All posts filed under: Trends

So hip it hurts: Class

“Classy is when you have a lot to say but you choose to remail silent in front of fools”   ‘Class’, een magisch woord in de ‘betere’ hospitality kringen. Helaas vaak (en verkeerdelijk) geassocieerd met stijf, bourgeois en vooral niet-modern. Inderdaad, driemaal helaas. Klasse staat vandaag voor de talloze vormen van verrassende, ogenschijnlijk moeiteloze verfijning, of zoals het zo mooi klinkt ‘effortless sophistication’. En dat is nu juist key: het moet lijken alsof het geen of nauwelijks moeite heeft gekost. Niet dat dit echt zo is, uiteraard zit er achter deze nonchalante stijl, uiterste precisie, creativiteit en oog voor het kleinste detail. In de fashion wereld kennen ze de truc al lang, maar op vlak van hospitality is er nog wel wat werk. In het nieuwe ‘classy’ doe je veel moeite en prep achter de schermen. Eens voor het oog van gasten, doen we heel gewoon en gaat het er losjes aan toe. Maar je voelt het meteen, dit klopt, dit is geen gelukstreffertje. Deze gesofisticeerde stijl zien we vandaag bijvoorbeeld in de manier waarop bloemen …

The Tourist_Image of the day #24

This image-of-the-day I shot during a visit at the very strong expo Robotlove during the Dutch Design Week. It catches by attention by it’s beauty, it’s innocence and it’s possibility. The figure is called ‘The Tourist’ and is the work of Dutch artist Margriet van Breevoort. She uses her hyperrealistic sculptures to seduce the viewer to believe in something impossible. The Tourist is the reminiscent of a traveler from a distant world, lost in the here and now. The figure seems to be amazed at the grand and complex world in which we live today. Where does the tourist come from and to what world does she belong? In the light of what is possible today, The Tourist is a reflection of a impending reality. Another work at from the same artist, shown at Robotlove is The Waiting, a humanoid walrus waiting quietly on a bench. The sculpture makes us wonder: what is normal in the world with endless possibilities? Intriguing no? Much more to come on Robotlove and the Dutch Design Week in the next …

corn skin waste

Corn food waste: material innovation_DDW 2017

We all know corn. We think there is one kind of corn we can consume during barbecue’s and spare ribes, but are wrong. In Mexico alone farmers breed 62 sorts of corn. The skin of these species of corn are waste material as we don’t consume it. Corn skin waste Designer Fernando Laposse found out dat we do not have to throw away the corn skins but that they can be used as finishing layers on furniture, decorative items and all kind of MDF constructions. The designer also shows where the corn is sourced. By doing so he not only celebrates bio diversity but gives also support to the small farmers who sustain their family. Fernando Laposse is a London based Mexican designer with a BA in product design from Central Saint Martins. He was born in Paris, France september 1988. His work is deeply rooted in material experimentation and craft with a great emphasis on self production and the DIY culture. His projects aim to raise questions regarding whole system thinking, ephemerality, patterns of consumption and …

Wild oysters_Netherlands

For the job I visit a lot of professional food fairs to check out new products, ingredients and dishes. I always try to find the real craftsmen who are responsible for the great food on the different stands. The goal is to find good stories that reflect the ‘zeitgeist’ of today. At the latest Tavola fair I bumped into Jan en Barbara Geertsema-Rodenburg, a cute couple  who presented their uber-fresh, handpicked oysters in the Waddenzee. The oysters tasted mild, natural & salty and super fresh (as I hoped for) but what really made me fall in love with this brand is the absolute fantastic packaging of the oysters. That mermaid!!! Red haired, topless and a lovely green fishtail, in unspoiled fisher men tattoo style. I love it. I could not resist to buy The original Wild Wad Oyster T-shirt and it became one of my favorites. Artisanal fishermen harvest Wild Wad Oysters on wild oyster banks in the Wadden Sea. They are Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), a species used by oyster farms all around the …