World of gastronomy 'enters new era of casual-dining'

That was the message taken from the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress earlier this week where chefs Brett Graham, James Knappet and Spain's Joan Roca and Albert Adrià came together to discuss the subject and take part in some live cooking demonstrations. 

Graham, whose London restaurant The Ledbury was voted third in the National Restaurant Awards 2015 and 20 in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list, said fine-dining restaurants were having to become less formal as diners sought more casual options. 

“Top end restaurants are having to change in order to provide a slightly more informal approach to service, whilst maintaining the polish and quality you would expect. People want to be comfortable and enjoy their food in a relaxed environment which means stuffy service just isn’t what people want anymore," he said. 

'Premiumised informality'​

Attendees at the one-day Congress, at the Hurlingham Club in London, also heard how the UK restaurant market has grown by 1.5 per cent so far this year with 16 new pub and casual-dining restaurants opening per week. 

Delivering a report commissioned by Estrella Damm, Simon Stenning of M&C Allegra Foodservice said the eating-out sector was moving towards 'premiumised informality' driven by diners looking for high quality food delivered in a convenient and informal setting. 

Stenning also revealed that street food is predicted to be the fastest growing dining trend by industry insiders within three to five years (46 per cent), followed by all day dining (40 per cent).       

Estrella Damm UK sales manager James Healey said: “Through our work with the world’s best chefs we’ve noticed a significant shift in consumers’ attitudes towards food and dining. As chefs embrace new technology and approaches and as more consumers become food pleasure seekers we see a shift towards a new era of casual dining in the world of gastronomy”. 

Watch a video from the Estrella Damm Chefs Congress here:​