Now that the Future of Food & Beverages Crowdstorm is well over halfway we are excited to present the third and last instalment of our series in which we garner the trends, characters, materials, settings, and methods that shape our way of consuming and purchasing food. Read the previous edition of “5 Major Trends Shaping What We Eat” here.
Here is how the four major trends plus a new one are shaping where and how we eat. Join us to explore these trends and product hunt around the world, exploring new restaurant concepts, contemporary juicing culture, and novel ways of eating and drinking. Buon appetito!
BUY LOCAL, GROW LOCAL
Stedsans Copenhagen Rooftop
Opened in early summer 2015, Stedsans ØsterGro is a restaurant placed in the greenhouse of Scandinavia’s first rooftop farm, ØsterGRO, not far from the center of Copenhagen.
Stenson’s (“a sense of place” in Danish) has a menu of 5 or 6 courses served “family style” – on big plates and trays – to be shared among the guests, all seated at one long table. The menu changes every week and is made with the freshest, finest ingredients available from biodynamic and organic farms in the region. The food is “clean, simple and local” – mainly based on plants and free of artificial ingredients. The restaurant makes sustainability a priority, also including a bee farm, chicken coop, and a self-built wooden kitchen.
‘AH! THE GOOD OLD TIMES!’
The Bunyadi
The Bunyadi, London’s first naked restaurant created by Lollipop will open this month in central London. For the next three months, it will offer a liberating new Pangea-like dining experience without the hassles of modern and industrialized life. With an extreme attention to detail, the restaurant plans to use only the most natural ingredients in a setup free from phones, electric lights and clothes (not mandatory). Hence, guests will dine in a space partitioned into two sections – pure and clothed – furnished in wood-hewn and decorated with bamboo and wicker, where food will be served by candlelight. Expect wood-flame grilled vegan and non-vegan meals served on handmade clay crockery and edible cutlery. If you didn’t manage to reserve a seat, you can still get on the waiting list. Be aware you have 39,540 people queuing before you!
TECH FOOD
No Salt Restaurant
Opened this spring in Tokyo, a two-day pop-up No Salt Restaurant was created to give people with high blood pressure – who risk heart problems and strokes – the chance to taste salty foods avoiding negative effects on their health. Based on an idea by a Japanese researcher at Tokyo University, the restaurant was the testing venue for her invention: The Electro Fork, a fork that can make food saltier by tricking the tongue to taste sodium. When the fork containing, two electrodes, makes contact with your tongue, and the food a weak electrical current is formed releasing a sense of saltiness once the current is gone. The restaurant offered a full five-course menu all prepared without the use of salt, to prove that this technological marvel could make healthier food taste good. Electronic signals can also be used to enhance sourness and food texture. Bad news for dessert lovers though: sadly sweetness has proven difficult to reproduce!
FOOD DESIGN
The SmartSlab
Created by design firm Kram/Weisshaar, the ceramic table that premiered at Milan Design Week is believed to finally provide interesting alternatives to how a restaurant operates by adding the design element to gastronomy. With a ceramic tile tabletop and legs of carbon fiber, it is a unique product because it includes heating and cooling options, which function by just tapping and swiping the surface. These features allow to heat and cool different elements at once, so meals can be kept at the perfect temperature while drinks remain ice cold. The table can accommodate touch-control panels, wireless charging modules and WiFi stations allowing for extreme flexibility and functionality.
HEALTHONISM
Juicero
Juicero is a countertop machine that delivers superior juice from poaches of fresh-picked produce with no prep or cleanup required. Founded with the goal of creating a market cult, Juicero claims to be the optimal home juicing experience, syncing with home WiFi and smart phone and with an app describing ingredients and procedures. Each bag has clever features, such as a breathing hole to help the ingredients stay fresh and a QR code, which is necessary for the juicer to work. The QR code also has safety benefits: if a pouch of food may have gone bad, the scanned QR code will alert the Juicero, and the machine won’t press the juice.
Inspired? Start to cook up your own ideas for the Future of Food & Beverages Crowdstorm, open for submissions until the 22nd of June.