Category Archives: restaurants

15 days of travels and food around the world

Last 12th of February, with a colleague of mine, I went to Ljubljana to meet some potential clients willing to develop a new food concept project. It was snowing and as soon as we entered in Slovenia, the panorama changed. slovenia0

Beautiful. Striking.

We arrived at the perfect time to make the check-in at the hotel and to have some free time to enjoy Ljubljana downtown. Have you been there? You should, its beautiful! Again the time was perfect to have an aperitif. We went to one of the most beautiful wine bar I ever seen, the Movia. The atmosphere you can brief there is totally brought from the vineyards. We had Movia Cabernet Sauvignon. Outstanding ! Dinner at River House.

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On the 14th, I flew to Madrid to meet an architectural and engineering group for Retail and Food & Beverages projects. Their great services are complementary with those of DESITA, therefore we met to find a mutual benefit business collaboration agreement. We succeed! Later on, we went to visit some of their projects. Dinner at La Tagliatella an impressive franchising concept.

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Last week I was in Dubai to attend to Gulfood. I was there together with FCSI EAME colleagues to guard the booth at the exhibition. We have been successful. Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) is the premier association promoting professionalism in foodservice and hospitality consulting. With over 1300 members in over 46 countries, FCSI members offer a wide range of consulting services including concept development, feasibility studies, food safety, design, marketing, operations and training. FCSI is changing a lot in its structure, philosophy and mission and we are all proud of this huge effort made by the Board of Directors. The website is brand new like the “foodservice consultant” magazine that provides authoritative insight, opinion and intelligence to help foodservice professionals keep in touch with the tings that matter.

It was nice to meet with clients, colleagues and old friends.

Dubai-Burj-KhalifaFor an important meeting I went to the Armani Hotel at Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It was my second time there after its opening and to meet with my guest, I went to the coffee shop in the lobby. Time was nice so we decided to share an Italian bottle of wine. With all my surprise, the young waiter served us the ordered white wine with apparent difficulty and … the white wine wasn’t cold and not even fresh. Unbelievable.

We pointed out the regrettable inconvenience and the waiter brought us immediately a new bottle … with the same warm temperature. We had to call the waiter back and ask at least for an ice bucket and wait for a more pleasant wine temperature.

The fact is that I paid that bottle like 70 Euro and I didn’t receive any good service. It’s a shame as we were in THE Location. Now I probably understand why the f&b manager didn’t reply to my emails last year when I had my dinner at Mediterraneo. Beautiful atmosphere but very normal food. I think Armani Hotel has a lack in training human resources. Mr. Giorgio, please do something!

While I was in Dubai, I’ve been invited from a Sheikh friend of mine to attend the Peru Food Festival at Madinat Jumeirah’s Souk Amphitheater. What a surprise the Peruvian food. It’s just great! And it’s considered on the the next food trend worldwide.

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So hurry up my friends, let’s organize a trip to Peru and all its wonders. Ready?

Well, I can’t write about everything happened because 15 days are quite long and things are many. I hope you enjoyed these few facts.

Traveling and sharing time with great people while having good food. Yes, that’s life!

Chefs asked: how green is your kitchen?

Does a British apple have a smaller carbon footprint than an imported one if it has to be refrigerated for up to a year after harvest? And how do you design a kitchen so your chefs are naturally working in an energy efficient manner?

These are just some of the questions explored in a new guide launched on May 31st by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and Space Catering to help the catering industry reduce its energy bills and drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

According to The Carbon Trust, energy used in catering accounts for 4-6 per cent of operating costs, while around 20 million tonnes of food waste is created every year in the UK food service sector.

The National Restaurant Association 2008 survey also found that 62 per cent of diners would prefer to eat in an environmentally-friendly restaurant.

“Chefs and restaurateurs are always looking for simple solutions to difficult challenges,” said Mark Linehan, managing director of the SRA.

“This guide provides them with a straightforward, easy to read guide to sustainable kitchen equipment that the SRA believes will be of huge interest and practical use to any restaurant that takes seriously its environmental responsibilities.”

