Top chefs decry gastronomic conformity in the Instagram age, but is social media’s influence all bad?
- While social media undoubtedly causes some cooks to sacrifice originality for likes, is it all bad for gastronomy in the Instagram age? Top chefs weigh in
Andoni Luis Aduriz, of two-Michelin-star Mugaritz, the provocative, cerebral dining hotspot in Basque Country, Spain, which has been pushing culinary boundaries for more than two decades, is concerned about a growing uniformity in restaurants around the world.
He says that new gastronomic “codes” may be stifling creativity and drowning out unique culinary personality.
When Aduriz set out, 30 years ago, chefs looked to Michelin and known critics for measures of success.
“We followed the Michelin template and had the Michelin attitude – we did what we had to do to get the stars, we had the silver cutlery and the white tablecloths,” says Aduriz, now fifth in the global Best Chef list.
But gastronomy has now changed, and today it is “probably more relevant to take part in Top Chef than get three Michelin stars”, he says.
While the young generation of chefs are “technically better, they’re better informed, and they’re fresh and impertinent”, Aduriz is troubled: “I’m worried that some chefs are being blinded by the mermaid song of the new codes – these new popular styles of gastronomy – that dominate the dining landscape through social media, digital platforms and streaming.”
