2015 was a year of delivery apps, small plates and food trucks. Chefs in the city are all geared up for 2016. We spoke to the notable chefs in Bangalore to see what this year is going to be like.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who owns restaurants The Yellow Chili and Hong Kong is betting on lesser known Indian to be huge this year. “Other than that, super grains like nachni, jowar, bajra, amaranth, quinoa.” He told Explocity. “Hot flavours like the Thai ‘sriracha’ sauce, Korean ‘gochujang’ etc.,” And the biggest trend for year will be “Smokinganything and everything – meats, veggies and desserts too”

Executive Chef at Vivanta By Taj, Chef Selvaraju named an exciting new trend - “Secret menus or off menu are kicking restaurants with full of surprises.” Chef also feels that French cuisines and many classy dishes are given a gritty, fun and funky makeover. And that Molecular gastronomy will now be seen more in Bangalore.

Chef Jolly at JW Marriott enjoyed some of the trends of 2015 a lot. “Small plates and food sharing were huge last year and will continue to grow.” He told Explocity. “The trend of healthy eating will be big. But what I’m most looking forward to isniche cuisine- like Korean, Peruvian and certain African cuisines - whose influences we will see on our plates a lot.” He also mentioned a lot more infused oils, not just in the way of tempering.

Chef Rohan Beliappa, from I & Monkey noticed that the last year there was a rise invegan foodsin India. “India already has a massive vegetarian market. Veganism will have a huge draw this year. We will begin to see chefs focusing on vegan only menus and also vegan restaurants will begin to do well,” he told Expocity.

Chef Vikas Pathak, Executive Chef of blueFROG Bangalore believes aningredients revolution is on its way. “Natural ingredients minimally processed food have a continuing influence on food. Cooking with organic ingredients, less processed meat, will lead the menu.”

Mr. Vinesh Gupta, General Manager, Moevenpick Hotel and Spa Bangalore says, “In India, and of course in Bangalore, we witnessed the growing interest forIndian wines and whiskies, recently few Indian brands also made debut in the beverage circuit.” In 2016 we will actually get to see how well these brands can leave a mark competing with their global counterparts.

Chef Abhijeet Gomare from Chili's thinks the trend of better presentation which started last year will continue. “We launched craft burgers which is a perfect example ofcontemporary presentation techniques. We also increased usage of crockery (multiple new plates) across our stores to give a more professional look and feel of our food to guests.”

Chef Thomas, Executive Chef, Crowne Plaza Bengaluru thinks restaurants will become more conscious about the environment. “2016 will see a surge inenvironmentally sustainable culinary themes with emphasis more on locally farmed vegetables and meat. With people becoming more health and quality conscious, natural and whole foods will be the talk of the town. Minimising food wastage would be of utmost importance with the possibility of sizing down wedding buffets.”

Chef Rajesh Dubey who is with restaurants such as Cafe Mezzuna, Mainland China and Asia Kitchen feelsregional cuisinewill be big, whether Indian or international. “Asian cuisines like Korean, Mongolian and even Sri Lankan cuisine will continue to be in demand”. Chef also feels there will be renewed interest in coastal cuisines be it regional from Indian subcontinent or from European countries such as Spain or Italy.

Chef Shiva Chettri, Executive Chef at Sancho's and Singkong is all about home cooking andsimple recipes. Back to the basics is the theme. More focus will be on authentic ingredients whether imported from the country of origin or grown locally.  

A rather exciting time for food. All we diners have to do is sit back and enjoy it all.