Coming off a stellar year that saw our dining scene energised by the opening of the two Integrated Resorts and the arrival of numerous Michelin-starred celebrity chefs setting up establishments on our shores, we look at the trends that will shape our F&B landscape for the next 12 months.

Joel Robuchon, Kunio Tokuoka, Mario Batali, Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud and Wolfgang Puck are some of the names that are altering the perception of the culinary profession in Singapore. The arrival of these celebrity chefs and their signature restaurants, along with the rising popularity of reality TV featuring competitive cooking, together with plenty of media coverage, make for an alignment of stars that is transforming a once considered 'dead-end' job to an 'uber-cool' profession.

Newly minted world-class restaurants, helmed by renowned Michelin-starred chefs, will also create more opportunities for aspiring local chefs to pick up valuable experience, essentially becoming a hotbed for the development of future culinary professionals in Singapore. With the number of world-class restaurants growing, a Michelin Guide for Singapore is only a matter of time.

Into the Home Kitchen

Cooking as a hobby is on the rise. The launch of the Food Network in July 2010, along with the Asian Food Channel (AFC) and a multitude of competitive cooking programs such as like "Junior Masterchef Australia" have no doubt inspired many to take to cooking. Look for cooking classes, especially for children, to gain popularity as media transforms cooking into a 'cool' alternative activity for parents to send their kids to and for adults to pick up as a 'hip' hobby. For most guys, it is certainly an incentive to indulge in sleek kitchen gadgets that also ease the task of food preparation.

More Restaurants, Cafes, Bistros

Conduct a random survey of 'dream jobs', and you will definitely find owning a café or restaurant as one of the top answers. As the culinary profession becomes more high profile and glamourous, more professionals will take the plunge and leave their high-paying jobs to pursue their dreams.

Most will have a strong opinion about food, but little or no knowledge about the F&B industry. This paves the way for consulting, marketing, public relations and other related services to grow around this expanding pool of new restaurants and restaurateurs. ?

More Exotic Cuisines

As the number of restaurants increases, cuisine variety and diversity become important differentiating factors and unique selling points. Italian cuisine will be much more than pasta and pizza as we move to regional Tuscan dishes or seafood-heavy Sicilian food. Spanish cuisine will evolve from just tapas to dishes rich in seafood from the Basque country in the north and Arab influenced Andalucia country in the south. Being at the global crossroads and with our propensity to try new food, there are immense possibilities for restaurants to differentiate and innovate.

Coupon Dining

Singaporeans love a good deal, and even more so when it comes to dining. With credit card 'one-for-one' promotions becoming old hat, establishments are shifting to online marketing platforms, especially social media, to attempt to reach out to a larger demographic.

Replicating the wildly popular Groupon from the United States, group buying websites have been popping up on the local online landscape over the past year. The idea is simple. A merchant will put up a significant discount on a product (normally 50% or more) in exchange for a minimum number of patrons buying the product. The notion is to create a lower entry point for customers to try the product, hopefully converting them to regular customers in the process.

A winning combination of Singaporeans' love for food with getting a good deal, the coupon dining trend will continue to grow in popularity and in time achieve critical mass.

Back To Basics

Clean, simple, and pure are in. Clean palates, honest food, simple no-fuss set ups, pure local ingredients and traditional cooking will form the main trends here, as it is already taking shape globally.

This shift in trend is best represented by Noma - an unassuming, casual dining Danish restaurant that knocked four-year winner, El Bulli and runner-up Fat Duck, off to clinch Restaurant Magazine's World's 50 Best Restaurants award in 2010.

While El Bulli embodies an avant-garde approach to cooking that utilises high-tech methods to produce complex artistic dishes, Noma, on the other hand, encapsulates the current epoch of sustainability and a connection to the land and environment by cooking with traditional Nordic methods, and making use of quality local ingredients not found outside the Nordic region. Musk ox and skyr curd, anyone?

The Educated Diner

With today's generation better travelled and educated than their parents, they make more informed choices on what to eat and exhibit a willingness to spend more on quality, variety and, freshness. Discerning and sophisticated, these diners will increasingly demand value and authenticity. With greater knowledge of different types of cuisine, value proposition is not just about price; rather, it is a permutation of taste, quality and culinary skill.

Casual Leads The Way

True fine-dining may be a thing of the past as crowds gravitate towards casual dining places where a relaxing, fuss-free ambience and good, simple food with great company trumps all. White tablecloths, crystal chandeliers and a cadre of waiters anticipating your every move are taking it way too seriously! Places where they can hang out and blow off steam will continue to be in demand as befits the chosen lifestyle of young professionals.

Gathering At Home

Informal gatherings at home have become more popular in the last few years, especially during major festive holidays. This lifestyle will become prevalent as more Western-influenced young people get married and set up new homes. Every party will need food and drinks, and caterers and food deliveries will be primed to benefit from this growing trend. The blurring of the line between caterers and restaurants will also be more pronounced as restaurants move to home deliveries, food 'manufacturing' and home catering, while caterers expand into full service restaurants.

Passing The Buck

Inflation has been happening at the global level and food prices all around the world are now at a 20-year high. Furthermore, if crude oil prices continue to increase or stay high, it will exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets. Oil prices affect the food market vertically down the entire value chain from cultivation and production to end product transportation and packaging. The continuing increase in food cost will necessitate that restaurants pass it on to consumers to cope with the already high rentals and increasing labour costs.

A recent tightening of worker levy tiers as well as increasing levy rates up to $600 will likely increase labour cost for most F&B operations as the industry is still a human and labour-centric industry. Pressure from this increase will eventually lead to a transition from traditional wage structures to more flexible schemes that tie wages to performance benchmarks.