How chefs see the future for restaurants and fine dining in a post-pandemic world – will it be back to celebrating flavours and good company, or more takeaway options?

These times are far from easy. Many restaurants around the world have permanently closed and more will surely follow. But Yvonne Kam, founder of Yung’s Bistro, the modern counterpart to Hong Kong’s much-loved Cantonese stalwart Yung Kee, believes that may not always be a tragedy – in her view, a decade of expansion in the F&B sector has resulted in an oversupply of restaurants.

“The dining scene has become just like ‘fast fashion’, with restaurants focusing on gimmicks instead of quality food and ingredients,” she says. “I hope the silver lining of this pandemic will be that we can reset, slow down and return to the essence of dining out – celebrating flavours, food traditions and good company.”

That essence of dining out is also what Asma Khan, the first British chef to feature on Netflix hit Chef’s Table with her London hotspot Darjeeling Express, believes diners will be longing for once lockdown eases in the UK and restaurants reopen.

“Dining will become more informal and more meaningful,” she says. “So much that was taken for granted has been taken away from everyone during the lockdown. I hope it will make the industry more hospitable and service oriented.”

“People will slowly go back to restaurants, but may not be willing to spend an enormous amount over one meal. I suspect people will go out more often and spend less,” she says.

But not all chefs agree.

“There’ll always be room for brilliant dishes with the highest quality ingredients and elevated craftsmanship that people themselves are unable to create at home,” says Sat Bains, chef-owner of two-Michelin-starred Sat Bains Restaurant in Nottingham, England. “But diners won’t have patience for pretentiousness or inauthenticity. They won’t want snobbery, they’ll want relaxed professionalism. People love honesty and connection.”