April 2016 – OPEN Food Group

If you’re someone who eats out at restaurants often, you probably won’t notice changes in trends as they happen. Menu alterations happen subtly, with new flavours and ingredients slowly changing the face of restaurant eating. And all of a sudden, everyone’s serving terrines, tartlets or tuna tartare.

Changing restaurant trends are fascinating to watch, because they’re borne from changes in the economy, health fads and even the weather. They’re also an emotional reflection of the people eating at restaurants. The many factors at play are what eventually lead to you digging into a plate of sautéed kale. From décor to dining, here are the latest global restaurant trends to look out for:

Simplicity is king

The rise of artisanal bread and cheese tells us something clear about the direction of restaurant dining – taste and quality matter. People no longer want a highfalutin seven layered salad, when they can eat a caprese salad made with top-quality buffalo mozzarella, sweet tomatoes and flavourful basil. They’ll eat it with fresh bread and olive oil, and they’ll be getting their money’s worth.

From the bustling markets on Portobello Road to Michelin star dining, simplicity is in. Coffee, chocolate and pasta have all reverted to their most original form – five ingredients or less – and being served in a decidedly less complicated way.

Freedom from meat

French Monegasque chef Alain Ducasse recently removed all meat from his menu. And no one was mad. In fact, meat-free meals are now ubiquitous at fine dining establishments – and not squashed onto the back page of the menu under ‘vegetarian’. They’re listed in amongst the other dishes, given new and unprecedented love and attention.

Vegetarian meals are now a gourmet experience. Other chefs like Jamie Oliver and Marcus Wareing are also embracing menus with more vegetable-based dishes. If you haven’t noticed the trend on menus at your favourite restaurants, you will now.

Seamlessly stemless

No, they’re not tumblers and you shouldn’t be clutching your pearls at the sight of them. Stemless wineglasses are all the rage overseas and local restaurants are quickly catching up – and if anyone asks, you shouldn’t have been holding your wine glass by the stem anyway, so this new style of drinking isn’t going to mar the ‘correct’ way of sipping your favourite vino.

Stemless wineglasses are a welcome logistical reprieve from the constant anxiety of wineglass-knocking. They look slick and stylish, and allow diners to interact and speak to one another without having to peer over a forest of glass.

The same can be said for drinking coffee and tea from glasses. In cultures where coffee drinking has been happening for centuries, this is nothing new. It’s the way it’s always been done, and it allows for an authentic drinking experience. So get on board, because it’s not going anywhere.

Open seasoning

For restaurants who are brave enough to try it, salt and pepper bags and bowls are charming and on-trend. Some people struggle with the concept of someone else’s fingers taking a pinch of salt just before them, but then that’s a matter of personal compulsion. Stylists are designing gorgeous embossed salt bags and futuristic bowls that add a whole new dimension to restaurant décor.

Some food experts even believe salt and pepper grinders are, in fact, far more unhygienic than bags or bowls, as the salt and pepper absorbs the moisture of piping hot food, and festers inside the device. Either way, unique open seasoning designs are something to look out for.

OPEN Food’s event management and catering teams embrace the latest trends to provide a unique dining and event experience. Click here for more info.

Next time you’re set on making yourself a slice of avo toast and glance warily at the label, be careful not to choke on your chai latte. The price of avocados has reached a record high – along with the price of most fresh produce – and, needless to say, South Africans are annoyed. Previously affordable, plump fruit and vegetables now, in fact, cost the earth. And it’s only a matter of time before you notice the effects in the hospitality industry.

According to Business Tech, the average price of a basket of groceries has increased 10% in the last year, and will continue to increase in the months to come. A lack of rainfall locally has increased the amount of food imported, which in turn ups the price of the food items themselves.

There will be little respite from food price hikes as 2016 plays out, and it’s a scary thought – particularly for the food-centric residents of hubs like Cape Town and Johannesburg, who spend much of their time dining out. So what can you expect to see on menus and in restaurants as food prices continue to soar? Here’s an idea:

PYO (Plant Your Own)

Hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants and inner-city residents themselves are taking back the veg by planting their own. Urban farming doesn’t require loads of space – a small patch of garden or vertical planter is more than enough – and softens the blow when you don’t have to buy exorbitantly priced rocket, basil and courgettes. Much like the plants themselves, this trend will continue to grow in 2016 and beyond.

Use it all

The groceries that seem to carry the heftiest price tag these days are vegetables and fruits – which is why most people are trying to use the every part of the vegetable or fruit, and throw away as little as possible.

It seemed mad when people started blending avocado pips into their smoothies, but it makes sense. It adds extra fibre, bulks up the smoothie and actually has a mild, buttery, nutty flavour. Mango, banana and cooked sweet potato skins are also being tossed in with the rest of the fruit.

The trend of using what we previously threw away has also come at a time when power-mixers are prevalent in South African kitchens. Nutribullets, Magimixers and super-blenders make it easy to throw everything together, press a button and enjoy a delicious and nutritious smoothie or soup, with no fuss or mess at all.

Love leftovers

Leftovers used to be unsexy. They were seen as forgotten scraps, mulched into a lunchbox and heated up in the microwave as a last resort. But leftovers are being given a serious makeover. Corporate canteens and convenience restaurants, particularly, are using leftovers in new and novel ways – and owning up to it.

At several of our OPEN canteens, we turn leftovers into something incredible and offer it for lunch the next day, with a sign like, ‘Yesterday’s Chicken Pot Pie’. And guess what? People go crazy for it. There’s something about recycling and reduced waste that eases the conscience.

Eat seasonal

If there’s anything the high-end grocery stores in South Africa have taught us, it’s that exotic and out-of-season fruit and veg carry a serious price tag. So as restaurants (and home cooks) have started realising that it’s unrealistic to carry on buying imported Kenyan sugar snap peas and dragon fruit, they’ve started buying what’s local and what’s in season.

Although the current food price hikes mean even our own seasonal produce has become more expensive, it’s still cheaper to eat local and in-season. And it’s being reflected in restaurant and hotel menus.

Looking to make-over your corporate canteen? Click here to speak to OPEN Food Group about a new and improved eating experience.

What’s in with eating out

Splitting the avocado: how rising food prices are affecting the way we eat