Our latest menuwatching report has been published on the tfp TrendHub, exploring what's trending across Fine Dining menus around the world, and the ingredients, techniques and flavours, movers and shakers.
Fine Dining is changing. Once synonymous with white-gloved maître d's and silver service, the sector has, for the past three decades, been slowly morphing to arrive at a point where an exact definition can be difficult to achieve. Michelin stars are awarded to street food vendors, guests are encouraged to sing and dance during their meals, and cuisines from every corner of the earth form the basis of the most highly regarded of restaurants' offerings.
Here are three key takeouts, to give you a taster of what to expect in the report:
Party Time – As the barriers of entry to fine dining drop, so too do the traditional stuffy service styles of old, replaced by party-like atmospheres where singing, dancing and kitchen-client interaction are positively encouraged. From dining rooms decked in disco balls to omakase tasting menus with a hip-hop soundtrack, this new wave of relaxed restaurants offer Michelin star dishes with pop star performances!
Trendy Tipples - Über cool small-batch producers are nipping at the heels of the grand houses of Burgundy, as a new wave of natural wines wrestle for space on fine dining menus. Sake, mead, soju and stout are paired with everything from scallops to soft serve, while tee-total diners are treated to complex juice-based concoctions designed to share all the tasty traits of a fine wine without the pesky alcohol content.
Super Swavoury – The 'sw-' prefixes are at large as swalty, swicy and swavoury flavours dominate menus (thanks in no small part to the guiding influence of East Asian cuisine, and ingredients like gochujang, seaweed and miso). But ever-ready to stretch the boundaries further, fine dining chefs are cranking up those sweet-savoury combos to an extreme level, pairing curry and candy floss, banana and foie gras, garum and ganache (you get the idea)… while bitter-sweet emerges as the de rigueur flavour combo of the summer.
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TrendHub subscribers can access the full 105-page Fine Dining 2024 menuwatching report here. If you're not yet subscribed but are interested to find out more then complete the form below and a member of the team will back to you with more information.