2000 - 2010
Come 2000, as we were all preparing for the end of the world (Y2K), mum-and-dad Aussie diners were discovering hollandaise sauce and lattes. On the other side of the globe, the Naked Chef was ushering in a new era of the celebrity chef, teaching everyone to cook restaurant-quality meals at home.
The 2000s were a time when the bar on dining in Australia was raised to a new height. One that set us on a trajectory we’re still riding today. While an influx of British chefs brought fresh skills to our shores in the late 90’s, it was just as common for Australian chefs to head to the UK to upskill, where they were in high demand for being among the hardest-working and most talented in the game.
When these chefs returned, they brought back Michelin-starred techniques, upmarket takes on European peasant food and precision plating. A waterfall of haute cuisine flowed into pubs, clubs and cafés, raising the bar on Australian food. The 2000s were the era of the gastropub and café culture. And, ultimately, the defining of what we now call ‘modern Australian cuisine’.
Bidfood Australia CEO, Rachel Ruggiero, remembers how the industry transformed during that time. “It was exciting. Suddenly, great food wasn’t just something you found in fine-dining restaurants. It was turning up in cafés, clubs and pubs. There was a real sense that Australian food was coming into its own.”
As diners became more adventurous and expectations rose, the line between casual and fine dining began to blur. “Cafés began introducing restaurant-quality ingredients and techniques. Think panko crumbs, wagyu beef and truffle oil. Meanwhile, you could go to the pub and get a Taleggio risotto and a glass of chablis,” Rachel remembers. “Australian restaurants have always been good, but it was around this time they proved we could hold our own with the best in the world.”
It wasn’t just all about European high-end cuisine, though it would be remiss not to mention tapas!
Southeast Asian cuisine began to take off as mainstream Australian food. Chefs weren’t just making pilgrimages to Europe – a trip to Thailand became a rite of passage. And as more chefs looked north to explore our regional neighbours, they returned ready to reproduce those flavours for Aussie diners, weaving them into everyday menus – and ultimately redefining the staples we see on local menus today.
Halfway through the decade, though, one of the biggest shifts ever (not just in hospitality) took place. And it wasn’t behind the stoves, but behind our phones. The iPhone had landed, armed with 8 MP of pure #foodporn power. Digital tech began putting restaurants on the screen as much as on the plate.
By the late noughties, another major shift was about to hit hospitality. TripAdvisor. No longer was influence limited to the likes of Stephen Downes, Claude Forell and Terry Durack. Suddenly, anyone with an opinion and an account was a critic. Fuelled by the rise of the celebrity chef, diners became more vocal, informed and confident.
Restaurant critic, Richard Cornish, recalls how online reviewing turned guests into reviewers and content creators. “When TripAdvisor arrived, followed by Zomato, Yelp and Google Reviews, it flipped restaurant marketing. Smart operators plated prettier, took sharper photos and learned to reply with grace – or grit. In a decade, online reviews turned hospitality inside out.”
