Will 3D Printing Destroy the Concept of Fine Dining?

This 4-part series examines how 3D printing will affect the future of fine dining. The first part, 3D Food Printing: Is It Ready for Luxury Dining?, sets up the series by exploring the current state of 3D food printing and whether it’s ready for use in fine dining restaurants. The second part, How 3D Printing Will Change the Future of Fine Dining, explores the ways in which 3D printing affects the fine dining experience. This, the third part, explores whether using the technology would make fine dining more or less exclusive. And the last part, How 3D Printing Could Blow Up the Luxury Dining Model, takes a look at 3D printing’s influence on the business of fine dining.

Whether you’re shopping for watches, clothing or cars, the idea of luxury often comes hand in hand with exclusivity and craftsmanship. With upper echelon of shoppers always looking for “one-off pieces, limited-editions and bespoke items,” according to Shadi Halliwell, Group Marketing and Creative Director of Harvey Nichols in a post on The Business of Fashion blog, nothing could really cheapen a brand quicker than over-expansion. So how would that apply to food? If 3D food printing becomes more prevalent, and more perfect forms become widely available, would that make fine dining less exclusive and destroy the concept altogether?

Not according to Dr. Morgaine Gaye, Food Futurologist and keynote speaker at the New Frontiers in Food and Drink Conference in London on June 26. While she believes the advancement of 3D food printing could enable mass production of artisan craft and help companies create more intricate products, she associates the intricate and decorative nature of the technology’s usage with the more extravagant display of sugar craft in 18^th Century French court dining. Like the French aristocrats who displayed food as means to tempt, tantalize and display the wealth of the host, 3D printed food is currently something that only a small percentage of the world could enjoy. She added, “There is a large percentage of the world which have no food and we are in the minority for whom food can be a play-thing.” Indeed, this could be the inherent difference between fine dining and regular sustenance; but Gaye feels that 3D printed food would be more aligned with fancier elements of meals served in First Class, or simply the embellishments or garnishes rather than the whole meal or a full course.

On the other hand, Hod Lipson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University and Co-author of “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing,” sees 3D food printing more as a tool for democratization. While today’s diners already have great access to the world of luxury dining with the popularity of food blogs, social media coverage and online recipes, the scientist expects more opportunities to be in store. For example, consumers can potentially visit a store in future, buy the cartridges of individual ingredients, and render the dishes through a digital recipe. Lipson also foresees master chefs as taking matters in their own hands, creating cartridges of their signature sauces or dishes altogether. As a result, epicures will not only get the recipes, but actual ingredients in the proper ratios approved by their favorite chefs.

What this also means is 3D printing could draw prices to a more accessible point. "3D printing will affect the food industry like other technologies have affected the music industry," said Lipson. Back in the 19th century, listening to music involved spending large amounts of money commissioning musicians to perform at your home. Now with an iPod, you can download and play music wherever you go. In other words, the personal musician who was once afforded by a few, was replaced by a machine that can now be afforded by many. Same could be said about the influence of 3D printers on fine dining, according to the scientist.

But don't expect such democritization to destroy the concept of luxury dining. "iPods did not destroy live music; they elevated live music, and at the same time made all music more broadly accessible. I believe that 3D printers, as well as a broader range of upcoming digital food technologies, will make good food more broadly accessible, and at the same time elevate hand-made gourmet food," Lipson noted.

If the scientist's hypotheses become true, this means a fine Thomas Keller dish (in the form of a cartridge and a download) could someday be bought at a Staples-looking supermarket. Admittedly, this prospect takes a wild turn away from my old-school view of fine dining. But Gaye added that fine dining (with white table cloths and attentive wait staff) as a trend is on the decline. She said, “The future of dining is not about perfection or fine dining for that matter. Realness, authenticity, simplicity, this is what we are looking at for the future of food.”