In 30 years, we'll all be eating weeds? Some veggie options from Restaurant Eugene's Linton Hopkins.
Photo: Jens Mortensen
For our inaugural innovations issue, I asked some of the world's best chefs to speculate on what the food world might look like in ten, twenty, thirty years. Their thoughtful answers made it clear that we're not heading toward Molecular Gastronomy 2.0; in fact, chefs seem to be most excited about things of the past: rescued seeds; rediscovered cuisines; simple cooking. Check out their ideas after the jump.
Caroline Shin-Manguera, Kogi BBQ Co-Founder, on how food trucks democratize great food: "There's nothing more important than seeing the expression on somebody's face when you hand them food directly. How great would it be if the best chefs in the world brought their food to the people? If we made that fundamental shift in the industry, it would change the framework of who we are as humans."
Rene Redzepi, Noma: "I have no doubt that food is going is going into a more natural period. We had ten years with extreme elaboration, which has been brilliant for cuisine. Before that was a period of richness - truffles baked into pastries, luxurious sauces. Now try to explore the indigenous ingredients that you have and try to cook them in a respectful way. It's about cooking with nature's forces instead of against them."
Andrea Reusing, Lantern: "The move towards a better, more balanced food system through the growth of small, diverse family farms, as well as the unsexy but essential development of infrastructure like independent slaughterhouses and processing and distribution centers will allow more customers access to the same ingredients often only found in high-end restaurants like heritage pork and poultry, grass-fed beef, and seasonal vegetables and fruit."
Marco Shaw, Eno: "I see more and more chefs pushing the envelope. I wouldn't be surprised to see a restaurant without menus, or menus where you name your price for what you think the dinner you just had is worth. Restaurants where the diner actually helps prepare their own dinner. Foods that have historically been seen as dangerous - pork and chicken - being served raw."
David Myers, Sona, Comme Ca: "Chefs are a band of gypsies and we love our freedom to create. We can use any medium for that and I think we will see more creative ways to showcase that in the future."
Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern: "Guests are more sophisticated and know more about the inner workings of our restaurant, as well as the ingredients we are using. They take this knowledge and apply it to their own lives, cooking more at home, which speaking for the restaurant as a whole, is one of our top goals."
Wolfgang Puck: "Ferran Adria showed people that there are still many ways one can think about and prepare food. The truth is, just as any art form, cooking has an evolution that will never stop. There will always be someone coming up with new techniques and new flavor combinations."
Danny Meyer: "In the future we're going to see the decline of the 'shock of the new' style of cooking. People crave the comfort of a soulful hug and that will trump the immediate thrill of intellectual stimulation. Less experimentation, less crazy juxtapositions - back to refined basics."
Harold McGee: "A couple decades ago you cooked in a particular tradition that developed over the course of generations. Now any cook in the world can get their hands on any ingredient and read about any technique. People have development kitchens where they can come up with new dishes, explore, and create. With all these options, instead of being pre-defined over the course of generations, what comes out is going to be all about what kind of palate the chef has, what kind of sense of humor they have, what counts as delicious to them."
Jose Andres: "Butter is dead. Its days as a favored cooking fat are over. And new utensils.Not the same fork, knife, spoon, or even chopsticks as before. Or no utensils. More food eaten with your hands."
Grant Achatz: "I strongly believe that all the creative impulses that drove that specific cuisine are kind of done. Now we’re all sitting here thinking we need to reinvent again. First there was foam, then there was agar agar. The whole thing was very chemically focused and that’s where molecular gastronomy came from—those chemicals. It’s easy to expound until you run out of material—and that’s where we are."
Daniel Patterson: The best of the new techniques will stay, the less effective ones will fall away, and we’ll have the toolbox of the ways in which we can interact with food will have been expanded but we’ll return our focus to what is really important: the ingredients.
Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene, Holeman and Finch: "I don’t want the same pantry as everyone else in the world. It’s about the experience in the region you’re traveling to. You need to engage historically with where we have come from in order to know where to go."
Rene Redzepi, Noma: "I have no doubt that food is going is going into a more natural period. We had ten years with extreme elaboration, which has been brilliant for cuisine. Before that was a period of richness - truffles baked into pastries, luxurious sauces. Now try to explore the indigenous ingredients that you have and try to cook them in a respectful way. It's about cooking with nature's forces instead of against them."
Andrea Reusing, Lantern: "The move towards a better, more balanced food system through the growth of small, diverse family farms, as well as the unsexy but essential development of infrastructure like independent slaughterhouses and processing and distribution centers will allow more customers access to the same ingredients often only found in high-end restaurants like heritage pork and poultry, grass-fed beef, and seasonal vegetables and fruit."
Marco Shaw, Eno: "I see more and more chefs pushing the envelope. I wouldn't be surprised to see a restaurant without menus, or menus where you name your price for what you think the dinner you just had is worth. Restaurants where the diner actually helps prepare their own dinner. Foods that have historically been seen as dangerous - pork and chicken - being served raw."
David Myers, Sona, Comme Ca: "Chefs are a band of gypsies and we love our freedom to create. We can use any medium for that and I think we will see more creative ways to showcase that in the future."
Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern: "Guests are more sophisticated and know more about the inner workings of our restaurant, as well as the ingredients we are using. They take this knowledge and apply it to their own lives, cooking more at home, which speaking for the restaurant as a whole, is one of our top goals."
Wolfgang Puck: "Ferran Adria showed people that there are still many ways one can think about and prepare food. The truth is, just as any art form, cooking has an evolution that will never stop. There will always be someone coming up with new techniques and new flavor combinations."
Danny Meyer: "In the future we're going to see the decline of the 'shock of the new' style of cooking. People crave the comfort of a soulful hug and that will trump the immediate thrill of intellectual stimulation. Less experimentation, less crazy juxtapositions - back to refined basics."
Harold McGee: "A couple decades ago you cooked in a particular tradition that developed over the course of generations. Now any cook in the world can get their hands on any ingredient and read about any technique. People have development kitchens where they can come up with new dishes, explore, and create. With all these options, instead of being pre-defined over the course of generations, what comes out is going to be all about what kind of palate the chef has, what kind of sense of humor they have, what counts as delicious to them."
Jose Andres: "Butter is dead. Its days as a favored cooking fat are over. And new utensils.Not the same fork, knife, spoon, or even chopsticks as before. Or no utensils. More food eaten with your hands."
Grant Achatz: "I strongly believe that all the creative impulses that drove that specific cuisine are kind of done. Now we’re all sitting here thinking we need to reinvent again. First there was foam, then there was agar agar. The whole thing was very chemically focused and that’s where molecular gastronomy came from—those chemicals. It’s easy to expound until you run out of material—and that’s where we are."
Daniel Patterson: The best of the new techniques will stay, the less effective ones will fall away, and we’ll have the toolbox of the ways in which we can interact with food will have been expanded but we’ll return our focus to what is really important: the ingredients.
Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene, Holeman and Finch: "I don’t want the same pantry as everyone else in the world. It’s about the experience in the region you’re traveling to. You need to engage historically with where we have come from in order to know where to go."
I love the idea of using small independent farmers and slaughterhouses. What a great way to empower the small business and also give customers an unique experience.