Kraftwerk was one of the most influential pop groups in history in the 1970s and early 1980s their distinctive sound was revolutionary, and has had a lasting effect across many genres of modern music. Is the Craft (Spelled with a C and not with a K) movement that we are seeing proliferating across the globe influencing gastronomy in the very same way that this pop group influenced music?
In a historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Middle Ages and earlier, the term Craft applied to people producing genuine goods in small-scale. The traditional terms craftsman and craftswoman are nowadays often replaced by artisan. A craft is a pastime or a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work.
The current honest, less pretentious and more affordable food culture blossomed through the evolution of the "farm to table concept" that has grown as a trend and which has been directly influenced by the increasing street food and farmers markets movement. It is actively promoting local farms and 'real honest food' by putting to the fore front small business entities, producing high quality products in small quantities, while making sure that the consumer is aware of its true origin. Rustic would best describe its style of food presentation.
I went to the local market most recently with my 11 year old son Elijah who picked up a vegetable and asked me: Dad, those vegetables can't be organic, they are too perfect! Spaces that serve honest food can't be too perfect either…
Now, imagine one of those New York lofts with big spaces, airy atmosphere and lots of light, then add an open kitchen, polished concrete floors and pipes on the walls. Honest and affordable crafted food & beverage culture sprang up within those types of environment because it translates into genuine and transparent origin and keeps the experience truthfully "RAW". The imperfections makes it organic.
COLONIE Restaurant is remarkable of this type of creativity and thoughtfulness at work. Recently opened in the historical Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City, COLONIE is a fresh destination on a once run-down block that seems to be undergoing a renaissance – as so many neighborhoods in Brooklyn are these days. The restaurant was built using recycled materials when possible and marry them with new products to bring a rustic "barnhouse" to the otherwise urban Atlantic Avenue. A recycled church pew was reworked and installed as banquettes. The tremendous bar mirror is antiqued glass encased in a frame salvaged from the famous (and now closed) Toy Building in nearby Manhattan. The food is simple, tasty, affordable, no frill and no fuss. You will find on the menu items such as Egg Salad, lardo, veal jus for $8, when in season winter Squash Soup, granola, yogurt, thyme for $12 or Octopus, chorizo broth, fingerlings, capers for $16.
Slightly grungy, the Meatball Shop in NYC is messy, combined with mismatched tableware – but who cares? the place is all about the meatballs! You will find the working-class seated next to a business man. It is noisy, but it is real! A tattooed chef surrounded by rustic pots and pans can be seen and heard through the open kitchen window, a barista with piercings wears a dark butcher's apron, the staff wear jeans and some have their nose and ears pierced. Their attire reflects a generation of accepted differences with no alter ego. The best dessert in house – the ice cream sandwich!
Some places have opted for counter-service where chefs serve you like at Mercatbar (by Spanish chef Quique Dacosta), it's all part of the ‘what you see is what you get' experience. The menu consists of crafted sandwiches, hormone and antibiotic-free burgers, comfort food made with local, seasonal ingredients from farmers, served within a family-friendly environment. Because "less is more" all the fuss has suddenly become history. But damn it tastes good!
Michelin star chefs have also merged into this evolution of more authenticity with less fuss. Ferran Adria's Tickets & 41 Degree tapas bar lead the initiative followed by Carles Abellán, master of Comerç 24 and Tapas 24. Both celebrity chefs continue developing their creativity while serving old time favorites tapas within unpretentious surroundings and at affordable prices.
How important is it for the honest and affordable restaurant concepts serving crafted gastronomy to engage with their community? A Kickstarter campaign from the crew behind the upcoming Minnesota restaurant Travail Kitchen raised $255,669 since the drive went live. Travail met its $75,000 goal in less than six hours. They've worked under extraordinary chefs in amazing restaurants and their dream was to make fine dining affordable because they found it too expensive and too intimidating. The music with the likes of Nirvana will be "pumping" they said, the tables will be first-come first-served, and if you want to throw down in a beer-chugging contest, you will most likely be destroyed by one of them! They want to push the boundaries further also with flavors, textures, plating, and serving. Watch their video campaign and observe their talent in creating an interactive connection with the diners through new table-side techniques – constantly evolving, progressing and challenging the status quo.
Dubai – which is seeing an evolution in its food scene is not escaping the phenomenon with concepts such as Markette which recently opened in The Dubai Mall. This awsome eatery has opted to print their menu on old fashion cardboard, the Galettes and Sodas are authentic and follow original recipes. The setting is eclectic and the atmosphere vibrant. You feel as though you are seated at the heart and soul of their kitchen. The design of the space is unpretentious and filled with kitchen cabinets and accessories, integrated with a bit of ‘structured messiness'. The space is cozy, ‘homey', and casual. It portrays the friendly atmosphere that you feel when entering a friend's house/kitchen. The Tiramisu is spooned out of a vintage glass bowl. Yes! that's authenticity.
Should you be educating your customers? Tom & Serg which opened a few months ago in a less frequented part of Dubai serves their cappucino at 65c and makes a point of telling you that this is how you should drink it in order not to burn all the aromas including your tongue! If you need water you are shown to a counter with refilled filtered water bottles and you are invited to hep yourself.
Around the corner at RAW Coffee Company you are seated in a warehouse amongst large bags of raw beans. The heart and soul of it all, is the roasting room. They are completely smitten with a 18kg Coffee Tool roaster ~ she sits between the trusty old Probat and the Dietrich sample roaster. Sourcing premium green beans from around the world, they have opted for the niche market looking for quality as oppose to quantity. Their beans are ethically sourced and the farmers and their families growing their coffee are treated fairly and can eke out a sustainable living. They have placed signs around the venue stating that their beans are all organically certified and roasted by origin.
While many restaurants treat their recipes like state secrets, "The Cafters" believe that any recipe worth making is worth sharing. The Craft beer company BrewDog are to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as they are. And that is still their biggest mission today by featuring BEER SCHOOL videos on their website. There's beer, and then there's hand Crafted beer: clean, classic recipes, brewed in-house by the local boss of beer! Simply put, craft beer is beer not brewed by one of the big "mega-brewery" corporations.
Conclusion
"The genuine cafters" don't like to take themselves too seriously and they like to add a touch of humour or a – back to school nostalgia – into their concepts. This honest food & beverage culture has redefined gastronomy and will continue to expand and grow in popularity around the globe because it brings to the hospitality industry what Rock & Indie brought to music: Authenticity! Yeah, the real stuff…..
