Is  la carte dining dead in the west?
Everything changed for fine-dining foodies last year, when eating out was replaced by dining in. After what seemed an eternity of eating at home, when restaurants reopened in May for on-premise service and one could finally book a table at their favourite haunt again, eager customers fought tooth and nail to get a seat. Island Market in Trigg had only set menu service when the pandemic forced dining rooms to adapt to restrictions. Once we were in, we had to social distance and savour the experience with an eye on the clock as dining limits were set to get the regulars back and tables turning over. Just 12 months down the track, normal programming has resumed, but one glaring pandemic trend remains: set menus and degustations introduced by many restaurants to save costs and closures seem to be here to stay.