Dining after the Coronavirus: Davide Oldani speaks. The restaurant of the future is Pop

Dining after Coronavirus. Restaurants must change

I think there will be a substantial change, but the way it will transform is something I've had in mind for some time. Not an idea for now, rather since I wrote "My Pop kitchen" and I opened D'O in Cornaredo when I sought to understand what the new concept of restaurant should be. First of all remember that without customers we, chefs and restaurateurs, don't exist: the new course must start from there. We were living in a bubble that did not make us understand reality: our old people taught us to save and put projects into practice when the foundations were solid. Instead, over the past few years the slogan of many has been different: "all you need is an idea!" and if there's no money I'll do it anyway, not caring if my behaviour puts other people in discomfort.

Dining after Coronavirus. Old and new habits

Not paying bills for months without reason is an example of the bad habits that will need to change. I believe that the time has come to brush up and re-read the rules of good manners: washing your hands before going to the table is one of them, sitting with other diners in an adequate number, avoiding excessive number of people at a table to allow the group to enjoy the time together talking and enjoying the dishes to the fullest. Then we will have to understood which behaviours will remain permanent after that. What I believe and what I've put into practice for years is that we need an ethical approach towards food and people.

Waste and pop cuisine

Eating should be accessible and should produce no waste, a message that became truly universal after the 2015 Expo. Erudite cuisine, in which stories are told (and if we don't understand them, we're not ready to consume it) will no longer exist. What could have once been considered a futurist idea, like my Pop cuisine, has proved today to be the actual way to approach the future.