Food trends that you’ll witness in 10 years

Armed with their most prized possession — a chef’s knife and skills to match, 10 of the city’s best chefs predict what the future looks like inside some of the city’s most popular restaurant kitchens.

Chef Farrokh Khambata, Founder Catering & Allied (Joss, Amadeus, Umame, NCPA Cafe and Joss Catering)
Restaurants in Mumbai and India will slowly move to using sustainable and organic produce. Chefs will be inclined to use fresh local produce. An emphasis on regional Indian cuisine will come into focus. The modern Indian cuisine movement has already begun. New international cuisine such as South American, Australian and Nordic countries will be stressed on. More chef owner restaurants will come up. With better availability of produce the food scene is set to change.

Chef Amit Chowdhury, Executive Chef at the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
Today, we have guests who are not only well travelled, but also well versed with health benefits of varied cuisines. They are exploring unique cuisine styles and discovering novel culinary experiences. However, I believe that in the coming years, guests would want to rekindle the pleasant past experiences with cuisine that strikes a chord. Restaurants will shift focus to “comfort food” evoking flavours and aromas that seem to have taken a back seat. Taking the contemporary culinary theme forward, the collective focus will be to revive zests that takes the guests back in time, and inspires the chefs to explore culinary techniques and ingredients available locally. The discerning consumers of today are inclined towards healthy substitutes and are paying excessive attention to ingredients used to prepare the preferred dishes. Keeping in mind the drive towards healthy food, ‘Whole foods’, ‘Non GMO’, ‘organic’, ‘pesticide free’, ‘unprocessed’ and likes are going to define the trends in the years to come.

Chef Surender Mohan, corporate chef The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts
Indians are now open to experimenting with cuisines, flavours and food. There is an increased awareness and consciousness towards health, health food and healthy ingredients. In coming times there is bound to be new cuisines which will make their way into the Indian dining scene like Korean, Peruvian and perhaps a return of French inspired nouvelle cuisine. We already see increased patrons for our new offering — Le Cirque Signature which offers Franco-Italian cuisine in a relaxed luxury ambience.

Chef Mukhtar Qureshi, Master Chef, Neel — Tote on The Turf
Food is going to get more specialised in the near future. The restaurants which are more known for Pan-Indian cuisine will diminish and more speciality restaurants will pop up all over the city, which will include Punjabi cuisine restaurants, Awadhi restaurants, Hyderabadi restaurants and so on . Also, there will be more emphasis on value for money than ever before. Patrons and guests are already on the lookout for restaurants which offer them value -for-money and this will only increase in the next 10 years or so.  Restaurants will also focus on special ingredients and other ingredients which are currently unavailable in the market for their food. It’s these special ingredients, which will enhance the overall offering from a restaurant. Cooking methods which use lesser oil and fats will be more preferred in the near future over the way food is now being cooked in today’s day and age. People are focusing more on healthier lifestyles and this will only inculcate restaurants to use better methods to cook their food. The use of excessive masalas in Indian cooking will also be replaced with more flavourful food in the next 10 years.

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar
Indian food... regional cuisine is going to get established, smaller cities like Rajkot and Raipur will take a lead in the cuisine scene. Along with classic cities like Coorg and Mysore, the India outside the metropolis will rule the roost. International influences like south American (not just Latin American ) cuisine is going to take over the world along with Korean food with Peru showing the way. Vegetarianism will be a big trend in India in the next 10 years along with ayurvedic cooking.

Chef Gautam Mehrishi, executive chef at Sun N Sand hotel
Health and wellness, this trend is already being noticed in the restaurant and retail sector and to top it all even the food dedicated channels are moving in this direction. Focus on locally sourced products are a big thing and is catching on. Transparency when it comes to where the food comes from and how it is produced has never been more scrutinised… and for all of the right reasons. Gluten-free food is one more aspect that’s gaining popularity. Functional beverages (Liquid nutrition) is a relatively new term in the lexicon of the average consumer but it is crashing on the scene like a proverbial waterfall as people become more aware of the benefits of staying hydrated, as well as the nutritional benefits of many liquid concoctions. From cold brewed coffee to coconut water, cold pressed juice to herbal teas and varietal herbal concoctions, beverages with nutritional benefits have become a cornerstone within the natural products industry and offer a tremendous opportunity for conventional retailers to capitalise on a robust, long-term growth segment. Organic food with legal stabilisation will be in huge demand, packed, healthy food has the largest growth potential in terms of retail. Yoghurt and yoghurt-based diets are going to enrich diets of the future. Super foods like quinoa, blueberry, kale and salmon being included in diets will be a new trend and followed cautiously.

Chef Rahul Dhavale, Executive Chef, TheWestin Mumbai Garden City
 As far as the decade to come is concerned, we are living in exciting times where the landscape of food and its absolute basics are questioned by talented, zealous chefs all over the world.  Here’s my take on some trends that will form  the decade with the popular initiative ‘Make in India’ as many chefs are dawning upon the truth that local seasonal ingredients does taste better than imported off-seasonal produce. While also the technological advancements over the years could bring about automated, interactive Japanese vending robots could dispense Indian foods and mobile-based food apps catering to plethora of dining budgets and tastes. E-shopping will redefine and set the way when we shop for groceries and vegetables. It’s fascinating to see how eating habits of our country are redefined virtually as cooking shows have made more chefs in our country than catering colleges. Another trend that is already very popular amongst restaurateurs are pop ups, I believe they are better poised to respond to changing market trends to re-evolve them into the next big food idea. A significant change would be seen from preservatives and additives to products that showcase health and nutrition as the consumer gets more aware.

Chef Jaydeep Mukherjee (Chef JD), Executive Chef, Indigo Deli
10 years is too long to look into but what I definitely see happening in the Mumbai food scene in the next few years is a conscious shift from fancy new-fangled cuisines and concepts to more grounded regional and traditional cuisines and cooking techniques. Chefs worldwide have begun journeys down this road. They are re-discovering their heritage, taking pride in local and regional produce and going back to age old practices and techniques. India — with its myriad cuisines, ethnicities and diverse cultures is a treasure trove waiting to be delved into. It’s bound to happen in gastronomy and I think Mumbai chefs will spearhead this.

Alex Sanchez, Executive Chef, The Table
The food trend that I feel will stay and evolve further is that more and more people will be concerned with the quality of ingredients they use in their foods. Guests eating at restaurants will be more aware of where their food comes from and make smart food choices. The focus will be on better quality, whole grains, flavourful and healthful foods. This does not necessarily mean that people are going to be only concerned about losing weight or turning into health freaks, but opting for high quality holistic foods which are “locally” and “responsibly” sourced. With this continued interest in food that offers targeted nutrition and keeps the environment in mind, consumers will discover new products that meet their dietary needs and also taste great and promote overall wellness.

Chef Himanshu Taneja, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
 In my opinion, two trends to look out for in the city over the next 10 years are most definitely, a revival of the classics and the relatively new, but immensely popular ‘pop-ups’. These two trends are very consumer-behaviour specific, and have received great response as you can never go wrong with food done the rustic and traditional way. As far as the concept of Pop-ups goes, the discerning foodie of Mumbai is very aware of the food and wine culture and greatly open to experimenting. Also, a certain curiosity lingers, to which ‘pop-ups’ offer as a great way of exploring diverse cuisine and various concepts like ‘farm-to-fork’ and the story behind a certain dish that gives it a novelty factor. Culinary Innovation is also a trend which is catching up fast and can be attributed to the new set of well-travelled and knowledgeable customers.