Food Trends 2017 by Sysco Eastern Maryland

FOOD TRENDS

2017 MORE THAN 230 IDEAS ABOUT YOUR FUTURE

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Chefs Predict “What’s Hot” for Menu Trends in 2017 www.restaurant.org Dec. 8, 2016 Each year, the National Restaurant Association surveys nearly 1,300 professional chefs – members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) – to explore food and beverage trends at restaurants in the coming year. The annual “What’s Hot” list gives a peak into which food, beverages and culinary themes will be the new items on restaurant menus that everyone is talking about in the year ahead. According to the survey, menu trends that will be heating up in 2017 include poke, house-made charcuterie, street food, food halls and ramen. Trends that are cooling down include quinoa, black rice, and vegetarian and vegan cuisines.

TOP 20 FOOD TRENDS

TOp 10 concept trends “Menu trends today are beginning to shift from ingredient-based items to concept-based ideas, mirroring how consumers tend to adapt their activities to their overall lifestyle philosophies, such as environmental sustainability and nutrition,” said Hudson Riehle, Senior Vice President of Research for the National Restaurant Association. “Also among the top trends for 2017, we’re seeing several examples of house-made food items and various global flavors, indicating that chefs and restaurateurs are further experimenting with from-scratch preparation and a broad base of flavors.” The National Restaurant Association surveyed 1,298 American Culinary Federation members in October 2016, asking them to rate 169 items as a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on menus in 2017. Download the NRA’s full survey results at www.restaurant.org/FoodTrends

“Chefs are on an endless quest to redefine how consumers eat. By masterfully transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, culinary professionals are at the forefront of changing the culinary landscape.” – Thomas Macrina American Culinary Federation National President

FLAVORS & INGREDIENTS TO WATCH Egyptian DUKKAH blends spices like cumin, coriander, thyme, mint, and pepper with toasted nuts and se s eds d like hazelnuts and pump m kin seeds. +VoU QPG QH VJG JKIJGUV scoring ingredients on &CVCUUGPVKCNoU p9JCVoU *QVq OGPW KPFGZ

AGRODOLCE +VCN[oU UYGGV and sour condiment, combines vinegar (usually balsamic) and sugar, often with flavor enhancers like wine and fruit.

Mexican CAJETA is made by TGFWEKPI IQCVoU OKNM WPVKN KVoU caramelized for a sweet, tangy syrup that can be used as a next level dulce leche

USE IT: Onions, squash, seafood

USE IT: Ice e cream, beverages

AVOCADO OIL s prized as both a cooking oil with a high smoke point and a healthy alternative to olive or coconut oils. The popularity of avocado c s (+21% on menus in 4 years) and alternative ingredients (milks, nut butters) is driving interest.

Widely used in Southeast Asia cuisines, GALANGAL looks an nd acts like ginger, though it has more citrus and pine undertones. Ginger appears on over half of U.S. menus today, so galanga can step in as a more unique option.

5GCYGGF KUPoV PGY VQ EQPUWOGTU but operators are embracing NEXT LEVEL V SEAWEED options, from shio kombu to farm raised American wakame

USE IT: Dressingss, cooking oil

USE IT: Soups, sauces, syrups

USE IT: Bread dip pper, rubs

Fine dining chefs have been fans FINGER LIMES for years and now Australian farrmers are meeting demand for this natural EKVTWU pECXKCT q #EEQTFKPI VQ QWT July 2016 issue of On the Menu over 30% of consu umers are interested in finge er limes. USE IT: Seafood, desserts, cocktails

USE IT: Salads, bowls, seafood

ZHUG, a Yemeni hot sauce that is ubiquitous in Isrrael, combines herbs like cilantro with fresh spices like cardamo m m plus some olive oil and plenty of hot chilies to give it a spicy kick. USE IT: Falafel, gr vegetables

Pickled and fermented Japanese UMEBOSHI plums, with their sweet and salty flavor profile, are a next generation Asian ingredient to watch. Accordin to the June 2016 issue of On the Menu, 1 in 4 consumers is interested in trying the plum. USE IT: Rice, Hawaiian dishes

Flying fish roe, or TOBIKO, ha long been used on sushi, but now U.S. chefs are using it and its many colors and flavors new ways, topping Asian inspired bowls or unique deviled eggs on the bar menu. USE IT: Sushi, poke, seafood

The tiny Ethiopian grain TEFF has been a staple for the EQWPVT[oU HCOGF TWPPGTU CPF PQY KVoU DGKPI JCKNGF CU VJG PGZV ancient grain supe erfood in the U.S.

Hot and spicy Japanese KARASHI MUSTARD can be used in place of wasabi for an your face flavor. It also indexes JKIJ QP QWT p9JCVoU *QVq menu index.

USE IT: Porridge, baked goods

USE IT: Japanese sauces, meat as

Think of CHER H MOULA as the North Africcan version of pesto or chimichurri. According to World Bites: Morocco, 36% of consumers said they would purchase che c rmoula from a restaurant or supermarket. USE IT: Grilled seafood, vegetables

GOSE, pro onounced gose uh, is a German to fermented wheat beer that iss brewed with coriander an a d salt it has a distinctive tart/salty taste. It has gone from nonexistent to 2% of beer menus in just 2 years. USE IT: Beer menu, beer cockt

SAMBAL refers to range of sauces and relishes in Indonesia, but samba oelek is the most common in n the U.S., typically made with fresh chilies, salt, citrus, garlic, and a bit of sugar. USE IT: Co ondiment, sauces, vegetables

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Trends to Look For in 2017 blog.foodnetwork.com Dec. 21, 2016 3. The Counter Point To control costs and put the focus squarely on the menu and diners, more chefs will eschew tables and chairs and serve their food over the counter. Just pull up a barstool. “For diners,” the Food Network Kitchen team suggests, “the counter’s appeal lies in its face-to-face proximity to the chef-turned-maitre d’.”

