Everplaces rebrands to focus on app-making-platform for travel brands and DMOs
For the last year, Everplaces has been powering two products simultaneously, the well-known travel tool app simply called “Everplaces” and a B2B tool for companies to make travel apps in a faster and better way.
From 1 January 2015 this will change, as we make changes in our business to split the products, and move focus to the app making platform.
Everplaces the app, which is used and loved all over the world, will continue running to support the community of travellers to find the very best insider tips for places to eat, sleep and play. It will retain the name and brand “Everplaces” and will be run by our wonderful designer cofounder Angelica Vargas, who will also find the time to work with other startups and brands to develop amazing designs, especially on mobile.
This strategic move enables us to focus our efforts inside the company on one product, rather than two. This is good news for all of our clients, such as German National Tourism Board, Urban Adventures, Epoque Hotels, etc., whose amazing travel apps are built on the platform. It will enable us to create travel related apps with even more advanced features, faster, easier and cheaper than ever before.
Till now, the app-making-platform has lived a life somewhat in the shadow of its larger sibling, Everplaces, a position it has now outgrown. The product will now get its own name, brand and resources. In this process, cofounder Christoffer Kaalund is stepping up as CEO. Christoffer is the technical mind behind the app-making-platform and knows it better than anyone else. Current CEO Tine Thygesen has decided to move on, and will only be involved in a non-operational capacity going forward.
Sometimes when you have two good things you have to make the hard choice to separate them, so each can grow and develop in its respective way. This is what this split allows us to do, and we are thoroughly convinced that it is the best way to serve our investors, clients and community. In fact, we are very excited about the new stage.
Don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have further questions.
Tine Thygesen, Christoffer Kaalund and Angelica Vargas
Cofounders, Everplaces
More info:
Everplaces travel app: everplaces.com, and Apple App Store.
App-making-platform: business.everplaces.com
San Francisco: The way to the heart is through the stomach
Heading to San Francisco this summer? Everplaces guest blogger Nicole Murakami tells us about her recent trip to the golden gate city.
As the song goes, many return from San Francisco with a true understanding of “I left my heart in San Francisco” and it’s not hard to see why. Though I’m a true New Yorker (meaning I still think New York wins), San Francisco possesses a special charm.
The food
A foodie paradise, there are some restaurants that anyone traveling in San Francisco must see. First off and most importantly, there’s the In-N-Out Burger. You will never be able to have a serious conversation about burgers without being able to compare to an In-N-Out Burger, so be sure to find the only In-N-Out in San Francisco and order your burger “animal style”.
Afterwards work off the calories with a walk along the water to Pier 39 to see the sea lions (it’s not hard to find, as you’ll hear the lions from down the street).
Fast food aside, my favorite restaurant during the trip was State Bird Provisions. While it’s fairly hard to get reservations, they do reserve a certain number of seats for walk-ins and the trick is to wait in line before they open to get on the evenings waiting list.
This casual restaurant serves their food dim-sum style, making it feel as if you’re dining at a close friend’s house where they keep bringing delicious things for you to try. You will not be rushed and the server lingers with each table to help the diners choose their dishes; however I’d advise you to just say yes, and try everything!
Frances was another restaurant that I wanted to visit, and it did not disappoint. It’s a small elegant restaurant, that even though it’s fairly well known feels like a hidden neighborhood gem. The dishes are an unusual mixture of ingredients, resulting in creations like bacon beignets and chickpea fritters.
Nearby
While San Francisco is glorious in its own right, part of its wonder comes from being so close to natural treasures like Big Sur and Monterey. A day trip is definitely recommended, and provides a glimpse of why people love San Francisco so much. They have an amazing city, private beaches, trees taller than time and endless curving roads.
Take time to visit the many state parks in Big Sur, but be sure to book a hotel outside Big Sur for a much cheaper price. Montery is close by and while extremely crowded in the summer it is quiet during the winter months. I imagine that it’s beautiful throughout the year, as the town lies on the ocean’s edge.
Nicole Murakami is a digital strategist & Everplaces guest blogger living in New York. She loves social media, discovering new places and grilled cheese.
