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Restaurant experiences can be amazing, but you are often just one of quite a few "covers" being served that night, you have very little connection and feedback from the chef and you are distanced and not interacting with any of the other guests.

As people increasingly crave special and unique experiences, there are pioneers looking for new ways to deliver these experience and transcend the typical restaurant experience.

Nuno Mendes and Clairse Faira at The Loft Project in London are two such pioneers who invite leading up and coming chefs to cook in an intimate setting and have their guests seated at a single communal table.

Obviously, there are are tremendous number of ways in to providing new experiences for dinners, Outstanding in the Field, is another great example. Restaurants should think carefully about how they might twist the familiar into something unexpected and fresh, their audience is looking out for it. 

Via We Heart


Posted by Ed Cotton An enormous number of adults are keen to continue the learning experience well after they've left their college or university, but the thought of going back to the boring classroom fills them with dread.

We want to learn, but desire to do it in a new way and perhaps learn some stuff that's a lot closer to self-help books than academia.

Sadly, the adult education world has been pretty much a void when it comes to interesting experiences, there's plenty of opportunity, but nothing that comes across as arresting.

The School of Life is an attempt to change that. With its storefront, savvy branding and its openness to embrace the desire for people to network and learn interesting stuff in the process.

They have such treats as a two-day tour of Heathrow Airport with Alan De Botton for 295 pounds and conversational dinners where you get to meet new people and learn the art of conversation at the same time.


My guess is there will be a race to see if School of Life can open up a New York outpost before it gets copied by some enterprising Americans.

The Telegraph has a story here
Monocle has a film here

Posted by Ed Cotton the perils of a club where the clubbers generate real energy (51.529251355189906 , -0.15380859375) The London tabloids have been abuzz with the news that one of the world's first eco-clubs is opening in town.

The idea, not too different from health clubs, where users generate power for the building, is to get the dancing clubbers, with the aid of a special dance floor to generate the energy (up to 60% of the club's total needs)

It sounds interesting, but isn't it yet another example of putting "green" before the product experience?

Clubbers go to places where there's a good scene, good sound and great DJs.

Presenting yourself as an eco-club isn't really going to work.

Despite the desires of young adults to do good things for the world, they don't want to spend a lousy night at an eco-club.

Environmental credentials need to be built on top of great product performance, but cannot be used as a substitute.


Posted by Ed Cotton Here are some new food ideas I spotted in London last week, it includes some interesting concepts that put "health" or "healthier" at the center of the idea and a twist on the typical chocolate store.

1. Hamburger Union

A burger chain with a difference, it only uses beef from grass-fed, free-range cattle.



2. Maoz

A veggie fast-food chain with locations across Europe and now a couple in the United States and one in Australia.


3. Pure California

A new concept that exports the California fast food concept of wraps and smoothies to London.


4. Hummus Bros

A hummus and pita bread chain.


5. Hotel Chocolat

A chocolate themed hotel, not really, instead it's a luxury chocolate store.


Posted by Ed Cotton Sometimes ideas are so powerful and iconic, that the power drowns out questions about effectiveness.

A great example is the CCTV camera in London.

Cameras are literally everywhere and appear to provide citizens with greater security. However, if you dig a little deeper, you discover the CCTVs don't seems to be effective as it might first appear.

Despite the presence of 10,000 cameras in the city, 80% of crimes remain unsolved.

Analysis of clear-up rates across different neighborhoods shows the presence of cameras don't impact the rate.

Be careful, ideas can be seductive and shiny, but we always need to be asking ourselves the question about impact, effect and challenge everyone to understand if they are solving the real problem.

Interestingly, with the CCTV camera, the desired political goal might be to provide the illusion of safety.

Via Tom Hume


Posted by Ed Cotton Seen in London's Covent Garden last week.

Posted by Ed Cotton