Unilever, who supplies food to restaurants, let us have a look at the future of dining-out. That includes world cuisine, delicious flavours and intriguing combinations. When you share a meal with your new neighbour, friendship follows.
The wheels of progress grind on. Things change. The spiky character of West Queen West has become a mecca for some very serious dining. Kensington Market is a chicken feather away from total gentrification. Ossington street is the new Yorkville but with better food. Yorkville, once a hippie haven is now a multi-million-dollar condo enclave. And yet, in every arena, traditional ideas about food and dining are evolving in the same direction. As cultural, social, and environmental forces evolve with the times, so do our dining habits and preferences.
Unilever, who is in the business of supplying food to restaurants, has identified four core-trends that are repainting our culinary landscape in broad strokes. In one great evening, Culinary Roots, Unilever shared with us the experience of an energy-infused networking reception where each of the four trends were explored through inventive tasting moments, chef-led interactions, and thought-provoking conversations with industry leaders. All of this, accompanied by glorious food and drink to prove the point.
The scene is set at Prime Seafood Palace. A red carpet-walk flanked by photographers (an homage to TIFF) leads us to the lovely landscaped-courtyard. A conveyor belt, loaded with "Borderless Cuisine," our first core-trend of appetizers and cocktails, circles on a long table. Dahl Puri from India, Puff Lumpia from the Philippines, Curried Crab Dumpling and Beavertail from both Trinidad and Canada—an interesting selection. To reinforce the party mood, a group of exotic Indian dancers entertains us under a canopy of trees. The music is contagious, and I'm doing a few moves of my own to the beat. I snatch a homemade crisp potato chip topped with lush vegetable salsa and a glass of Prosecco and look around at the crowd, realizing that while we are all in different parts of the same industry, they are all strangers to me. But things change.
Brandon Collins, head of the Unilever North American Culinary Team is a chef by trade, and a graduate of the prestigious CIA (Culinary Institute of America.) He travels the world seeking out trends, and explains, "I am also part of the Global Team that develops the trends, and develops the recipes that go with the trends, and then I travel the world to talk about the trends." He goes on, "Gen-Z does not like to go out for big dinners. It is all part of the social scene, and that is to order four or five substantial appetizers, share with friends, sit around a table and interact with each other and enjoy all the different flavours and different culinary techniques while socializing."
Chef Matty Matheson, wearing his folksy PEI trademark fashion (camouflaging the polished and professional mind of the seasoned chef/entrepreneur) welcomes us and invites us inside. "This is my dream restaurant," he says, "You're standing in a building that took six years to build. Here, we are all working on creating food that is sustainable; bringing different cultures from all over the world together: Filipino, Mexican, Indian, Canadian, and elevating the fusion of these flavours."
Dinner is served. Inside the attractive and comfortable room, I consider sitting at the bar, but instead jump into the spirit of the evening and join a table of four other guests. By the time we're well into sharing the appetizer course of farm salad with green olive dressing; lush fresh tuna tartare and sparkling sashimi of king salmon, kingfish, and bluefin tuna. The delicious food has woven its magic, minor barriers have melted away, we've all introduced ourselves, and we are strangers no more.
The live band sets the tone of conviviality, and though at some moments the music is too loud for conversation, it's the right decibel for enjoying food. Between courses, social influencers share their points of view for their dining demographic who, they tell us, enjoy sharing substantial appetizers with friends rather than the traditional three course dinner at a restaurant. Why commit to one item when you can all have sharing plates and taste it all? Sounds good to me.
Our main course of sharing plates is substantial and impressive: a perfectly medium-rare Porterhouse, boned and sliced is a special treat; Palace Potatoes that have been slowly making their way to menus from Yorkville to King St. are crispy and browned; chilled lobster and an array of multicolored tomatoes are a combo made in heaven; the tempura green beans add delightful crunch to the meal. Staff is attentive and trained to the tips of their shoes. (This is a tough crowd of professionals in "the business.") Our server knows all the answers before we can even ask our questions. Mercifully, not once do they ask "And how are we enjoying our first bites?"
Attention has been paid by the kitchen to each dietary requirement—to the letter—and there is no need to restrict our choices. Halal, Lactose free, Vegetarian—they've got us covered. By this time, we're telling our stories about how we began our careers, got to where we are, and our plans for the future, interspersed with second-helpings.
It's time to start thinking about dessert. We're served a small wooden box: Do Not Open Until the Signal. What could be inside? At the signal, the whole room is silent as we click open our boxes. Ah, the poets have been at work here, analyzing the intriguing "Personality Questionnaire" we'd responded to earlier with our matching flavours. Cake or sorbet dessert, is served with a tray of decorative frostings and toppings that match our personality cards in the box, and we are invited to decorate our dessert with abandon. What absolute fun this is. Unilever has certainly captured the zeitgeist of the times: sharing-plates and games.
I close my eyes and listen to the room. What I hear are the sounds of joy, the laughter of camaraderie and friendship. And this, I believe, proves the point of the Menus of The Future Unilever evening. It illustrates that if a restaurant provides the menu that reflects the social styles of the times to its diverse clientele, it will hit all the marks. A diner who leaves happy is a return-diner.
According to the latest survey by Restaurants Canada, we're in line here with the statistics of what diners are enjoying today.
Per capita, Canadians are spending $1,035 at full-service restaurants and $1,135 at quick-service restaurants. In 2019, they were spending $1,165 and $1,150 respectively.
51% of Millennials make a purchase from a restaurant at least once a week, followed by 47% of Gen Z.
Lunchtime traffic at quick-service restaurants increased by 7.6%, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, reflecting return-to-office mandates and affordability concerns.
Solo dining reservations are up 28% compared to last year, according to Open Table.
65% of Canadians are replacing a traditional meal with a snack at least once a month. Millennials (53%) and Gen Z (50%) are more likely to do this at least once a week, compared to only 32% of Baby Boomers and 42% of Gen X.
64% of Canadians ordered delivery in the past six months, with Gen Z (79%) leading the way, compared to just 49% of Baby Boomers.
French fries/potatoes/sweet potatoes/onion rings maintained their top spot as the most often ordered food item, but saw the biggest year-over-year decline (-0.7% to 14.9%), while breakfast saw the biggest growth and maintained its second spot (+0.6% to 11.6%).
As we say goodnight to our new-found friends and walk the red carpet to the street, we're all leaving as happy diners. Food is love.