Every year here at Asia Tatler Dining, we like to ask respected professionals in the Hong Kong food and beverage industry to give us their forecasts on what food trends they think will be hot for the coming year. Last year, we asked Calvin Ku, the F&B director of Lily & Bloom; Amber's executive chef Richard Ekkebus; Bo Innovation's Alvin Leung; and Caprice's pastry chef Marike van Beurden.
Click here to see whether their predictions came true here.
This year, we solicited the opinion from a new group of experts, including our guest blogger and the Four Season's head pastry chef and our own blogger Gregoire Michaud; IHM's Todd Darling; The Press Room Group's founder Alan Lo; chef Gray Kunz from Café Gray Deluxe at Upper House; and Max Traverse, bartender at one of the best openings of 2011, Le Boudoir.
Chef Gray Kunz is the man behind Café Gray Deluxe at Upper House in Admiralty, and known for his dedication to serving environmentally sustainable and local ingredients in a fine dining environment. While no doubt Upper House does import some of its premium ingredients, the chefs also go to market everyday early in the morning for local, seasonal and organic vegetables and fresh fish.
See our previous interview with chef Kunz here.
Therefore it's not much of a surprise that when we asked him what food trends he predicts will be hot in 2012, he replies, "I believe regionality combined with the best ingredients will always be in style. There is no doubt that the organic and sustainable movement is on the upswing and will become a key player in our quest to help the environment". As for what he thinks is firmly on the way out, "I think the burger craze is over, as well as all the fancy 'molecular concoctions'. I believe that simplicity is and will be king!"
Chef Kunz is not the only one who is over molecular gastronomy: Todd Darling, CEO and founding partner of Integrated Hospitality Management (IHM) which operates Posto Pubblico, Cantopop and Linguini Fini, also believes that molecular gastronomy will definitely fall out of fashion in 2012, as well as "the trend of frozen yoghurt". He also agrees with chef Kunz that the usage of local produce will continue to gain followers, as well as "restaurants not charging service charge plus a no-reservation policy". For produce, Darling predicts that La Colombe coffee will be a big hit, as will the trend of using the whole animal, or head-to-tail cooking.
Darling is not the only one who's over frozen yoghurt. Alan Lo, one of the three founders of The Press Room Group (whose portfolio includes The Press Room, Classified, The Pawn, SML and most recently, The Principal) also believes that "the market is saturated with the frozen yoghurt shops. Sure, people are still in love with fro-yo. It's just the fad that is out". More controversially, Lo also thinks that people will become more discerning about organic foods. "Unless prices of organic food come into line with conventional produce or products, I think there will be a huge segment that won't go organic".
As for what Lo predicts will be big in 2012, they include minimal menus that "focus on the ingredients rather than long descriptions"; a return of hotel fine dining; and traceability in food. "Diners and consumers want more transparency in everything from calories to local-sourcing practices. They are serious about nutrition and sustainability and are using such knowledge to make decisions".
In the pastry kitchen, Gregoire Michaud, head pastry chef of The Four Seasons in Hong Kong and a regular blogger for Asia Tatler Dining believes that, "Claiming to be creative and authentic but doing typical old-style pastries and desserts instead is definitely played out. I think that creativity and vision are factors that are disappearing from our profession; and getting inspired by copying other's ideas should definitely be played out and over".
Read some of Michaud's previous blog posts here.
On a more positive note, Michaud sees "ancient cereals like old rye, spelt or kamut fermented on sourdough for rustic loaves being the trend. I also think the quest for the best laminated baked goods like croissant and Danish pastries will be on the increase". Also, good news for dessert-lovers who are watching their weight, Michaud thinks that "desserts will go towards lighter textures, less sweet taste and with an increasing use of herbal components and possibly vegetables in some case".
Out of the kitchen, Michaud says that, "personally, I have never been a great supporter of buffet and I think a-la-carte menus are a more sensible option in terms of quality and waste control".
From the kitchen to the bar, Max Traverse, bartender of the hip French bar Le Boudoir on Wyndham Street thinks that gin cocktails will enjoy a rise in popularity in 2012, as will rum, bitters and bourbon.
Vodka-based cocktails, on the other hand, he suspects will become less cool. "It's really hard to say witch cocktail trends will no longer cool, but I can say what you shouldn't be drinking anymore: Long Island iced tea and lychee martinis".
And so there you have it, four experts from Hong Kong's food and beverage industry putting in their two cents on what we will all be eating and drinking for the next twelve months. Will they be right? Only time will tell!
