Restaurant trends for 2024 by Paulo Amado

We are now launching the restaurant trends for 2024. Yes, special crockery or surfaces are a part of it, but they are no longer a trend but a reality, so it will be up to Costa Verde  to continue creating special pieces that rhyme in anticipation with the chefs’ most creative ideas.

One of the trends has to do with snacking. Small, marvellous portions, and we’re not talking about snacks or tapas. Those are cultural statements, for the most part. These little hand-held delicacies are an expression of creativity, hopefully. Sometimes cuisine also copies each other, I mean that we are not always in front of the author. So, hand on the food, mouth open and bam. Magic and surprise. These little morsels that populate restaurants, with or without tasting menus, are moments of joy for diners and, sometimes, tests for cooks. In all informality, I’ve seen them mounted on small trees simulating fruit, hidden in boxes and even on top of paving stones. What a creative moment our country is experiencing. What a will to excel the kitchens of this country show.

Another trend has to do with a topic that is very important to restaurant management. The need to take measures to combat no shows. There are people who make reservations and cannot fulfill their reservation or do not want to because they chose another restaurant. This makes it impossible to use the table for other customers and can result in wasted raw materials. For this reason, restaurants are already thinking about not accepting reservations or charging an amount via credit card that must be shared through the reservation.

This is a complicated world. I wish we had more informality like we once had, or not?

Paulo Amado was born in Olhão, attended law school, has edited two books, was a journalist, magazine director and is a trumpet student.

He has established Edições do Gosto and Manja Marvila, a multicultural space for generating social change through gastronomy. He chairs the Congress of Chefs, Chef of the Year and Young Gastronomy Talent competitions.

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