Tabletop Trends: Blue sky thinking for fresh air cooking
Summertime, and the dining is outside. This is the time of the year where al fresco dining is at its peak – customers are looking for a relaxed time enjoying a drink and some food in the great outdoors, hopefully without the great British weather playing one of its funny jokes.
The demand for outdoor dining options has increased hugely over the last five years, and more businesses than ever are creating and fine tuning their outdoor dining areas. They are buying equipment that allows them to maximise the use of their available space, increasing profits and offering a range of tempting menu options.
Al fresco dining provides additional challenges for choosing the right equipment. It needs to be durable, weatherproof and versatile. While standard tableware might be OK in some situations, for example if the outdoor dining area directly adjoins the building such as a patio or a rooftop, even here the increased risk of breakages has made alternative materials such as stainless steel or melamine ware popular choices for many businesses.
Modern melamine ware really has advanced, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish from ceramics with manufacturers offering collections with imaginative colourways and realistic stoneware textures. This means you don’t have to compromise between durability and style.
Sharing dishes and tapas style menus are ideally suited for the laid back vibe you’re aiming for with al fresco dining. Wood and steelware are great ways to serve these big statement dishes, with the style to create the wow factor you want when your guests get their food.
Getting the right tableware is obviously an important part of the puzzle in terms of creating a great outdoor dining experience, but al fresco cooking has been diversifying too. Barbeques are hugely popular during the summer months, and are many people’s first thought when asked to define outdoor eating. The great taste of flame grilled food is a big draw for consumers, and the barbeque itself provides a natural theatrical touch to the preparation of meals that diners enjoy.
There are other types of cooking that can be brought outside to similar effect. Portable pizza ovens are increasingly common sights, and even charcoal ovens allowing for a far wider range of cooking styles to be undertaken outside.
If food is being prepared outdoors then that means operators will also need equipment to store ingredients such as pizza toppings safely and hygienically. This could be as simple as sealable containers, but there is plenty of choice of portable equipment for creating modular, easily transportable prep stations with built-in refrigeration and handwash facilities.
The growth of al fresco dining goes hand in hand with other dining trends of recent years, in particular pop-up kitchens and food trucks. Increasing numbers of operators are looking for portable, flexible equipment that can be used for short term engagements, and which can be reconfigured to take account of changing needs quickly.
Induction systems have been growing in popularity in all types of kitchens recently, but can have a huge impact on outdoor dining thanks to the availability of portable equipment like hobs. These are ideal for adding additional cooking abilities to outdoor dining setups, such as creating sauces from scratch or cooking rice or pasta.
Induction chafers are also used for buffet service, offering an alternative way of holding food at the right temperature.
While many businesses won’t need this depth of equipment for their al fresco cooking needs, the increasing demand for portable and powerful equipment means that we are likely to see this trend developing further as businesses get more ambitious with their al fresco dining concepts.
Thank you to Zodiac Stainless Products, Dayes Ltd, Signature FSE, Bluestem Group, FEM, Lifetime Brands and Tablecraft for their input into this article
Here are some of these companies’ star al fresco products (images in the carousel above)
Zodiac: Vintage Steel – a collection featuring carefully judged finishes and abstract shapes to add a touch of contemporary style to outdoor dining
Dayes: Tala round pizza paddle made from Acacia wood, ideal for serving up to a 14” pizza or the Tala presentation table in oak-look Hevea wood with metal handles for pizzas up to 16”.
Signature: Venta Vario, a flexible induction based stage table. Venta Elements: a modular cooking system designed for event or front of house catering.
Bluestem Group: the Statesman electric pizza oven can cook a 13” pizza in less than 3 minutes.
FEM: Pujadas’s range of charcoal ovens, which offer authentic flame grilled cooking in a portable form factor ideal for indoor or outdoor use.
Lifetime: stainless steel smoking box, can be used on charcoal or gas BBQs to infuse food with a range of different aromas.
Tablecraft: Lattice Collection, stainless steel serveware featuring embossed basketweave pattern. Canteen collection, Collection of Melamine tableware designed to look like classic enamelware.
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This article is part of Tabletop Trends - FEA's quarterly light equipment and tableware sector newsletter.
Tabletop Trends is produced and distributed by the Foodservice Equipment Association, the UK's largest independent foodservice equipment trade association. All suppliers listed in this article are FEA members. A full list of Light Equipment and Table suppliers can be found on our Meet Our Members section - simply select Light Equipment / Food Prep from the Product Type drop down menu
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