Collections are a great way to share your favourite places on Everplaces, or create mini-guides for visiting friends & family. Got a collection that you’d like to share with us? Send a mail to tom[at]everplaces.com.
AUTHENTIC FOOD IN NEW YORK CITY
Guest post by Penny Sudtunyarat (Pinrat), an NYC foodie who loves to turn her travels into culinary discoveries
I am lucky enough to live in one of the most dynamic places in the world - New York City! NYC offers you so many wonderful things from great museums and shopping to awesome food. When I can get out and see the rest of the world it’s usually my stomach that guides me. For me the only reason to travel is to eat well elsewhere. Some touristy spots can be just as good as the ones off the beaten path. I use Everplaces to help me find those gems. Along with restaurants I can find cafés and specialty stores that pique my interest.
When my husband and I were in Brussels we looked up places to buy specialty beers for him and found what is probably my favorite cookie place in the world - Maison J. Dandoy. They carry the most delicious thin almond cookie I have ever had!
Everplaces helps fill in the gaps of a traditional guidebook and also helps me capture my favorite places so that I can share with others.
Below is a short list of a few places I love going to in NYC and my most favorite place to eat in the world! I hope you’ll get to experience them one day and find them to be just as yummy as I do.
The Breslin - I was lucky enough to get invited to The Chef’s Table for suckling pig. The fixed menu dinner is held 3 times a night and requires a dedicated party of 8-12 people per group, which means you can’t just walk in and join a dinner. You have to plan it or get invited. The actual table is located in the middle of the room right in front of the open kitchen. The pig and it’s fixin’s are made to perfection by Chef April Bloomfield and her team. The dessert and wine selection are equally as impressive.
Crif Dogs - When my husband and I went on our first official date together he took me to Crif Dogs in the East Village. This is not your cheap run of the mill hot dog place. Rather it’s a gourmet hot dog served in a dive. My husband’s favorite is the Spicy Redneck (house dog, bacon wrapped, with chili, cole slaw, and jalapenos) and mine is the Chihuahua (bacon wrapped dog covered with avocados and sour cream). Also if you’re lucky enough to get into PDT their entrance is in Crif Dogs through the phone booth.
Pylos - Recommended by a Greek friend who says this is the #1 authentic Greek restaurant in NYC and it did not disappoint. The restaurant has clay pots hanging from the ceiling with a fun laid-back atmosphere. I haven’t had much Greek food but if this is the real thing then I never want any other. I overate but the 2 dishes that stood out to me were the taramosalata (robust and lemony fish roe dip) and the Avgolemono Me Sampania Soup (champagne avgolemono, pylos’ smooth as silk classic egg-lemon soup with chicken stock and rice).
Morimoto - Owned by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto this is where I go to have amazing food! On my first dining experience there I decided to have the morimoto omakase which is the “chef’s choice” multi-course tasting menu. It was one of the most decadent and delicious meals I have ever had. Anything I ate after that paled in comparison.
This is just a sneak peek into the culinary experiences Penny is discovering in New York City. Check out her food collection on Everplaces to draw inspiration by her wonderful recommendations.
Pylos image by 10best.com
We Love San Francisco
At Everplaces we get to travel quite a lot. Today our CEO Tine Thygesen came back from San Francisco. Here she shares the best from her trip.
I love San Francisco. Its one of the most vibrant and friendly cities I know. And the views are wonderful. It has to be up there with Sydney for the best views of any city. Not only because of the quality of the views but also for the mere quantity of them. Because the city is built on hills and surrounded by water, bridges and more hills it simply has stunning vistas no matter where you turn.
The second reason I love it is for its pulse. It’s an open and welcoming culture where everyone contributes to the melting pot of tastes, smells and music. This creates a fabulous scene for food, nightlife and culture.
Here are some of my favorites from this trip.
This is where the locals come for their daily exercise and to admire the views of their wonderful city. You can see both Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge and get a good view of Twin Peaks. Its quite the experience watching the fog roll in, which in August is around 7 pm.
