For months, the restaurant industry has been debating the so-called end of fine dining. Renowned chefs, food critics, and insiders are discussing this supposed decline, trying to explain why more and more Michelin-starred restaurants are closing or shifting toward more casual dining concepts.
However, this entire discussion seems more like a self-referential exercise than a true reckoning with reality.
The problem is not the end of fine dining but rather that the hospitality industry has strayed from its primary purpose: putting the customer at the center.
What we are witnessing is not the death of fine dining, but yet another superficial makeover of the system. A cosmetic change that closely resembles the famous line from The Leopard (Il Gattopardo):
“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
And so, white tablecloths disappear, rigid service protocols vanish, and the mandatory tasting menu is scrapped. But the cult of the chef and the self-referential nature of haute cuisine remain—only now, they take on different forms.
From Fine Dining to Gourmet Trattorias: The Bluff of Change
In recent years, many Michelin-starred restaurants have abandoned their elegant dining rooms and formal service in favor of more casual, rustic-chic concepts. The result? A wave of so-called “gourmet trattorias” and conceptual bistros that, in reality, have changed nothing at all.
- Chefs continue to be the only real stars, while the front-of-house staff remains an afterthought.
- Service is still secondary to the narrative of the kitchen.
- Customers are still forced into a pre-packaged experience rather than one tailored to their preferences.
Instead of restaurants adapting to the needs of their guests, we have restaurants imposing new formats just to appear more trendy and accessible.
The Ego of Chefs and the Role of Critics: A Self-Referential Bubble
The truth is that fine dining has never been in crisis due to economic or social factors. It is struggling because it has stopped engaging with real people and has become an echo chamber for insiders.
- Chefs no longer cook for customers but for food critics, industry peers, awards, and trends.
- Food critics no longer write for the general public but for each other, creating a closed-loop system where the same names circulate repeatedly, reinforcing a parallel reality.
- The customer? A mere spectator, paying the bill and clapping on cue.
But if fine dining as we know it is over, then what should fine dining really be in the future?
The True Fine Dining: Hospitality, Service, and Personalization
If fine dining is to survive, it must return to what it was meant to be from the start:
An experience built around the customer, not a stage for the chef’s ego.
1. Bring Front-of-House Back to the Center
It’s time to stop treating service as a mere accessory to the kitchen. A great restaurant is not defined solely by its food, but by the way it takes care of its guests.
Maîtres d’ and sommeliers must regain their central role instead of being reduced to executors of the chef’s vision.
2. Personalization Over Imposition
The mandatory tasting menu is the symbol of self-referentiality. If the customer wants to choose what to eat, why deny them that right?
High-end dining should offer customized experiences, not one-size-fits-all tasting menus.
3. Break Out of the Critic and Chef-Star Bubble
The future of fine dining will not be shaped at industry conferences or invite-only culinary events. It will be defined by real customers, those who visit restaurants to enjoy themselves, not to check off another trendy venue on their list.
Changing for Real, Not Just for Show
Fine dining is not dead. It simply changes its skin to stay the same.
But in the coming years, the restaurant industry will have to make a choice:
Continue living inside its bubble, among self-referential restaurateurs and critics, or finally return to focusing on what truly matters: the customer.
If this transformation is just another marketing strategy, the crisis will only be postponed.
But if the hospitality industry finds the courage to put the guest experience first, then fine dining can be reborn, finally free from its obsession with self-congratulation—and back to being what it was always meant to be:
A unique experience for those who live it, not for those who talk about it.