Every few months, an infographic ranking Britain’s favourite foods – from bubble & squeak to toad in the hole – spreads across social media like gravy across a plate of bangers and mash. It's a bleak, beige image that invokes disgust and pity wherever it travels, reaffirming our island's reputation as a culinary backwater.

But in reality, Britain has boasted one of the world's most cultured and eclectic food scenes for more than 40 years. Granted, the post-recession landscape made it harder than ever to run a profitable restaurant, but it's helped spark a revolution in the way we see, treat and eat food. The 2010s were the decade in which London cemented its place as one of the world's foremost culinary destinations, whether you're a gourmand ticking off your Michelin lists, or a culinary spelunker looking to explore the latest food trends.

To mark the end of this transformative decade, we asked a few celebrated London chefs for their take on some of the most influential gastronomic trends of the 2010s.

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Kricket

Small Plates' Big Break

Dining out used to be pretty straightforward. You ordered a starter, a main, maybe some sides, and then primed yourself to fight off any man, woman or child stupid enough to pick at your plate. Simple.

That all changed in September 2009, when Russell Norman opened his first restaurant, Polpo, in Soho. Inspired by the ‘cicheti’ culture of Venice's backstreets, the former maître d' sold smaller servings of food at a reduced price, so they could be shared amongst friends. The concept of upmarket ‘small plates’ (otherwise known as 'sharing plates') had been steadily gaining traction in New York and proved immediately popular in London. Norman was labelled "the pioneer of the recession-era restaurant", and he opened another three in as many years.

A decade on, swathes of new mid- and up-market London restaurants are still following that blueprint. Tom Brown, owner and head chef of Cornerstone in Hackney Wick, puts the rise down to the impact of globalisation. “Obviously there are many different cultures throughout the world where small plates is the chosen way to dine, from tapas to dim sum,” he says. “We’re a nation of immigrants; there’s so many cultures in this country, you can’t help but be influenced by it. It was really difficult to explain the concept [at first]. British people just didn’t get that it’s literally just sharing."

Jacob Kenedy, chef-owner of Soho favourite Bocca di Lupo, says that diners now appreciate the communal experience. “I think, generally, we are remembering how important it is to sit down together," he says. “Small plates allow people to break from the same loaf of bread. You can talk about the food with the people you share with. It also eliminates FOMO [fear of missing out], which I certainly suffer from."

But the growing ubiquity of small plate restaurants brought an inevitable backlash, which has bubbled over recently. Its critics dismiss it as a pretentious marketing trick designed to covertly inflate bills. Others see it as an excuse for sloppy service and paltry portions. That's not to mention the all-too-familiar indignity of being asked if you'd like a menu 'explained' ("we usually recommend ordering absolutely everything.")

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Critics be damned; the spread of tapas-style dining shows no sign of slowing. But James Cochran, star of the Great British Menu and chef-owner of 12:51 in Islington, thinks the new decade could welcome a change. "You know what I can see happening? Us going back full circle again: starters, mains and desserts,” he tells me. “This trend has been going on for six, seven or eight years. I just think it gets to the point where people want to go back the other way.”

But for Brown, and a long list of modern chefs, going back to the way things were would be a shame. "It’s a bit full on, the commitment of ordering a massive main course. About three bites in you’re like: right, I’ve got this now," he says. "Sharing. It’s just a nice way to eat, isn’t it?"

Recommended small plate restaurants in London: Cornerstone, Bocca Di Lupo, Nopi, Kiln.

War Food
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No Reservations

If American Psycho taught us anything (beyond skincare tips and Huey Lewis trivia), it’s the importance of securing the right reservation. And while that kind of pressure was once restricted to celebrities and social climbers, the advent of Instagram has forced millions on their own financially ruinous 'foodie' pilgrimage.

These coveted spots are just as hard to get into, but a lot has changed since the über-exclusive days of Dorsia. Over the past ten years, increasing numbers of restaurants have decided to adopt a supposedly egalitarian approach and do away with reservations altogether. Now anyone can get a table at the city's best new restaurants – as long as they're prepared to wait.

