Just a few years ago, many food concepts were still caught up with being big and cheeky. The more colors, wall ornaments, splattered slogans and flare - the better. The bigger the entree, the louder the apron and the "never-ending" soup or salad bowl caught the eye of many future diabetes and obesity applicants. The restaurant industry in the 90's and early 21st century was about getting the most out of each customer - both mentally and financially. Before small plates and tapas options were rightly pushed into the mainstream, we were all on the Texas bandwagon. Why have a mid-size (Toyota Camry) cut of beef when you could go Monster Truck size for a few bucks extra. If you want a 1/2 gallon of high fructose corn syrup infused soda, we'll be glad to oblige that request. Hell, we even bought more house than we actually needed and some stay at home mom's in Miami decided that they must frolic about town in their new gigantic Hummer. I never really understood that one.
So, after the economic recession of '08 and a slight re-adjustment of what food and materials mean to the most of us, we're starting to come back around. Some of us down sized into a more moderate home and started to really think about what those "things" mean to us. Food is a prime example of culture and the experience of food will follow this trend into 2012. If you look at some independent concepts such as Commis and Benu in San Francisco, they've seem to do "more" with "less". They've left out all the ancillary messaging and sparkle and created their concepts around the people, food and conversation.
In the months ahead when you eat out, you can expect to see less description about each dish and more single words spaced far apart often all in lower case letters. You can expect to see simple surroundings and recognizable offerings being featured. You will see staff that have no flare and are dressed as if they were over to your house for a dinner party. For most diners, a cleaner, sustainable approach to this model seems to have an elevated and less pretentious mood. If you start seeing concepts moving in this direction, you can tell them that this lil' blog called it out. I will let you know where they can send the checks - payable to "Money Laundering".
2012 Food and Dining Predictions:
