louis Johnson, sous chef of TK’s at Hyatt Regency, New Delhi, believes that people, or in this case diners, are opting for more modernistic food. “Things used to be very different during my parent’s time. Restaurants and hotels were few and did good with authentic food. But it is entirely different now. Very few go for authentic food,” he said and reasoned that it is because people are becoming business minded by the day. He added, “Customers are becoming picky about what they eat and dislike waiting for food. They constantly keep moving from place to place.”
According to chef Johnson, people are looking for modern techniques like gastronomy and different ways of cooking. “Chefs are always on the look out of how they can twist and turn ingredients and present a dish in a modern way. They are learning to prepare different cuisine with the same gastronomic effect, in which the tastes are infused. Customers love that because they get all flavours in one single dish. Basically they want good food with different tastes,” he pointed out.
Chef Johnson also told us that he has noticed a unique trend where customers are eager to interact with the chef (of wherever they are dining out) and like to get to get to know about the food they choose to order. “I make sure that I know the palate and preference of my customers before I prepare their food. They like to be educated about their food and the different techniques used to cook the food,” he said.
“I personally feel that the dining scenario in 2016 is going to change. Restaurants and hotels will do something different and I feel that it is going to be the inclusion of more live counters and more interaction between the customer and the chef. They will invest less in the decor and more on the food. The set up will be that of a dhaba — simple — while the preparation of food will be more of a theatre like performance,” he elaborated mentioning that these will kick in by middle of 2016.
He believes that fusion food has run its course because the tastebuds of Delhiites are constantly changing. “There were many restaurants that opened in the year offering fusion food, and 40 per cent of them have come down. Now restaurants are surviving on the concept of Atithi devo bhava, they serve the guest with the best possible food in a simple way,” he said.
When it comes to new trends in dining out, Prem Kumar Pogakula, executive sous chef, The Imperial, has noticed that his customers are favouring organic food more than ever. “They are looking for healthy alternatives in their food. Starting this year they are preferring more GMO free ingredients and as I see it, things will become more intense in the coming year,” said chef Pogakula.
Also according to the chef, when people dine out, they look for old and lost recipes because they are simple and straight. “People are preferring simple flavours over fusion tastes,” he added.
Fusion food according to him still has to evolve. It is only when people want to experiment that they will order fusion, he told us. “May be once in two weeks to break the monotony,” he pointed out and added, “At the most it can be one part of the order that is placed but it can never be a main meal.”
Chef Pogakula believes that 2016 is going to be a very difficult year because of the new FSSAI regulations which would impose a lot of restrictions on imported ingredients. “Owing to that, most chefs will have to curate a menu with the locally available ingredients because they cannot depend on imported stuffs. We have to device a way to look out for local ingredients because they are in constant supply and make a menu on that,” he said.
He, too believes that the dining scenario in the city is in for a change in the coming year. “No experiments are happening but the good thing is that old and lost cuisines are being rediscovered. Chefs are working with five sense food like sweet food when one is happy or spicy, peppery food when one is angry,” he said mentioning that many lost tribal recipes are being rediscovered.
When asked about the rediscovery of old and lost cooking techniques, he explained that there was a process in one of the tribes of Rajasthan where they made pits in the ground and cooked their meat. “They had less water and used two to three ingredients so it used to by a little dry,” he explained.
“There are many such cuisines which are being rediscovered and people are appreciating it,” said chef Pogakula who had recently recreated a part of the menu of the Delhi Durbar of 1911 at the hotel’s restaurant 1911. He had prepared some sumptuous yet traditional English dishes like the classic Scotch eggs and broth shephard’s pie and crepe suzette.