Beyond the Menu
From emerging dining concepts and evolving consumer preferences to innovative formats and experience-led offerings, the food and beverage landscape continues to transform. This feature explores the latest trends shaping the sector, highlighting the ideas, influences and innovations redefining how people eat, drink and socialise, offering fresh perspectives on the opportunities driving the next generation of F&B experiences worldwide.
The food and beverage industry is constantly evolving, shaped by changing consumer expectations, emerging technologies and a growing appetite for distinctive, experience-led concepts. From innovative dining formats and creative menu development to sustainability-led initiatives and the integration of digital solutions, operators are continually rethinking how they engage customers and differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Paul Langston, Partner at CACI says: “CACI’s data shows an F&B market under pressure, but consumers have not stopped spending. Instead, they are spending more selectively. Eating out has become a considered purchase rather than an everyday habit. Consumers have not lost their appetite for quality food, social experiences or convenience. What has changed is how they satisfy those needs. Increasingly, they are seeking more affordable, flexible and accessible value-driven options. Food-to-go is the standout performer, occupying a sweet spot between affordability, convenience and quality. The sector’s strongest brands are winning by aligning with specific customer missions, whether that is a healthy lunch, an affordable treat or a seamless delivery occasion. As a result, the leading operators continue to deliver impressive growth despite wider market pressures. Looking ahead to 2027, growth will reward relevance rather than scale alone. The winners will be the brands that understand the customer mission, show up in the right locations and channels and remove friction from the purchase journey.”
In this feature, we explore how innovation, creativity and consumer insight are driving the next generation of food and beverage concepts and experiences.
F&B Concepts & Trends Around the Globe
Time Out Market Vancouver is open for business at Oakridge Park, bringing together some of the city’s top culinary talent. The Market offers a curated mix of some of the city’s best food, drinks and cultural experiences. Across 51,000sq ft there are 20 kitchens (including a dessert counter and a coffee counter), three bars, multiple event spaces and a large outdoor terrace that leads onto a public park. Set at the crossroads of West 41st Avenue and Cambie Street (recently ranked one of the coolest streets in the world), Time Out Market sits perfectly between downtown Vancouver and YVR Airport – making it a super easy, convenient stop for locals and visitors.
London’s acclaimed Italian restaurant group, San Carlo, officially opened its first US location – Signor Sassi Miami – earlier this year. Located in Hallandale Beach and like its predecessor in London’s prestigious Knightsbridge neighbourhood, adjacent to Harrods, this first North American outpost is set to become a favourite neighbourhood restaurant and a premier destination for exceptional dining and a lively atmosphere. Led by Victorem Hospitality Group in co-management with San Carlo Group, the Hallandale Beach restaurant brings an authentic taste of Italian culinary excellence to South Florida’s dynamic, ever-evolving and internationally inspired dining scene. With its signature Italian passion, exceptional cuisine and impeccable service, Signor Sassi will bring a new level of polish and panache to Hallandale Beach and the surrounding neighbourhoods.
The international concept Eataly is undergoing a major global expansion backed by a €200M investment and 52 per cent majority stake from private equity firm Investindustrial, supported by additional capital injections such as a €75M shareholder-approved growth fund. The business is also expanding heavily across the continent with recent and planned flagships in Philadelphia, Toronto, West Palm Beach and Aventura (Miami), alongside new format branches like the Eataly Caffè on Lexington Avenue in New York. They are also growing into airport outposts and transit hubs, including a location at JFK.
At the start of this year and in collaboration with EPIC NOW, Nuanu launched Southeast Asia’s first VR Michelin dining experience at Luna Beach Club, introducing a new way of engaging with fine dining in the region. Led by Michelin-recognised Japanese chef Kazushige Suzuki, the experience brings together Japanese-Balinese fusion cuisine and immersive virtual reality. Guests are guided through eight distinct VR worlds, each paired with a specially created dish that unfolds as part of a continuous narrative. As the gastronomic centre of Nuanu Creative City, this experimental dining experience unfolds exclusively inside Luna Beach Club at Elysium, a glass-and-bamboo venue overlooking the open ocean, designed for immersive and carefully curated culinary encounters. The experience is intentionally intimate; each session hosts just 18 guests, allowing for precision and a sense of presence that mirrors the care behind the food itself. Sessions run every Friday and Saturday evening at Luna Beach Club within Nuanu Creative City.
