Chef Mark Best slams the caviar bump trend in restaurants, calling it ‘vulgar’

Bogan food fad, or the rich man’s lip, sick, suck? Either way, a top chef says no to “licking salty imported fish eggs off the back of a hand that’s touched the same thing as 100 others”.

A top Sydney food identity has slammed the current trend of doing “caviar bumps” as “absolutely vulgar”.

Mark Best, the former fine-dining chef at Marque, said the caviar bump — a spoonful of caviar eaten from the back of the hand which rose to prominence at Mimi’s at Coogee — is about conspicuous consumption.

The spoonful of caviar is generally followed with a shot of ice-cold vodka.

It’s an expensive advance on the tequila lick, sip, suck, where a sprinkling of salt on the hand is licked up, chased down by a shot of tequila, and finished by sucking on a wedge of lemon or lime.

“Fundamentally, you’re just opening tins. It’s about money,” said the star of Netflix’s The Final Table and AEG ambassador.

The caviar at Mimi’s.

Merivale’s Mimi’s restaurant is where the caviar bump rose to prominence.

In the recent delicious.100 list, the trend — which costs $40 a spoonful — was popping up in all the top restaurants.

However Best believes Australian chefs should be celebrating the food we make rather than importing trends.

Caviar bumps and Chanel bags at Mimi's in Coogee. Picture: Instagram

Instagrammable bumps at Mimi's. Picture: Instagram

“I spent an entire career trying to define what Australian cuisine was, pursing that cultural cringe and using what was in front of us rather than imported products,” he says.

“As a chef, I believe in an egalitarian approach. I should be able to go to a supermarket, buy a donkey carrot and apply my skill to elevate it so it could appear on a fine dining restaurant dish.

“Tins of caviar and wagyu steaks end up being about shopping. What differentiates you from the competition is about who has more money, there’s nothing about the craft and the art.

“Plus, your hand is a poor vehicle for food. You’ve just gotten out of an Uber, so essentially, you’re licking salty imported fish eggs off the back of a hand that’s touched the same thing as 100 other people. No thanks.”

Chef Mark Best is not a fan of the caviar bump trend.

Merivale chef Jordan Toft at Mimi's. Picture: Dimitri Tricolas

Jordan Toft declined to comment for this piece.

If Best was to serve caviar, it would be on a sourdough or buckwheat blini.

“It’s about the pop and salinity and integrity of the eggs. You don’t want hand cream or hair on the back of your hand to interfere with that,” he says.

“I love what David Chang did back at Momofuku at The Star. As a restaurant serving the black heart of gambling, he had to serve caviar but he downplayed it. He served it with chicken wings or potato chips, he was having a slight dig at everything by doing that. It was like wearing thongs with your Pucci pants.”

Best concedes food trends attract customers, but they’re a precarious business plan.

“Staying ahead of a trend is exhausting. It’s easy to jump on a bandwagon, but even if you have first user advantage, you’re then on there with everyone else,” he says.

“The competitive cycle is too short. You have to try to stay apart from trends and find something that stands the test of time to run a business.”