Michelin Guide editor predicts new restaurant trends for 2015

Michelin Guide editor Rebecca Burr has predicted that chef's tables, small-plates menus, noodle bars and BBQ-style food will continue to grow in popularity, in line with this year's "varied" new star list.

She also suggested that the north of England was ripe for restaurateurs looking for a gap in the market, to open new and exciting businesses.

Speaking to The Caterer

She said: “The Guide got slated this year for using the word hipster [in relation to] BBQ style food, but who doesn’t like a really great piece of fried chicken and a good burger? Seeing that done at a really high level adds to the mix; I mean, what super places they are.”

She added: “The trends just keep on moving and changing.”

Tapas bars and performance-centric, creative dining experiences were part of a new trend for “foodie” but informal sites, whose relaxed atmosphere belied their highly-organised operations, she said.
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She explained: “There will be more places like Barrafina, combining tapas and small plates with a real seriously-run approach. There are others that we’re watching for next year as well.”

Burr also said that establishments such as the Clove Club, in London’s Shoreditch, which was given a star for the first time this year, represented a new direction for UK dining, thanks to its dedication to its central ethos of British food and simple produce.

She said: “The philosophy of the chefs [at the Clove Club] filters through to the service staff, who blow you away with their knowledge of the menu inside out. They’re so young, but they’ve chosen the profession because they adore what they’re doing.”

Speaking of new trends away from London, particularly in places without many Michelin-starred establishments, she predicted that there was an arguable “gap in the market” for new and exciting directions in cities and counties such as Leeds and Liverpool, along with Shropshire, Herefordshire and Yorkshire.

“Although we [in the Guide] recommend a lot of great places there already, I would say that there’s a void [of star-level restaurants], which is really an opportunity for restaurateurs who want to open a business. It’s exciting,” she said.Â
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