CUISINE

FOOD FORECAST

Cuisine goes boldly into the innovative future with robots, data-driven diet makeovers, sensory dining and a push for plant-based ingredients.

By SALLY J. CLASEN

Culinary art trends, like fashion, come and go. Remember the synthetic truffle rage? It’s buried somewhere in a dirt pile covered by yesterday’s patchwork peasant skirts and the death of wedge sneakers.

Despite the flops, the future of food is set to explode with mind-bending innovation and even stylish reboots of some familiar concepts.

What’s hot? Cuisine heads into tomorrow with a focus on high-tech cooking efficiency, hyper-custom and scientific nutrition, augmented dining and supersustainable methods that will shape how and what you eat.

MEET YOUR SOUS CYBORG HELPER

Chefs are often elevated to rock star status because of their ability to create unforgettable cuisine with technical precision and dramatic flair — in person. Expect less human interaction and more Space Age application in domestic and commercial kitchens, however, as robot chefs are beginning to cook and even plate entire meals. In 2021, London-based robotics company Moley introduced the first fully robotic kitchen unit, complete with cabinets and utensils, which uses sensors and cameras to cook a meal from start to finish. It also can suggest a menu based on available ingredients, announce when items are low, count calories, pull recipes from chefs around the world and even clean. Samsung’s Bot Chef is another extra pair of rail-mounted hands, with three fingers and four joints, which can chop, whisk, pour and tidy up based on an AI programmable platform that reacts to voice commands, physical manipulation and app controls.

Robot chefs can’t actually shop at the farmer’s market — yet — but they are positioned to be game-changers in the way food makes its way from the kitchen to the table. And though they’ll never replace a chef, the intent behind robot chefs is to reduce food waste, manage mundane tasks and allow chefs and foodies more time to concentrate on the art of cooking.

DO YOUR GENES MAKE YOU LOOK FAT?

Hold on to your food pyramid guidelines because nutrition is about to get more personal, and scientific, with custom-tailored diets poised as the next mega-trend.

The idea that food is medicine is not a revolutionary concept but as we’ve learned, a one size eating plan doesn’t fit all. While consuming more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fats is the standard advice, it doesn’t explain how individuals metabolize food differently.

Enter nutrigenomics, a personalized nutrition focus that relies on one’s gut bacteria (microbes), genetic blueprint and other physical factors to determine what someone should eat for optimal health. Companies are using the information to design custom diets that are better suited for specific food needs.

And technology is making it easier than ever for individuals to follow customized diets. Although smartwatches and other wearable fitness tracking tools can count calories and clock steps to burn them off, they can’t tell you if that loaf of crusty bread with toasted grains will wreak havoc on your body.

New artificial intelligence nutritionists’ apps, on the other hand, promise to guide you along a more informed path of health. The apps analyze metabolic data such as blood sugar and blood fat levels, and use algorithms based on research to reveal what foods you should eat.

TRIPPING OUT AT DINNER

Call it a party trick if you want but don’t be surprised when you are handed a digital headset in a dimly-lit room for your next dinner reservation. Augmented, immersive experiences that combine reality, food and fantasy are making their way into restaurants, from fine dining to casual eateries and cocktail bars.

Using imagery, objects and sounds to amplify your food and beverage senses, virtual reality dining creates an alternative, out-of-body culinary event in which food is synched to visual and aural cues to redirect your dining perception.

C ULINA R E Y WATC Hg GET READY. SOME ADDITIONAL CUISINE TRENDS THAT WILL TAKE OFF LIKE HOT CAKES IN THE NEAR DISTANT FUTURE:

FISHLESS FISH

No catch. Just plant-based, with the same texture and flavor as the type caught without the unfriendly planetary effects and fish smell.

HYPER-GREEN KITCHENS

Eco-friendly designs that include toxin-free timber and recycled stainless steel cabinets, smart appliances, countertop composting containers, glass recycling stations, vertical herb gardens and worm boxes.

CANNABIS COOKING

Stirring the pot with THC-infused artisanal pizzas, pastries, cocktails, and other gourmet foods and beverages that get you high.

3-D FOOD PRINTERS

Quick, check the “ink” cartridge and food tray to make sure it’s loaded with all the right ingredients to make a full meal, including spaghetti, cheese and dessert.

Americans got a taste of the mind-altering trend a few years ago when the James Beard Association in New York City hosted several virtual dinners with Aerobanquet RMX, transporting diners into a sevencourse, neuro-sensory cuisine landscape. Now, virtual reality dining, packaged in different realms, is starting to appear at diverse restaurants across the country.

And some are taking digital cuisine a step further. In February 2022, iChina was the first Silicon Valley establishment to offer a virtual reality dining room in which guests dine in a completely computerizedgenerated environment, sans headsets, tasting, smelling and viewing a 10-course meal served over three interpretive hours.

WHERE NO FOOD HAS GONE BEFORE

Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to order a braised-short rib burger with foie gras in the future but an emphasis on supersustainable production and agriculture practices that support planet-friendly, nutrient-dense, plant-based foods are on the culinary horizon.

One indicator the trend is simmering is the growing popularity of the meatless meat industry, a market that’s produced burgers that “bleed,” sizzle and taste like real meat and is expected to be worth $85 billion by 2030.

The food system frontier also will embrace the likes of algae, cacti and mushrooms and other earthy specimens as main ingredients that are plentiful, good for you and are easy on the carbon footprint.

Due to worldwide protein supply concerns, look for an uptick in insect consumption and farming as well. Plus, a new crop of futuristic “lab food” such as cultured meat developed with animal stem cells that grow over several weeks into fullsized meat patties and other scientifically engineered food products will become common supermarket items.

IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER

So enjoy that (meatless) burger or, if you prefer, a plate of seaweed accompanied by the sound of ocean waves hitting the beach. But only if your app tells you it’s OK. And remember to tell your (robot) chef when you’ve finished the last bite.

ESTATE MAGAZINE 107MOLEY ROBOTIC KITCHEN