The 20-page guide will be free for anyone to download from the Space Catering website, covering topics such as food waste, water consumption, energy efficiency and “green cuisine.”

via Chefs asked: how green is your kitchen?  News from BusinessGreen.

Otarian eco-minded restaurant lists carbon footprint for each menu item

Much the way French Europcar shows customers the carbon emissions associated with each of its rental cars, so a new restaurant chain includes such information for every item on its vegetarian menu.

With two restaurants in each of New York and London, Australia-based Otarian bills itself as “the first ever low-carbon restaurant chain, using a cradle-to-grave analysis in the carbon footprinting of every menu item.”

Almost everything in Otarian’s restaurants—from the floor to the tables and chairs—is made from recycled materials. They use the most energy-efficient equipment available, and all the electricity powering them comes from wind, water or sun. Water use is minimised, and local supplies are selected whenever possible.

Targeting the heavy emissions associated with the livestock industry, meanwhile, the restaurant offers no meat on its menu. Most interesting of all, however, is that Otarian uses international standards like BSI PAS 2050 to carbon footprint its entire menu; it has also been selected to road test the new Greenhouse Gas Protocol product standard.

Its “Eco2tarian Labelling” shows the difference in greenhouse gas emissions between its veggie meals and similar dishes containing meat, fish or egg. Otarian even goes so far as to reward consumers for the carbon they save by eating at its restaurants.

Specifically, every purchase earns them “Carbon Karma” credits, which are tracked by way of the restaurant’s Carbon Karma cards; consumers can track both their credits and their carbon savings online. After 100 credits, they are treated to a free Choco Treat off the menu.

As legions of eco-minded consumers begin tracking their impact on the environment, there’s no shortage of opportunities for companies to stand out by offering the eco intel they need to do that.

via Eco-minded restaurant lists carbon footprint for each menu item | Springwise.

 

Hoppit: highly curated recommendations for restaurants based on ambience

Tourists already have a variety of options when trying to work out what to do based on their mood. In the US, UK and Canada the I Feel London site, which groups activities by participant mood — energetic, sophisticated, hungover — is one such example. hoppit

Taking a similar concept and applying it to restaurants, Hoppit is the first site to provide a dining-out search engine which filters its results based on the ambience of venues.

Based in Manhattan and currently available in 25 cities in the US, each restaurant in the Hoppit database is tagged with one of ten “vibes” or types of atmosphere. These include ‘classy & upscale’, ‘hipster’, ‘romantic’ and ‘cozy & quaint’, among others. Users can manage their search results based on these categories, as well as the type of people they will be dining with – whether friends, family, business associate or date — the food they would like to eat, and the noise volume they would like to experience. Hoppit then displays a list of the nearby restaurants suited to the user’s plans and mood.

The service uses “natural language processing technology and algorithms” to sort its data, which draws on existing online reviews. Search results are complemented by food and drink deals through sites such as Groupon and Gilt City, which are shown beside the restaurant options.

via Site helps users choose restaurants based on atmosphere | Springwise.

How to achieve Sustainability in the Restaurant Industry

The notion of sustainability will remain for countless years to come. No matter if you’re talking about the product design, agriculture, construction, food or restaurant industries, sustainability is at the forefront.

While most industries are developing more sustainable approaches to products and services, the food and restaurant industries are making tremendous headway, in alliance with health and environmentally-conscious consumers.

Nowadays, consumers are taking note of how they eat and are taking strides to make changes. Not only do they want healthier foods on their tables, they want a cleaner, healthier planet. In fact, an increased portion of food dollars are being spent at local farmers markets, as well as an overwhelming number of consumers taking part in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.

Furthermore, the One Green Score for One Earth sustainability research study revealed some 63% of those surveyed said they were extremely committed to buying sustainable goods. It doesn’t stop there. More and more, consumers are taking on the task of self-farming. In fact, Forbes predicts that by the year 2018, 20% of all food consumed in U.S. cities will come from rooftop and parking lot farms.

