These days, you can’t turn a corner without discovering some old Italian bistro or Chinese restaurant has turned into an American Rib joint.
"As travellers, we’ve now been to America enough that we’ve ventured beyond LA and New York."
Jason Murphy, Publisher, Thomas the Think Engine
In Melbourne, there’s Meatmother, and Big Boy BBQ. Sydneysiders are flocking to Smokey O’s or the Oxford Tavern; Bourbon Rib Company has popped up in Auckland and Uncle Mike’s Kansas City BBQ is keeping bellies full in Wellington.
All of them are packed with happy diners licking proprietary barbeque sauce from their fingers.
Sticky, delicious ribs aren’t the only State-side innovation taking over the menu. There’s also Po’Boy Quarter serving Louisiana staples in Melbourne, and Sweet Mother’s Kitchen dishing up Key Lime Pie in Central Wellington.
The antipodes is suddenly buzzing with American cuisine – and just a few short years ago, that would have seemed like an oxymoron. The reason is one restaurateurs almost grasp.
Alabama-born, Dallas-raised Jeremy Sutphin, chef at Le Bon Ton, attributes it to adventure and awareness.
”I’ve been here eight years and the palates are searching for something different – and people are becoming more aware,” he says.
He’s right about that awareness. Our knowledge of America is now a lot deeper and wider. As travellers, we’ve now been to America enough that we’ve ventured beyond LA and New York. And that has happened very recently.
A kick in interest toward the US is visible on both sides of the Tasman.
So, why the sudden interest? In 2008, airfares from Australia to the USA were around $2300. Ouch. In 2014, Virgin is offering Sydney-LA return from $1229.
The growth stems from a deliberate decision by the previous Australian government to introduce competition into the airline market.
Labor Transport Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the “open skies” pact with the US in 2008.
“This agreement will be good for competition and it could … lower airfares,” he was quoted at the time.
We’ll have to forgive Albo for not predicting the great barbecue explosion of 2012/13/14.
The cheaper Aussie airfares have also proved tempting for NZ travellers, with more travellers seemingly coming via Sydney these days.
Of course, post-2009 also coincides with much higher Australian and New Zealand dollars. There were three good years there where you could buy a single $US for less than one Australian dollar or less than $NZ1.30. In Australia, those days are now gone, but in NZ, the currency is still in rarefied air (at least for now).
So, if travel predicts what we’ll be eating next, what’s the next big wave?
Some experts are tipping Korean food to take off. But what you might term the bibimbap futures index doesn’t look that frothy by comparison to other east Asian destinations.
Might a renaissance of Japanese cuisine be on the cards? Perhaps. But the post-Fukushima bounce back still represents modest interest compared to other places we love to fly.
There is one destination even more popular with Australians than the USA that is still terribly under-represented at the fancy end of the food business.
For Australians, Indonesia’s growth in popularity has outstripped even America’s. NZ travellers are also headed to tropical Indonesia a lot more often. In 2013, traveller numbers to the Asian nation surged by 28 per cent to 25,000.
It looks like queuing up to pay $40 for a plate of nasi goreng isn’t too far away.
Jason Murphy publishes the highly popular blog Thomas the Think Engine and is a former writer for The Australian FinanciaL Review.
The views and opinions expressed in this communication are those of the author and may not necessarily state or reflect those of ANZ.
04 Sep 2014
03 Sep 2014