Chef Dayan Hartill-Law from Cucina Vivo shares his inside intel on the top dining and food trends to come for the rest of 2020.
A lot has changed in the last six months within the food industry. Restaurants have been locked down and re-opened with new rules. Takeout and home cooking have emerged gloriously supreme, though not always successfully. Dining out has become a special treat like never before. But what are the trends that will stick around? Chef Dayan Hartill-Law, Chef de Cuisine from Cucina Vivo, gives his insight.
True appreciation of dining out
“I would hope a trend that we find [is] that people who are dining out see it for the true privilege that it is, and don’t take it for granted. [That they would] really take the time to appreciate everything that is in the experience, not just the food or the drink, but the room, the people.
“The hospitality industry, like many others, is really trying and a lot of people have endured all they can and have folded. We have lost many great restaurants in the last three months and many more will go in the coming months, so that appreciation and mutual respect is more important than it ever was before.”
Next-level takeaway
“Takeaway has become a staple of a lot of restaurants and it is so awesome. So awesome that I can pick up some incredible food and crush it on my couch while watching trashy TV. I actually have made it a mission to eat through as many offerings as I can on the coast. There is also some phenomenal produce coming directly from suppliers to the public. [Whenever you can], support those guys because you will get some incredible things.”
Restaurant dining upgraded by technology
“This one is so difficult to quantify as there are so many variables. One thing I do know is this thing we are in is definitely for the long haul and there is a new normal approaching. I believe the buffet will be a very different looking machine on the other side.
“Technology and dining will become more and more in a move to limit face-to-face contact, the second rise of apps like uber eats and Deliveroo will be challenged by in-house apps. But we will be seeing a lot of distance and underutilised spaces for some time I believe. Also, why not see a surge in robot chefs, just for fun?”
Australian-made produce
“The glass half full in this situation is that given trade tariffs and bans we are seeing a load of great Australian produce that would have normally been exported stay onshore and that is where I think we will see Australian-made become a big trend.
“This will lead us through a golden era of native [food] and looking at our Indigenous communities for answers. The palate in Australia hasn’t been met for that just yet and this new normal of searching within our own backyards for sustainable, locally sourced food is definitely the next wave.”
“Ultra-chef” home cooking made easy by the pros
“At Cucina Vivo we are working on a lot of things all the time, my team and I are very hungry and love to try different things. We are finalising a cook at home menu of items that people can purchase and cook at home using our products, i.e. the pasta we make in house and even have developed a way to have our woodfired pizza frozen and then sold to be cooked at home. Our vivo pizza for instance given to chef Uday Huja, he added Abruzzi salami, section 28 Fontina and Ortiz anchovies.
“We are also currently in the process of making a boat load of ice creams for our guests to be able to buy by the pint. [The idea came] from me at home during isolation thinking about all the delicious ice creams I’ve consumed over the years and only being able to eat supermarket ice cream.”