The restaurant industry, one of the most wasteful industries in the world, as a whole is seemingly tackling sustainability in its own way as well. By adopting certain practices such as utilizing solutions like Foodem to purchase sustainable, organic food products, putting food education at the heart of their businesses, realizing industry partnerships are mandatory, creating ways to reduce and reuse food waste and being environmentally-conscious when designing and building dining locations, the restaurant industry has finally wrapped its head around what needs to be done, even though there remains tons to accomplish.

To put the vision of sustainability and the restaurant industry into perspective, check out Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson’s enlightening Ted Talk.

via Sustainability and the Restaurant Industry: It Can Be Achieved | Foodem.com.

Meet us at SIGEP!

The next days are going to be very busy ones for us at DESITA, ECOFFEE and showfood. SIGEP – the 33rd International Exhibition for the Artisan Production of Gelato, Pastry, Confectionery and Bakery – will take place in Rimini from Jan.21st to 25th and we will participate meeting our current customers and prospects.

Artisan confectionery is one of the sectors for which Italy is famous worldwide. According to Confartigianato, between January and August 2011, Italian companies in this sector exported products for a value of 224 million euros, with an increase of 8.6% compared to the first eight months of 2010. The country that is fondest of Italian delicacies is France, followed by Germany and Austria. Since the beginning of the year, Italy´s ´cousins´ from the other side of the Alps have bought 50.3 million euros of confectionery (equal to 22.4% Italian exports of this type of product). Italy exported 35.8 million euros of pastry produce t o Germany (15.9% of total exports), whereas exports of confectionery to Austria totalled 16.8 million euros (7.5% of the total).

These results were achieved also thanks to the contribution of SIGEP, the world´s most important artisan confectionery expo, with its 90,000 m2 of exhibition space 850 companies taking part and approximately 20,000 foreign trade visitors over the five days.

The international success is the result of a precise strategy in event organization, with participants from the five continents, in sales communication and advertising and in the widespread network of relations set up through the years. A precise project is dedicated to internationalization activity – Top Buyers from 5 continents – which focuses on the qualified attendance of trade members from nations selected along with the exhibitors. Plus, to schedule effective business meetings before SIGEP, by means of the online Marketplace platform, precise daily agendas of meetings are programmed between Italian and foreign trade members, bringing together supply and demand.

With a view to SIGEP 2012 and to favour the arrival of foreign buyers, Rimini Fiera foreign marketing office concentrated on the so-called BRICST countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey), as well as on the neighbouring nations: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ecuador, Singapore, United States, Malaysia and Qatar.

Further promotional activity was carried out in Morocco, France, Arab Emirates and Canada

Also worth stressing are the numerous contacts made by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany for the promotion of the SIGEP Neo program during SIGEP 2012. The major German Chambers of Commerce and Artisan Business were contacted and several of them expressed interest in divulging Rimini Fiera´s invitation among their ´young´ member companies. Also on behalf of the most important German associations there is willingness to distribute invitations to the sector´s new ´recruits´: many regional bakers associations, such as the Verband des Rheinischen BBckerhandwerks, BBckerinnungsverband Hessen and associations that include large-scale bakeries such as the Verband Deutscher Groobbckereien, just like the Uniteis e.V., whose members are all the ice cream parlours in Germany, have confirmed that they will distribute the program among their members.

Please feel free to contact me normanatdesitadotit if you want to arrange an appointment – our schedule is very busy but we will do our best to get to know you in person.

How to run a sustainable restaurant or pub | VIDEO

It is now almost two years since the Sustainable Restaurant Association launched in a bid to help restaurants, pubs and caterers become more sustainable and hundreds of businesses have since been audited and rated.

BigHospitality has recently published a very interesting video filmed by Hospitality Media about how to run a successful sustainable restaurant. Not to be missed.

Italian restaurant chain discounts pull in consumer spend

The How Britain Eats survey, by Allegra Strategies, revealed that eating habits have changed over the past year, and are influenced by the fortunes of high-street brands.One of the key findings was the resurgence of Italian food.

