Posted on Wednesday, 31ˢᵗ July, 2024
Throughout Australia and New Zealand, diners share a thirst for comfort food that is creatively reinvented yet retains a deeply authentic emotional connection to a dish they hold dear.
For some, creating a contemporary take on comfort food means reimagining the classic dishes of yesteryear, evoking a deep pang of nostalgia in the process.
For others, it means applying trending cuisines or techniques to our most-loved dishes, challenging diners with new flavours and experiences within the familiar embrace of a recognisable dish.
We recently released our 2024 edition of Future Menus, a report on the global trends that are driving diner preferences. Among the eight trends is modernised comfort food, which puts a label to this evolving movement.
According to the report, modernised comfort food is about delivering authentic flavours, improving profitability, saving time and inspiring staff, not to mention meeting the simple joy of serving a familiar dish in a bright new way.
Here are three local venues that are taking comfort food into fresh new areas.
1. Metita (Auckland)
Chef Michael Meredith grew up in Samoa and the menu at Metita proudly wears its Pacific personality on its sleeve. However, it’s the clever reinvention of traditional dishes that sets this venue apart.
It’s not just the creative presentation of Pacific food that catches the eye; Meredith reveals his culinary nous by employing methods that belong to the past as well as the present, including sustainably fished seafood and local sourcing of ingredients.
Pacific dishes reimagined for contemporary tastes at Metita include seared tuna with Polynesian chestnut and green papaya salsa, fried manioka (cassava) with soy curd and palm treacle, and a crispy skin pork hock with pineapple vinegar glaze, sapa sui noodles and chilli peanuts.
2. Freyja (Melbourne)
Melbourne CBD eatery Freyja invites guests to connect over dishes that reflect heritage as well as innovation.
Chef Jae Bang combines Nordic techniques such as pickling, smoking and fermenting with local and seasonal ingredients to create fresh classics like waffles cooked over hot coals with smoked sour cream, chives and trout roe, and a simple side dish of fermented crispy potato.
3. Midden (Sydney)
Prior to European settlement, Aboriginal tribes met and ate in the area around the Sydney Opera House and it’s here that chef Mark Olive runs Midden, where classic dishes are infused with a rich array of Indigenous ingredients to create new comfort food favourites.
Despite its prime position on the harbour, Olive has produced a highly approachable menu that features familiar dishes across the menu.
Highlights include lemon myrtle cauliflower chips, bush tomato soup with native herb damper and quandong-glazed chicken breast with warrigal greens.
Where to start with Modernised Comfort Food
If you’re ready to take your comfort food to the next level, get inspired by our exciting recipes featuring modern takes:
The intense flavour of this dry-aged whiskey steak is a real highlight.
A Southern touch comes to a takeaway favourite in our Louisiana fish and fries.
Global influences collide for our roti tacos with chicken and Asian slaw.
* Food Trends 2023, August 2023, UFS e-panel Australia.