The practice started, as these things often do, in New York. It became so popular at the start of the decade that Zagat (the US equivalent of Harden's guide) even decided to grant it an individual category. Punters liked that they didn't need to wait months for tables and restaurateurs enjoyed the sight of queues surrounding their buildings.

Owners argue that it gives their restaurants a refreshingly casual feel (Russell Norman, who helped spearhead the trend in London, referred to it as, "Posh food minus the pretence"). Fundamentally, though, the motivation is financial. Queues create buzz and waiting diners run up hefty bar tabs. Time-consuming table plans are no longer a concern. Most importantly in an industry with razor-thin margins, you don't lose money on no-shows.

When Tom Brown first opened Cornerstone in 2018 he had to account for five unfulfilled bookings a night. His budget took such a hit that he started charging truant customers a £40 penalty. "I think restaurateurs should be more ruthless about it, to be honest," he says. "If we don’t have people turn up to their tables, we have to throw fish in the bin. That’s me losing money because some arsehole didn’t want to fucking turn up to their table?" Hard line restaurants, like Red Medicine in LA and Noma in Copenhagen, have even been known to publicly shame no-shows online.

That being said, Brown isn't convinced by the no-reservation model: "I want to know that if I travel over to a place, I’m going to be able to eat there." Observer food critic Jay Rayner has been a particularly vocal critic, arguing back in 2011 that, "it seems to be more for convenience of the restaurant than the diner." Many no-reservation restaurants have conceded ground in recent years with texting services that update diners on availability, but securing that coveted Friday night table remains a lottery. You got a problem with that? Get in line.

Recommended no-reservation restaurants in London: BAO, Hoppers, Padella, Barrafina.

Mending Our Relationship With Meat

The core message behind 1999’s Nose to Tail Eating, the game-changing gastro bible by St John founder Fergus Henderson, was one of respect: for meat (“If you are going to kill the animal, it seems only polite to use the whole thing,”); for the perfectly good food we all waste; and for the art of cooking as a whole.

Twenty years later, those three key tenets couldn't resonate more. The horrors of factory farming are driving people to vegetarianism in droves and, in the main, those who do continue to eat meat are far more invested in the ethics behind it, from source to sustainability. The UK throws away 10 million tonnes of food annually, and in a time of rising hunger and pollution, people are starting to interrogate their own environmental legacy.

Meanwhile, many restaurants argue that taking advantage of neglected cuts is not only the most viable ways to keep a business alive, but it's also the truest test of a chef's powers. Ferguson Henderson might have started the revolution 20 years ago, but it's accelerated over the past decade. "I remember a chef I used to work with said anyone can cook a fillet steak and it’ll be nice," Tom Brown says. "But if you can cook an ear, or a bit of tail or some chin, that’s a real skill."

For the Cornerstone chef, it's a matter of survival. "All things like that are born out of necessity," he says. "Monkfish liver’s cheap, so we got monkfish liver. The nose to tail thing, it’s a way for an independent restaurateur to keep costs down while doing something really interesting. Sustainability is the most important thing for a fish restaurant. Without it, we’re not going to be able to open our doors in a few years time."

According to 12:51's James Cochran, Brexit will only make that reality even harsher. "We’re going to have to be cautious and use a lot of stuff from the UK, because the prices of food coming in is going to be astronomical." It's a potential worry for home cooks, too, which begs the question: will the sustainable ethos begin to have a greater impact on our own kitchens as well? There's plenty of offal to go around.

Recommended sustainable restaurants in London: Daylesford Café, St. John, 12:51, The Petersham.

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Dishoom

The Changing Face Of Indian Food

Chicken tikka masala’s reign as Britain’s favourite dish shows no sign of ending, but the high street curry houses that fuelled its ascension aren’t faring quite so well. As many as half could close their doors over the next ten years, according to the chairman of the Asian Catering Federation. Which is ironic, because higher-end Indian food is simultaneously enjoying a huge surge in popularity.

