I have only just paged through the Eat Out 2020 magazine, and was interested in the article on restaurants trends observed during 2019 whilst Eat Out Head Judge and Chef Margot Janse and her team of judges roamed the country to evaluate our country’s top restaurants for the 2019 Eat Out Awards. Personally, I’m happy to see that table cloths are back in. Nothing worse than eating at a bare table,

Restaurant Trends: What’s In

1, Tablecloths: these were welcomed back, as were white round plates, a refreshing change to see both back again, Chef Margot writes. Generally plates rather than other creative surfaces are on the way back, 

 

2.  Lighter Tasting Menus, with less cream, butter, and fat, to leave diners feeling less full, yet they do not leave restaurant diners hungry. 

 

3.  Pairings are not only wine-based anymore, but cocktails, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are increasingly offered. More small Boutique wine producers’ wines were seen on wine lists. 

 

4.  We’ve seen for a while the growth in indigenous and seasonal ingredients, growing beyond the use of Buchu. Now it is dune spinach, klipkombers, sour figs, waterblommetjies, bokkom, snoek, num num, local truffles, spekboom, and many more. 

 

5.  Umami is in, but chefs are encouraged to create it with local ingredients, and not only using Asian ingredients. 

 

6,  Vegan is in, and chefs no longer put a protein into every dish, having learnt to make vegetables the hero of some of their dishes. 

 

7. Sustainability is a buzzword that isn’t new, but Chef Margot feels that the source of these ingredients is not communicated enough in menus and by wait staff.

 

Restaurant Trend : What’s not yet in

 

1.  Chef Margot was outspoken in her criticism of desserts, Pastry Chefs not yet pushing their boundaries, there being too much of the same, with a ‘quenelle of ice cream with a soil of something, a dollop of gel, a purée and cream, and a tuile for texture’. She challenged chefs to up their innovation in creating desserts. 

 

In general, there were many new restaurants to try, to consider for the Eat Out Awards compared to the previous year (she will experience the opposite next year with so few new restaurant openings). Dishes are not looked at as a whole, but rather there is a focus on individual ingredients in the dishes, nor winning her approval. And ultimately, she encourages chefs to be creative and innovative, and to not copy the cuisine of other chefs, locally or internationally. 

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_ulmenstein