Do not eat anything if you do not know where it has been or how it has been treated.

That is the 2015 dining philosophy, in a nutshell. Chefs and restaurant owners on the Island believe the buzz over organic, locally grown food is only going to increase.

“More and more people are really trying to focus on the locavore movement,” said Philip Barnett, president of Island Restaurant Group Ltd. “This is about eating foods that emanate from the near area.”

Many of the fruits and vegetables sold in Bermuda’s supermarkets come from other countries and have been artificially forced into ripeness. Locavore proponents believe it is better for your body to eat food that is grown nearby and in season.

“We certainly try to use as much local fish, produce and meats as possible in our organisation,” Mr Barnett said. “Diners are really caring about how their ingredients were grown or raised. Natural is a key phrase.”

This means diners have more questions for chefs about where their food has been, how it was treated and what it ate.

Such was the experience of Serge Bottelli, executive chef at Cafe Lido, this week.

“Two different guests called to make sure their New Year’s Eve beef was grass-fed,” he said. “This is not so much a trend with Bermudians, but grass-fed beef is very popular with visitors. It has a different taste.”

The downside to organic products? They can be more expensive. Chefs will likely struggle to meet the demand while keeping menu prices down, Mr Bottelli said.

“You will see restaurants using all of the product,” he said. “There won’t be much trimming for the staff to take home. Chefs will have to be very creative to deal with the issue of price.”

Jonny Roberts, owner of Bolero Brasserie, said he was leery about the cost of organic food, but he tries to provide healthy, alternative dishes, when possible.

“A lot of people are avoiding wheat,” he said. “They don’t necessarily eat gluten-free, but they are avoiding it as much as possible. The healthy options do sell.”

In the coming year he plans to change the Bolero menu weekly rather than every three months. Mr Bottelli said Cafe Lido would also be changing its menu frequently.

Even the wine industry in Bermuda has not been immune to the organic movement.

Karen Jones, of Discovery Wines, said products from small, family owned wineries were becoming more popular.

“There is organic wine and there is biodynamic wine,” she said. “Biodynamic wine is like organic wine on steroids. There is no mechanised transport used in the vineyard. Oxen till the land. Hawks are used to keep down pests. Everything is done as it was three centuries ago.

“We sell a couple of wines like this. My favourite is probably Mas Estela Vi de Luna 2007 from Catalonia, Spain.”

Ms Jones said many people believed that biodynamic and organic wines had a cleaner nature. According to her, wines from the New World will grow in popularity.

Nakia Smith, who runs a foodie Facebook page, Cooking with Kiki, believes that local tastes are becoming more sophisticated due to exposure to popular food television programmes.

“Even the non-cook is hooked on the [reality shows] Hell’s Kitchen, Chopped or even Cupcake Wars,” she said. “Minds are being opened to more flavours and ingredients that could not be normally found in the grocery stores.”

Ms Smith feels that restaurants specialising in fresh, whole and organic foods will be in high demand this year. And with the America’s Cup looming, she believes Bermuda needs to get its culinary act together.

“We are going to need to accommodate everyone’s food preferences,” she said. “We will also need to showcase our traditional Bermudian food so that the tourist can get a taste of the local cuisine.

“No matter which country you visit, everyone wants to try an authentic local dish, preferably cooked by a native.

Mr Bottelli agreed with her, and said many local restaurants would need to up their game electronically — setting up nline reservation systems and creating or connecting with restaurant reservation apps.

“We need to do it sooner rather than later,” he said. “We need to be at the same level as a big city in the United States. We are not behind, don’t misunderstand. We eat well in Bermuda compared with some other countries.”

Kale was a popular ingredient in 2014, he said, predicting that cauliflower would be the star in many restaurants this year.

Derek Myers, Executive Chef at the Island Restaurant Group, believes that chefs will up the spice in dishes this year.

“Spicy food is still going to be the rage as people love it and are looking to find something different,” he said. “I don’t think 2015 will so much be about the ingredient of the year, but more about the food of the season, determined by what is locally grown and available.”