Over the past ten years, a new wave of mid-priced, regionally-inspired restaurants have exploded across the capital. Hugely popular spots like Dishoom and Gunpowder are exposing British palates to authentic and unfamiliar tastes from different corners of India, serving small plates free of the rich curry sauces popularised by Bangladeshi restaurants. In 2016, Covent Garden’s Tandoor Chophouse went one further by taking curry off the menu completely. Meanwhile, former street food vendors like Kricket are reimagining classic Indian dishes by drawing inspiration from other cultures.

“It’s evolved. The regional influences have come through,” says Sameer Taneja, executive chef of Anglo-Indian fine-dining restaurant Benares. “It's not only about chicken tikka masala, sag aloo or vindaloo. It’s much better than it was 15 years ago, with lots of street food and Michelin[-starred] Indian restaurants.”

For Shamil Thakrar, who all but started the trend when he co-founded Dishoom in 2010, it was all about revitalising the tired representations of India that existed in British society. “When British people think of India they might think of things like the days of the Raj, palaces, Bollywood, curry houses or cricket," he said in an interview with MBS. "I had the sense that a lot more could be said about India, both food-wise and culture-wise.” Dishoom has since opened seven more locations and is looking to spread further across Britain. The curry house is dead. Long live the curry house.

Recommended Indian restaurants in London: Benares, Dishoom, Kricket, Gunpowder.

Vegetarian sandwiches with avocado, ricotta, egg yolk, spinach, cherry tomatoes on whole grain toast bread on ceramic plate with ingredients above over white marble kitchen table Close up
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The Politics Of Brunch

The origins of smashed avocado on toast are hotly contested. An Australian café-owner claims to have first created it in the early Nineties, but many argue that its roots actually lie in mid-century America. Since no history lesson would be complete without a hefty sprinkle of whitewashing, it should also be noted that Latin American countries have been combining avocado with bread for tens of thousands of years. They probably gave it a bit of a mash at some point, all things considered.

But does the dish’s background really matter? All we know for sure is that in the 2010s, the humble avocado became all but synonymous with two sociological phenomenons: the rise of brunch culture, and the financial failings of an entire generation.

The avocado owes its cultural cachet to a number of factors. Gwyneth Paltrow, the self-anointed queen of clean-living, sang its praises in her 2013 superfood cookbook It’s All Good. That coincided with the rise of brunch and (bad) food photography on Instagram; the open sandwich's colour pop was perfect feed fodder. Cafes took advantage and soon enough there was an avo industrial complex. T-shirts. Card games. Skincare. Railcards.

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Simultaneously, the culture war between millennials and baby boomers was growing nasty. For the latter, all of the younger generation’s financial woes could be neatly summed up by their willingness to spend frivolously on overpriced food. It came to a head in 2017 (a few months before 'youthquake' was named Oxford Dictionary's 'word of the year'), when an Australian real estate mogul blamed coffee and avocado toast for the housing crisis.

The backlash was instant, especially since his argument didn't stand up to much scrutiny. Studies suggested that millennials are more financially frugal than their predecessors due to student debt, poor job prospects and the psychological impact of the recession. But that didn't stop others from piling in. “I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more," said one Australian columnist in an Allen Ginsberg-esque rant. "Twenty-two dollars several times a week could go towards a deposit on a house."

The bad press didn't stop there. Journalists soon discovered that rising demand had led to drug lords seizing farmland, with one chef referring to avocados as "the blood diamonds of Mexico". Meanwhile, the pressure placed on the industry produced immense strain on workers and the environment, and it should come as no surprise that sales of the fruit have fallen year-on-year. But as any self-professed foodie will tell you, avocado is the fruit that burns twice as bright and half as long. It's here for a good time, not a long time. And it will rise again.

Recommended brunch restaurants in London: 45 Jermyn Street, Balthazar, Caravan, Ozone.

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