Thirteen food trends Sofia Levin predicts we’ll see in 2022
For New Year’s Eve, 3AW Breakfast food reviewer Sofia Levin takes a look forward at what she thinks we’ll see more of in restaurants, cafes and bars in 2022.
- Heritage on a Plate
Unless you’re First Nations, everyone in Australia is from someplace else. It’s one of our country’s greatest culinary advantages. Young chefs who are the kids and grandkids of migrants will open venues that revisit their roots in a modern Australian context using local ingredients.
- Lesser-Known Southeast Asia
The trending cuisines for 2022 will go beyond the Southeast Asian food many Australians already know and love, such as Thai and Vietnamese food, and spotlight cuisines such as Filipino and Singaporean. The former could be the cuisine of the year. John Rivera will kick it off when he opens Kariton Sorbetes in Footscray in January, followed by Ross Magnaye’s Filipino CBD restaurant, Serai, in February.
- Experiential Dining
With borders likely to open and close throughout 2022, people will look to dining out as an opportunity for an experience, not just a meal. Expect more pop-ups and unique, personal dining experiences, such as Chae’s new venue in Cockatoo following the success of her six-seat Korean restaurant in her Brunswick apartment.
- Chefs without Restaurants
Despite promise and enthusiasm, it remains an incredibly tough and uncertain climate for hospitality. As a result, many chefs will turn to venue alternatives. Think launching product ranges (a la Tom Sarafian’s hummus and toum) and take-overs (Mischa Tropp taking over from Jerry Mai at Tuck’s Ridge winery, and Harry Mangat taking over from Mischa at Avani Winery).
- The Rise & Rise of Technology
Staff shortages are perhaps the biggest challenge of the hospitality industry. Until it’s affordable and easy for international students and workers to return to Australia, technology will fill in the gaps – and perhaps even make some jobs redundant. Expect more QR codes for menus and ordering and conveyer belts and robots replacing staff (you can already see them in action at Kata Kita and Yoi’s in the CBD). Some restaurants will also discontinue their brick-and-mortar shopfronts and turn to ghost kitchens after the challenges of 2020 and 2021, while others will open for the first time, online only.
- The Death of Brunch & Reduced Opening Hours
Cafes and restaurants that previously offered brunch are opening later and skipping mornings. The numbers don’t add up with staff costs, and punters are increasingly bored with avocado and poached eggs. You can also expect restaurants to operate over fewer days of the week.
- Sustainability to the Front
We’ve been talking about sustainability for a while now, but 2022 will see more attention paid to it. Spurred by the reliance on takeaway and delivery during Australian lockdowns, operators are more aware of food waste and storage than ever. Sustainable packaging is also a deciding factor for many consumers shopping locally and skipping big supermarkets, while we can also expect to see a rise in edible crockery, such as coffee cups from Melbourne-based Good Edi, made with oats and grains.
- TikTok Food Trends
Restaurants can expect more people to “discover” them through TikTok recommendations. TikTok flourished during the pandemic and had more traffic than Google this year, according to a ranking by Cloudflare. This extends to TikTok cooking, eating and recipe trends. Some of the big ones over 2021 include feta pasta, pesto eggs, fufu, nature’s cereal and birria tacos.
- Trending Ingredients: Native Australia, Mushrooms & Plant-Based Chicken
In 2022, expect to see Australian ingredients become commonplace on menus. Accessible Aussie ingredients such as saltbush, pepperberry, lemon myrtle and wattleseed will pop up everywhere from brunch to cocktails. People will become more familiar with different varieties of mushrooms, as they watch documentaries such as Fantastic Fungi on Netflix, stay closer to home and forage and gain access to various colours of oyster mushrooms and experiment with others, such as lion’s head. And while plant-based burger patties, including the recently introduced Impossible Burger from America, have cemented their popularity in Australia, in 2022, plant-based chicken will start to pop up.
- Comfort Food & Nostalgia
Retro food, whether aspic dishes from the ‘50s or fairy bread inspired-desserts that nod to the ‘80s, will mingle with the modern in 2022 as people cling to simpler times in the midst of the pandemic. The same goes for comfort food: we are not yet done with sandwiches, lasagne and pies.
- Drink Trends: Booze-Free, Seltzers and Aussie Ingredients
Boozeless drinks will again rise in popularity, leading to a much larger selection beyond alcohol-free beer, wine and mock spirits. Expect the trends of the last couple of years to merge into one, namely alcohol-free drinks and pre-bottled cocktails. Seltzers will continue to boom, leading to a wider range of flavour options. Along with lime, watermelon and the like, you’ll likely spot aromatics such as makrut lime and Native Australian ingredients, like kakadu plum. On that note, expect more Native Australian ingredients distilled into gins and spirits: think green ants, quandong and more.
- Fine Dining & Luxury Ingredients
Anticipate a rise in the number of fine dining restaurants that open in 2022, along with a boom in luxury ingredients, such as caviar and fine wine. Those who can afford to will be eager to spend big at restaurants; the same way people have done after past crises such as 9/11 and the GFC.
- Trolley Service
As a way to increase spend, more restaurants will introduce a trolley service to supplement their menus. This might include cocktails, late-night dumplings and snacks, dessert spreads or caviar bumps – each designed for people to order and enjoy spontaneously.