This was published 4 years ago
Look back in hunger: What we learnt when dining out stopped
Restaurants are coming back into our lives, and some people are jumping straight in the deep end (me), while others are splashing about in the shallows. That’s okay. No rush. Besides, we’ve done a pretty good job of turning our homes into restaurants by now, injecting chez nous with all the things we’ve missed the most about dining out. Some people have gone the whole hog, insisting on reservations, refusing to take walk-ins and getting snippy if you ask for seconds. That may be a step too far, but hey, your restaurant, your rules.
For me, it was more about trying to capture the thrill of the new, the comfort of the familiar, the buzz, the craft, the wine service and the whole warm embrace of hospitality. And the food, of course. Even people who “don’t do takeaway” now do takeaway, because takeaway has changed.
The big switch from delivering fully cooked food – also known as a steamy, unrecognisable mess in a box – to delivering chilled, partially cooked components of a meal for you to finish at home, has been a revelation.
Some of my most fun times have been ordering takeaway – the equivalent of being handed a menu and told “the chef says all our food is designed to share”. Then there’s the arrival – not at the table, but at the door – and the fun of opening the boxes to see what’s there. (Anyone else now thinking of a box-cutting Stanley knife as a prime kitchen tool?) Then all the cooking to order, against time, with hungry people looking on – which, of course, made us miss chefs the most.
Getting something “out of the box” became particularly important to commemorate special occasions – those birthdays, anniversaries and memorial services that required some next-level magic. Unpacking a birthday dinner from Sydney’s Restaurant Hubert via Providoor, I came across a QR code for a playlist of soulful jazz and a tall white candle to place on the table. They evoked the real dining experience so much, I drank too much and stayed up too late, which is exactly what I used to do at Hubert.
These things we’ve learnt while restaurants were taken away from us will hold us in good stead. They’ll stay a part of our lives. But the best thing is we’ll have restaurants, too.
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Terry Durack has been reviewing restaurants and seeking out new food experiences for three decades. Author of six books and former critic for London’s Independent on Sunday and the Sydney Morning Herald, Terry was twice named Glenfiddich Restaurant Critic of The Year in the UK, and World Food Media’s Best Restaurant Critic. Australian-born and a resident of Sydney, he brings a unique perspective on the global food scene to his travel writing.