Concept restaurant that only serves food within 100 miles radius of the place. This, when you’re in Northern California means you can still get everything in delicious produce and wines, so there’s nothing lacking. Also good (of course local) wine list and great for group dinners. Photo is courtesy of their fb page.
Book Passage is one of the few old-fashioned bookstores left in the States. Bookstores are places filled with wonder and magic for me, and some of my favorite places of culture. This one has been run by the same family, the Petrocellis, for decades and retains a cosy, friendly ambience and a great selection, also in smaller genres.
Quintessentially San Francisco. Tiny, friendly gay bar with the most wonderful low-key drag show. When I was there the showstopper was a fabulously overweight 50-year-old man dressed in a tight fitting velvet one-piece, collecting one dollar notes into his bra.
This is truly a city that puts a smile on your face and I have lots of recommendations to share here; my most recent ones, which includes surrounding areas can be found here and my full collection of San Fran places, which includes previous trips can be see here. From both you can save places you’d like to visit one day to your own collection.
Check out what our featured users love in San Fran
A Short Getaway in Prague
Last week was a travel week in our office. A few of our team members have been out and around in Europe exploring beautiful sights. Here is a little story from our Head Designer, Angelica Vargas, who traveled to charming Prague.
I’ve been wishing to visit Prague for years, not just because of the beautiful architecture or the great beer, but mainly because of my all times favorite writer Milan Kundera, who happens to be Czech. Some of his books are set in Prague and I wanted to experience the city a bit through his lens, so the first thing I packed for my trip was my book ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’.
Loved reading it again while being exactly there. Walking the streets of Prague got an extra dimension, and apart from admiring the prettiness, I could also think about the city struggles during the communist years or how would the characters look like and stand at the places they described.
Prague is beautiful and I’m glad we met at last. Some highlights of my trip:
Love this funky TV tower. The babies crawling on it are by controversial Czech sculptor David Černý and were only added in 2000. You can go 93m up with an elevator for a view of the city.
Great Asian fusion food served in small portions so you can taste a lot of different things. The place decor is really cool and they have a bar and club too.
Perfect place for a cocktail in a nice area of town. The place looks a bit like a movie setting… old books, red leather coaches and nicely styled waitress and barman to match.
Nice bakery and coffee shop with a cool brand. Good place for a quick bite or a glass of wine in town.
Tower on top of Petrin Hill, you can walk up (or take the lift) for cool views of the city.
You can see Angelica’s Prague collection here.
INSIDER’S HONG KONG
Guest post by Hong-Konger, coffee addict and food and drink journalist Charmaine Mok
I’m originally from Calgary, Canada, but since I haven’t been back there for 17 years, I consider myself a half Hong Konger, half Londoner - my family is from the former, and it’s where I now live (again) after spending the last seven years in London.
Eat with the locals at shops and dai pai dongs whose ownership spans decades – tofu-phobes might just change their minds after a bowl of the silkiest tofu-fa dessert at Kung Wo Soybean Factory, a rustic local joint famed for its beany products.
Tak Hing Lung, hidden behind the market stalls in North Point’s Marble Road, is its equal on the island side.
Or have a scrambled egg sandwich and macaroni-in-soup breakfast at the chaotic Australian Dairy Company (note: it has nothing to do with the Aussies), where the scarily-efficient waiters can clear the tables and take your order at the same time.
The streets are lined with so much to see – take the rusting facades of the old Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market, which still runs in the wee hours of the morning. It’s in close proximity to a former Art Deco-style soft-porn cinema, which has recently relaunched as a venue for classic Chinese opera - still hitting those high notes, then. 
Hong Kong isn’t just about Blade Runner-esque skyscrapers; one of my favourite getaway spots is further up north in the mountains, Tai Mo Shan to be exact, though I’m there more for the old-school dim sum at Choi Lung than the hiking trails (which are excellent, I hear). It isn’t always easy living here – high rents, pollution, a shambles of a government to name a few vices – but every time someone comes to visit me and I get to play tour guide, I’m again reminded about how much this petit island has up its silk sleeve. Hopefully my recommendations will show you the lesser-seen side of Hong Kong.
