatara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky recently reopened under the Anatara brand!

Spicy McNuggets return at some McDonald’s locations in the USA for a limited time only. What would your guests like to return on your menu? And a special initiative of chef Niko Romito, the ‘Niko Romito method’ it includes 7 techniques of ‘food transformation’, we spotted it in an Instagram post of the World Economic Forum.

The Fazer Xylitol factory has started operations in Lahti, Finland. The new state-of-the-art factory showcases a unique example of circular economy – a patented process transforms upcycled oat hulls into sustainable xylitol.

Last year restaurant Eleven Madison Park (***) switched to an entirely plant-based menu, and now Daniel Humm starts delivering its green ethos to home kitchens: Eleven Madison Home. And in Berlin Domino’s pizza delivers pizza with robots which are using the sidewalks.

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Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center | Brand transformation revealed

28-3-2022

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 extraordinary brands recently unveiled the renovated Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center. Over the past year the hotel has been through a major renovation to create a new environment that creates an intuitive and holistic experience with places for people to connect, be productive and feel part of a community. Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is currently undergoing a brand transformation at properties across the world, and Sheraton Amsterdam now showcases this new vision as one of the very first hotels in Europe.

On 16 March, we enjoyed a tour of the hotel – with fun details for meetings such as origami plane folding and binoculars in the suites for spotting planes. And we enjoyed tasting some delicacies of what is served from Commune Restaurant, The Gate Bar & Stripes Restaurant. To celebrate the transformation of the hotel, Sheraton Amsterdam Airport created a special opening offer to experience the renovated Sheraton guestroom, including access to the Sheraton Club and a welcome drink in Commune.

Reading time: 4 minutes.

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Strand22 | To the beach in Almere City Centre

7-3-2022

Almere City Centre has a special new address, Strand22 has recently opened on Esplanade 14. The beach at the Esplanade will open on March 9. At Strand22, guests can already enjoy a delicious drink or dinner with a phenomenal view from inside. Now that the weather is getting better and with plenty of sun forecasted in the coming days, the large terrace is also open. This spring and summer it is the ideal place for an evening of cocktails or a night out.

Almere is a city in the Dutch province Flevoland. It is a drive of approximately 30 minutes from Amsterdam. The city is surrounded by waters such as Gooimeer, IJmeer and Markermeer. A perfect place for a city beach.

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Underground venue Obsidian by Graphite | Where vegan meets music

25-2-2022

Patron-cuisinier Peter Gast of restaurant Graphite (* Michelin) opens underground venue Obsidian by Graphite in the heart of Amsterdam on 3 March. The top chef will experiment with plant-based dishes and you can enjoy (unplugged) music at this location.

The intimate space, complete with a cozy bar, low stage and comfortable seats, are an invitation to relaxed or exciting evenings, filled with good food, a good glass of wine and the best music. The cozy and informal location offers space for vegan dinners, live music and the best performances ever. Obsidian by Graphite can also be booked for private events or meetings, provided by restaurant Graphite.

2 minutes read

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Trends we spotted | Week 6

11-2-2022

At horecatrends.com 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 amongst others Plan Bee of restaurant Tante Kee in the Netherlands and a spectacular new fine-dining restaurant in Las Vegas: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

McDonald’s USA celebrates ‘Black History’ with ‘Future 22’, a campaign that focuses on young game changers. And in Australia, KFC is going to test drone delivery in Logan, Queensland, together with drone delivery company ‘Wing’. As they say: KFC puts a Wing on it.

To raise money for the Notre Dame cathedral, a Virtual Reality experience has been created: Eternal Notre Dame. Great immersive experience to do with groups of friends or children in Paris! And in America, a festival dedicated to Hard Seltzers travels around: Seltzerland.

A new wine store, Half Full, in Amsterdam, that prefers quality over quantity and only sells half bottles of wine, champagne and more. And restaurant 3 Fils in Dubai is the first restaurant to be number 1 on the list of ’50 Best Restaurants Middle East and North Africa’.

Bordeaux (France) and Valencia (Spain) are the European capitals of ‘Smart Tourism’ in 2022. And McDonald’s in Japan sell special ‘square burgers‘ wrapped in ‘comic book’ paper.

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trends we spotted week 5

4-2-2022

At horecatrends.com 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 the new Nordic food movie, ‘A taste of Hunger’ and inspiration for those serving freakshakes from The Yard Mikshake Bar.

From March 1, the origin of meat served in canteens and restaurants must be mentioned in France and in Paris we spotted a great Valentine’s Day offer by the Bistrots Pas Parisiens. We love the idea!

Although we missed the fact that it’s going to be “World Pistachio Day” on February 26, we love the culinary partnership of Wonderful® Pistachios with world renowned, plant-based chef, cookbook author and restaurateur Matthew Kenney to celebrate all month long.

TGI Fridays in the USA will give a free appetizer to delivery drivers on February 10 just to say, “thanks for the hard work”. And Britain’s Borrow a Boat acquires Dutch competitor Barqo.

Cedric Grolet at the Berkeley Café opens in London on February 14! What a truly sweet Valentine’s Day surprise to give to your loved one: one of his pastries!

Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!

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Joris Bijdendijk opens Wils Bakery Café | Amsterdam

25-1-2022

Joris Bijdendijk is opening a new business on Amsterdam’s Stadionplein. The restaurant, which will be called Wils Bakery Café, will be a combination of a bakery and a bistro. With this concept, the chef wants to establish a culinary sister of star restaurant Wils, which is located on the third floor of the building.

Reading time: 2 minutes

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