Marco Pierre White On Why The Future Of Hospo Lies In The Humble Bistro

Fine dining has spent decades perfecting the art of making an impression. But ask Marco Pierre White what the future of restaurants looks like, and he’ll take you somewhere a little less polished: a neighbourhood bistro, a bowl of properly cooked pasta, or a humble family-run spot where the food does all the talking.

“I think where the food is going now is casual dining. That's where the future is,” the chef says. For White, that shift is about more than relaxed dress codes or restaurants trading starched tablecloths for a laid-back feel. It’s a chance to make eating out more accessible, more personal and, above all, more enjoyable.

“The future really is making food affordable, making restaurants accessible,” he says. “And I think that bistro food, that farmhouse cuisine terroir, I think that's where it's going.”

It’s a view shaped by a lifetime in kitchens and by watching dining culture change around him. White remembers a time when a restaurant such as Gavroche came with a dress code: jacket required, collar and tie, no jeans or trainers. Today, the rules have loosened. Diners are more relaxed, cuisines from around the world are easier to find, and a meal out can be as simple as stopping for pasta and a glass of red on the way home.

“A lot of our week is quite mundane and boring,” he says. “We're at work. That's what we're doing. We're working, we're grafting. And so therefore, when we finish work, to escape for an hour or two and have a nice delicious bowl of pasta, for example, and a glass of red on your way home, it's sensational.”

Image credit: Marco Pierre White | Instagram

For White, that little pocket of escapism is part of the point. The pandemic reminded people what a luxury it is to share a meal with friends and family. Dining out doesn't need to be a grand occasion to feel special; sometimes the pleasure is simply in sitting down, being looked after and eating something delicious.

In White’s kitchen, great cooking comes down to respecting ingredients, expressing something of yourself and giving diners a sense of the world that shaped you. He believes nature is the artist, and a cook’s role is to bring its ingredients to life. White says great cooking should “give you great insight into the world they were born into, the world which inspired them, and they serve it on their plates”.

Above all, White wants food to feel honest rather than overworked. “I don't want fluff. I don't want to be impressed,” he says. It's a philosophy that extends to the way restaurants operate, too.

When it comes to Sydney restaurants, White has a soft spot for places that keep things simple and know what they’re about. He names Sean’s Panorama in Bondi for its humble approach, and Catarina in Rose Bay for its food and waterfront setting. At Sean’s, it’s the pared-back menu that gets his tick of approval: three starters, three mains and three desserts. “Very simple,” he says. “And you know it's fresh.”

Perhaps that's the through-line in White's view of dining's future. The answer isn't to make every meal more elaborate, or to make every restaurant look the same. It's to give people food worth leaving the house for: generous, honest cooking, served somewhere with a sense of place, by people who care about what reaches the table.

Or, as White puts it, “Give me a delicious rigatoni bolognese. Give me a delicious spaghetti pomodoro with fresh basil. Cooked to perfection.” Perhaps the future of dining looks a lot like getting the basics exactly right.

Main image credit: Marco Pierre White | Instagram