Encouraging and concerning restaurant trends

[grahamtigg]

What restaurant trends today do you find most enouraging, and which ones give you the greatest concern?

[Shaun Hill]

The most depressing trend is the subservience of food and service in restaurants to decor. I have the feeling that those foolish enough to invest in restaurants believe that they can buy success ready made with smart design and a huge PR budget. Luckily it very rarely works long term.

The most encouraging trend is the confidence amongst those paying to eat out to demand both pleasure and decent value in the whole experience. This keeps us on our toes.

This doesn't mean I necessarily subscribe to the notion  that "customer  is always right". Customers in restaurants come in the same spectrum of keen to bored, bright to stupid and honest to crooked as everyone else and some will be right and others not. The best bet for any chef or restaurateur will always be to cook and serve what they personally believe to be good - what they would like to eat themselves - and trust that enough agree to make a business viable