SECRETS OF SPANISH GASTRONOMY
Guest post by foodie, cinnamon tea lover and Malaga native Francisco Pinto
Most of my current spots in Everplaces are in Spain. This is a nice country with an enviable climate and gastronomic culture. Spanish cuisine has a wide selection of dishes. It is said that our mountainous orography acted as a natural barrier to communication among regions until the last century and that had an influence on the food. Our cooking methods and ingredients remain simple and unalterable for centuries. Our essential ingredient is always a trickle of olive oil. If I would have to mention three typical dishes they would be: tapas, Spanish omelette and Iberian ham.
We have a lot of cafeterias and, specially in the south, tearooms. If you like to drink something special, Moroccan tea — green tea with mint leaves — is a must. Personally, I taste brewing black tea with slices of cinnamon and star anise sweetened with maple syrup. Check out my favourite tea house on Everplaces.
As I am a big fan of Moleskine notebooks, I filled them up with map clippings and notes for all the places I wanted to go to. After visiting them, if the place was not worth it, then I crossed it off the list. However, it had some snags. Sharing was unbearable. When friends asked me for recommendations, I had to scan the pages.
Later smartphones became popular and after a couple of geolocation services I came across Everplaces. It is pretty much what I was looking for — offline mode, private places, images, maps, notes and easy to share all your profile without a click. I find the private checkbox very helpful. When someone recommends me a place I add it as a private place until I visit it and decide if it becomes an Everplace.
HAVE A CLASSIC BRITISH DAY IN LONDON
Interested in what to check out in London? Then meet Olivia, a londoner who loves
off-the-beaten-track, as well as classic cultural experience. With an abundance of hip places to eat and drink, it’s easy to overlook the classic art galleries and cultural experiences. Take a day and mix in some of the London classics with the unique. After all, they’re classics for a good reason.
Breakfast at Bloomsbury Coffee House: Seriously, do it. Its design-conscious interior, organic food, and life-changing coffee will not disappoint. Save it to your Everplaces collection
Contemplate modern art at the Tate Modern: By far my favorite collection of modern art, The Tate Modern is a hip place to spend the morning. Save place
Camden Lock Market: See a different side of the city in Camden-town. It’s the ultimate vintage shopping experience, and has excellent street food, an alternative crowd, and many treasures to be found. Save it to your Everplaces collection
Afternoon Tea at the Orangery: Located in the beautiful Kensington Gardens, this is the perfect place to have a cup of tea. It’s the ultimate cherry on top of a day in London. Save place
Evensong at Westminster Abbey: Avoid paying the steep charge to get into the Abbey and attend Evensong, a form of evening prayer featuring a talented choir. Save place
Be classy at the London Symphony Orchestra: Located at The Barbican, Europe’s largest multi-arts and conference venue, everything you need for the evening is inside. Grab dinner at the Barbican Foodhall, a cafeteria-style restaurant which offers cheap meals in a beautifully designed-space. One of the best orchestra’s in the world awaits you right downstairs. Save it to your Everplaces collection
You can browse through Olivia’s entire collection of great insider tips for London here
BEST ORGANIC RESTAURANTS IN BERLIN
In Berlin and looking for recommendations for the best organic or vegan restaurants? Meet Patrick from Germany, a long-time blogger about organic food and sustainable consumption. He is an expert on organic places and vegan food in Germany and shares his recommendations with us.
GUEST POST BY PATRICK BOLK
Vego Foodworld: I love Fast Food, especially when it’s organic and vegan. Vego is one oft the best places to go for that, in a very nice area just around the Helmholtzplatz.
La Mano Verde: If you want to go out for a romantic dinner, this is a great place to go. Almost completely organic, 100% vegan, very nice atmosphere, great food.
Credits to campus.tip-berlin.de, germanygoesraw.files.wordpress.com, berlin.de, myspace.com for the images
BEST PLACES TO EAT IN SAN FRANCISCO
Looking for insider tips to find affordable, wholesome, local eats in San Francisco? Meet Jonas, a Swedish expat living there. He has put together an extensive list of his favorites, see below.
Jonas Grankvist
Check out Jonas’ food recommendations in San Francisco and prepare your next trip.