Jǐng is an immersive, multi-sensory private dining concept hidden inside the wellwellwell collective (next to Auntie ĀYI) in Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. Operating as a high-tech ‘spaceship room’, it merges traditional Chinese gastronomy with 360-degree digital storytelling, wrapping a single round table of guests in synchronised moving visuals, tailored acoustics and dramatic historical narratives that shift with every dish. As dishes are served, the curved white walls and table surface transform via digital projection mapping. Diners eat while voiceover narration and cinematic scoring unpack the history, regional poetry and symbolic ingredients behind each historical recipe. The site can accommodate eight to ten people per sitting.
Alchemist is a globally renowned, two-Michelin-star restaurant in Copenhagen, consistently ranked among the world’s best for its dramatic, immersive and boundary-pushing ‘Holistic Cuisine’. Spearheaded by visionary chef Rasmus Munk, it transcends traditional fine dining by blending art, technology, theatre and social commentary into an extraordinary multi-hour culinary performance. Alchemist offers a five-to-six-hour theatrical journey divided into distinct ‘acts’. Diners move between multiple sensory rooms, including a massive planetarium dome where jaw-dropping, custom animations are projected overhead while you eat. Guests are treated to roughly 50 ‘impressions’ – dishes designed not only to taste spectacular but also to challenge your worldview. Notable creations highlight issues like ocean plastic pollution or animal welfare.
Since opening in Montorgueil, Paris last year, award-winning De Vie has been recognised across the worlds of hospitality, sustainability and fine drinking – from Paris to the global stage. De Vie is a dual concept bar & restaurant from Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane celebrating seasonality, locality and craft, situated on Rue Saint-Sauveur in the bustling pedestrianised area of Paris’ Montorgueil quarter. De Vie aims to set new standards for storytelling, environmentally conscious practices and productive innovation in the food and drinks sector, championing French spirits and produce. Rooted in a commitment to sustainability and inclusivity, the team seeks to cultivate experiences that transform the way we connect with what’s in our glass and on our plate.
Marketta Food Hall, a 6,000sq m project in Bucharest that is set to open in Q4 and developed by Tomcat Hospitality within One Gallery – the former Ford Hall restored by One United Properties – has revealed the first wave of confirmed tenants and culinary concepts selected for its opening, bringing together some of the most appreciated local and international brands in the hospitality industry. This selection marks the beginning of a vibrant gastronomic community set to redefine the standards of urban experiences in Romania. Visitors will discover a mix of concepts structured across six types of spaces: à la carte restaurants, quick-service kiosks, dessert venues, gourmet retail, bars featuring specialty dishes and alcohol pairings, as well as a large central bar. The project is set to become Europe’s biggest food hall upon opening.
Based in Ibiza, Spain, Sublimotion is an avant-garde, multi-sensory gastronomic performance space. Created as a research project by two-Michelin-starred Spanish chef Paco Roncero and creative/artistic director Eduardo González, it took two years of multidisciplinary research and development involving chefs, engineers, architects, stage designers, illusionists and screenwriters before it proceeded to launch. Not a traditional restaurant, Sublimotion merges haute cuisine with 360-degree projections, virtual reality, augmented reality, stage music and custom musical scores. Each nightly show seats only 12 diners around a large single table. Originally launched at the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza, it is currently located at BLESS Hotel Ibiza (The Site) in Playa d’en Bossa, Ibiza. It has also featured pop-up runs, including a location in Dubai.
John Lewis has begun the overhaul of its F&B offer with its new restaurant launch. The department store’s new concept, Platter, was unveiled in its Oxford Street flagship in September and it will go on to replace its existing F&B offer across 32 stores including Edinburgh, Reading, Exeter and its London flagship. Platter’s Oxford Street offering, which the retailer describes as the “fullest expression” of its new restaurant concept, will feature an open kitchen, cocktail bar, dessert parlour, open coffee roastery and food-to-go options. The restaurant will also feature a fifth-floor terrace with fifty covers. The restaurant will also include the Residency, a pop-up concept launching with London patisserie the Eclectic Collection, whose viral fruit-shaped desserts have previously only been available across its two shops.
