Food innovation is the new
buzzword which hasn’t left any stone unturned to outshine the magnitude of
innovation being done all over. For innovation, although sky is the limit but when
it comes to food, I guess there is no limit. Restaurants these days are sinking
their teeth to the core to come up with ideas which titillate our senses and fulfill
all our dreamy gastronomical desires. Unique fine dining experiences are no
longer confined to just ambience, presenting the regular food nicely and good
service but the span is infinite and extends to every possible element which sometimes
is not even within the ambit of our anticipation.
Unfolding the mystery of what all
is happening inside the food lab today is like churning sea water to see the
world beneath the ground level. The biggest change that has overtaken the whole
idea of giving a pleasant experience is to play with your senses and challenge
your expectations. The magnitude of your expectations being challenged or
senses being duped is directly proportional to the pleasure you experience out
if it which is mainly driven from “Molecular Gastronomy”. So basically
molecules i.e. smallest unit of a chemical compound is being used which
participates in different chemical reaction and change the way a food looks,
tastes, as well as feels. The craziest element of molecular gastronomy is
virtual flavoring (mainly through the process of evaporation) which doesn’t
even allow you to set any expectation. Just imagine an eggplant tasting like banana,
looking like potato chips and eventually being used for a dessert; would you
even conceive something like this? This is the real world of food experiments
happening today.
Molecular gastronomy is given
affect mainly with the use of liquid nitrogen to change the food temperature
very fast and play with its texture, presentation as well as flavoring. We all
would agree that we eat with our eyes. The temptation to hog mainly comes from
the way the food looks like which signals our mind to brace for the binge. An
additional temptation as of today is around the element of surprise with the
deceptive appearance as well as aroma. This element of surprise which deceives
your senses actually creates sensation and addiction of trying food more
frequently and experience the bliss. Food chains have rightly captured this and
are competing around innovative style of cooking, use of bizarre and unmatched
ingredients and unique presentation to sensationalize your dining experience.
Apart from the food, the entire
dining experience covers tons of other elements which are also repackaged,
recreated and presented differently to break the monotony, make you feel
special and give you a unique experience. The most common of them is around fancy
cutlery which has to go in sync with the opulence of the restaurant and the
innovative presentation of the food being envisaged like toy trucks/giant wheel
for starters, tiny gas cylinder for beverages, pressure cooker for Indian
curries, telephone booth/typewriter for the bills etc. Sometimes the food and
the cutlery is so fancy that it gets confusing as to what is there for
decoration and what is meant for actual consumption. What also is equally
fascinating is the food as per your mood and the best example is the Sunday
brunch which is meant to fuel your lazy weekend morning with a fizz & instigate
you to slurp till you burp.
Another leg of different dining
experience is around ambience which is based on specific themes like beach,
royal ship, metro, cave, Bollywood, sports, vintage, Jungle and so on. One of
the most blissful experience I had in terms of a very classy ambience was at a
plush restaurant in Gurgaon where you go to the 4th floor using the lift
and come back to the ground floor through an escalator where you get to see an awesome
art in the form of landscaping accompanied by a water reservoir surrounded with
flames which is simply impossible to put into words. Obviously, if something
like this is curated specifically to add to your experience, it makes a hell
lot of difference and can’t be bypassed.
It’s very exciting to plan and zero
in upon a venue out of countless options. The marathon of excitement continues
with the unique description in the menu or having a digital menu, ambience,
combination of ingredients never heard before, fancy cutlery, the
reconciliation of your expectation with the food being served, customizations
like private dining, customized decoration & menu etc. This is one of the
most competitive area which keeps the food chains on the edge to keep thinking
out of the box and benefits the customers to have endless divine experiences. If
all of it continues in the same fashion, days are not far when we will have
championships like Olympics to showcase insane level of culinary skills. Bon
Appetite!!!