It was identified as the countrys favourite national cuisine to eat out of home this year, having been third in 2010. Traditional British food occupied the top spot last year, but has dropped to number two.The reason for the change, according to Allegra Strategies, is the increased number of Italian restaurant chains, such as Zizzi, PizzaExpress, Carluccios and Jamies Italian, on the UKs high streets.

The study claimed that pizza chains, in particular, are benefiting from strong promotional activity, which can result in eating out becoming cheaper than eating at home. Another major finding of the study was that Marks & Spencers Meal for two for £10 deal was more popular than Tescos Meal for Two for £9 and Asdas Indian Meal for £4. One of the reasons for the popularity of such purchases, according to the study, is that they are cheaper than eating out or take-away, and are helped by the bottle of wine often available as part of such deals.

The research placed Sainsburys 18% ahead of Asda 15% in terms of consumer visit share. Tesco was confirmed as the dominant supermarket, with 31% share.Convenience emerged as the major motivator when consumers select their main food-shopping destination, ahead of value for money and ease of car parking, the survey found.Other considerations included the lure of special offers and whether the supermarket is a pleasant place to shop.The study was based on a survey of 2000 UK consumers.

via Italian restaurant chain discounts pull in consumer spend – Marketing news – Marketing magazine.

Condé Nast to open GQ and Vogue restaurants in Turkey and Ukraine

Condé Nast to open GQ and Vogue restaurants in Turkey and UkraineSophie Maden, 22 September 2011, 3:00pm Be the first to commentVogue and GQ publisher Condé Nast has announced it will open branded restaurants in Kiev and Istanbul next year, as part of a plan to target high-end consumers worldwide.Vogue Cafe, Moscow: established by Condé Nast last yearThe publisher established Condé Nast Restaurants, part of Condé Nast International, in August last year.Now the Vogue Café, Kiev, and GQ Bar, Istanbul, are set to join Moscows Vogue Café, GQ Bar and Tatler Club.Stuart Nielsen, director of restaurants for Condé Nast International, said: “Turkey and the Ukraine are both exciting emerging markets with a strong appetite for luxury brands in retail and hospitality. Vogue Café and GQ Bar address this powerful consumer desire.”Condé Nast is working in partnership with the Otrada Luxury Group in the Ukraine, and the Dogus Group in Turkey, to launch the outlets.Nielsen said more openings would be announced in the coming months, including in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.Condé Nast will also launch mens title GQ to a Turkish audience for the first time in March next year. The magazine, edited by Mirgun Cabas, will be published under a licensing agreement between Condé Nast and the Dogus Media Group.Last week, Condé Nast announced it would open its own college in London offering Vogue-branded fashion courses.

via Condé Nast to open GQ and Vogue restaurants in Turkey and Ukraine – Media news – Media Week.

Welcome to the Organic Academy among ECOFFEE’s partners!

I am glad to announce that another great partnership has been recently signed between ECOFFEE by DESITA and the Italian leading project about Culinary Knowledge and Environmental Respect, the Organic Academy.

The Organic Academy is based on the foundations of a respect and nurturing of one’s self, others, and the surrounding Nature, which can be found also in its willingness to elevate the vegetarian cuisine to its best thanks to the incredible receipts of Executive Chef Simone Salvini, whose amazing curriculum shows experiences at the Joia Restaurants (Michelin starred), at the Italian Camera dei Deputati (Parliament) and at the Italian Association of Vegetarians.

The Organic Academy is supervised by Chef Pietro Leeman, Joia restaurant owner.

This respect and nurturing is also manifested by development and practice of culinary arts, nutrition, and hospitality, development skillfully managed by Organic Academy’s Managing Director, Enrico Buselli, successful restaurant owner and sustainable tourism consultant.

ECOFFEE and the Organic Academy are also collaborating to develop the Organic Bistrot, following the ECOFFEE’s protocol.

I am sure that this partnership will lead to great innovative –and delicious- projects having sustainability at its core!