Reopened in September following a major refurbishment was Six by Nico Fitzrovia. The brand’s original London restaurant has reopened following a major refurbishment, introducing a new walk-in bar, larger terrace and more open-plan layout. The first six-week tasting menu guests will be able to enjoy in the new restaurant is American Murder Mystery, which will transport diners to small-town America, where a decades-old murder case has been opened. The menu will be running on select dates until 15 November, coinciding with the much-anticipated return of Celebrity Traitors and spooky season. After first opening in 2020, Six by Nico Fitzrovia’s new look and feel has seen the previous industrial aesthetic swapped for a warmer, more inviting feel, with neutrals, deep reds and darker accents brought together with new furniture, upholstery, artwork and lighting. The open kitchen remains at the heart of the restaurant, giving diners a front-row seat as the team prepares each course on the tasting menus. A new walk-in bar overlooking Charlotte Street opens directly onto the expanded terrace, offering drinks and cocktails to even more guests, without the need for a dinner reservation.
Chipotle Mexican Grill has opened its first restaurant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in a partnership with Alshaya Group, a leading international franchise retail operator. Located at Sidra, the premier dining destination in Riyadh next to the Granada Mall, the restaurant marks Chipotle’s entry into Saudi Arabia and another milestone in the company’s international growth strategy. The Riyadh restaurant will serve Chipotle’s menu of burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas and salads, all made with responsibly sourced, classically cooked real ingredients and prepared in an open kitchen. Guests will be able to customise their meals with a choice of proteins, rice, beans, salsas, toppings and Chipotle’s signature hand-mashed guacamole. The opening builds on Chipotle’s continued expansion in partnership with Alshaya Group. Since 2024, Chipotle has opened 16 restaurants across the Middle East, including seven in the United Arab Emirates, seven in Kuwait and two in Qatar.
A leading shopping malls, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia has unveiled The Hangout by Mall of the Emirates, a major new indoor-outdoor lifestyle and entertainment precinct. A key milestone in the destination’s AED5bn transformation, the site is designed around the way people increasingly choose to spend their time, The Hangout will bring together entertainment, dining and social experiences within one connected destination. The precinct will introduce four entertainment concepts alongside 18 F&B experiences, creating a dynamic new environment where visitors can play, connect, dine and spend time together. During Dubai’s cooler months, The Hangout will extend outdoors through Mall of the Emirates’ first dedicated F&B courtyard. Designed as a landscaped social space, the courtyard will connect seamlessly with the indoor precinct through fully operable façades, creating a fluid indoor-outdoor environment for al fresco dining, gatherings and events.
Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab last month unveiled 1206, a contemporary dining destination and the final venue to be revealed as part of the resort’s opening story. Named after the property’s once-hidden room on level four, 1206 offers an ingredient-led dining experience framed by uninterrupted horizon views stretching from Jumeirah Burj Al Arab to Burj Khalifa. Positioned as a distinctive addition to the region’s evolving fine dining landscape, 1206 is guided by seasonality, sustainability and provenance. Rooted in traditions of British cooking and centuries of culinary exchange, from French and Mediterranean to Scandinavian influences, the dishes are approached with restraint and precision, allowing the character of each ingredient to take centre stage. With its considered approach to provenance and whole-ingredient cooking, 1206 completes Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab’s culinary collection, bringing a new expression of contemporary dining to the resort.
The upcoming Jeddah Market is an immersive cultural and commerce destination designed to showcase the best of Middle Eastern heritage, food and products, operating on a multi-format experiential model similar to Eataly. The project will combine authentic retail shopping with unique dining experiences to create a vibrant, globally scalable hub for Arab culture. By blending specialised eateries with premium market goods, it offers visitors a cohesive space where they can eat, shop and learn simultaneously.