1. SURPRISE! “Whether it’s hidden flavors or textures, jolting temperature shifts or cultural crossovers, surprise is poised to be the flavor of the moment. This plays to our sense of adventure and toys with our expectations,” the team writes in its 2017 food-trend forecast. “It charts a new direction in novelty: a move beyond the mash-up to something both more subtle and exciting. Surprise plays it close to the vest, offering one thing to the eye or the mind, and another to the palate.” “Surprise” could mean a collection of candies hidden inside a piñatalike cake and other “inventive fillings,” or taking something you’d expect to be sweet and making it savory (or vice versa), such as “savory funnel cakes” or “fish sauce caramel.” It could be combining the tastes of different cultures in unexpected ways (tofu Caprese!) or unusual mass-market efforts like Green Giant’s “cauliflower rice.”

2. Mighty Meat Veggies Those veggie burgers that “bleed” that debuted in 2016 are only the beginning. In the upcoming year, you can look for chefs (and books and stores) to dig their teeth into “experimenting with vegetables with the same intent once reserved for animal proteins, blurring the line between meat and veg,” the team says. Mock meats will get an upgrade and “plant butchers” will become more of a thing. What’s more, the team predicts, “the plant-based movement” will cross “the aisle to meet meat-eaters where they are.”

4. The Flavor of the Philippines In food-friendly cities across the country, Filipino chefs are bringing to diners their country’s cuisine, with its “porky, pungent, puckery synthesis of East Asian, Spanish and Pacific flavors,” the team says. It’s all about adobo. Don’t know much about lumpia, longganisa, calamansi or kinilaw? In 2017, you may learn.

5. Move Over, Goldilocks Prepare to be bowled over by porridge in the year ahead: It’s cheap, filling, friendly and flexible, “oﬀering a broad canvas for chefs to paint on” and figuring into a variety of meals – from main dishes to desserts. “Porridge sits at the intersection of several trends: grain bowls, whole and ancient grains, breakfast-for-dinner, and grandma food,” the team writes. Eat your hearts out, three bears.

6. The Comfort of Home A restaurant revolution is brewing, thanks to a diverse assortment of home-based chefs, some of them self-taught, who are directly connecting with customers via Instagram. After all, starting a food business in your own home has a much lower barrier to entry. “In L.A., ground-zero for hyper-connected home-based entrepreneurs, several such chefs have risen to cult status on the back of nothing more than good food and savvy hashtag marketing,” notes the team. 7. Call them “–ish” Meals? What is “-ish” eating, you ask? It’s basically embracing moderation over strict purism, as you strive for dietary goals like healthy, vegetarian or vegan eating – a way to make room for occasional indulgences and accept that sometimes you’re bound to veer oﬀ course. “-Ish eaters include the part-time paleo, the “veggan” (vegan + eggs), and the mac-and-cheese-loving “microbiotic,” all of whom will be right on trend in 2017, the Food Network Kitchen team explains. 8. Take it Live Live-streamed video is inexpensive and relatively simple to produce and creates a new level of accessibility, opening up the food-media talent pool to people from a range of backgrounds and with diﬀerent levels of experience and expertise. Plus, it promises to forge “an interactive, 1-to-1 connection between creators and fans” that “exists in real time, and embraces messiness, playfulness and unpredictability,” Food Network Kitchen’s forecasters say.

9. DIY Dinners In 2017, expect to see family dinners dispense with formality as everyone pitches in with the prep. Think “less ‘eat your peas,’ more ‘help yourself,’” the team advises. Eaters across all generations may gather ‘round the kitchen counter to enjoy the meal directly out of the sheet pan. Serving platters are so 2016. And what will your pantry and fridge be packed with in the year ahead? The team gazes into its crystal ball and sees cottage cheese and chickpeas, emmer, ube, jackfruit, sorghum popcorn, sorrel, Sichuan peppercorns, nutritional yeast, green peanut oil, buttermilk and more.

10. Coffee Beyond the Cup Coffee is poised to break out of the usual grind in 2017, inspiring (and flavoring) everything from candy to cocktails. Coffee sodas, snacks, frozen treats and gadgetry will be big. “For GenZ and younger Millennials – generations that grew up socializing at Starbucks, not malls – coffee is approaching bacon-level trendiness.”

NRN predicts 9 trends for 2017 www.nrn.com Dec. 16, 2016 by Bret Thorn For years, local and seasonal items have been top-of-mind when it comes to trend spotting — that and “telling your food’s story.” But everyone gets that now. Restaurants highlight their connections with local suppliers when they can and oﬀer menu items with other compelling backstories, as well. Hamburgers also remain a huge trend. If they’re fast-casual, they probably serve customizable meals in bowls. We can expect all of that to continue in 2017. But there are some newer, interesting and unexpected trends afoot that should make for some fun eating in the coming year.

1. Indian Food This has been a long time coming — decades, in fact. For the entire 21st century, trend watchers have been waiting for Indian food to become mainstream. But while other cuisines captured the limelight — Thai, Korean, Mediterranean — Indian food has gradually insinuated itself into America’s culinary consciousness.

caramelized onions and green peppers. East Coast Wings & Grill did a Philly Cheesesteak Flatbread this summer, and this past spring Checkers and Rally’s topped a burger with cheesesteak-style steak, Swiss cheese and onion tangles. With beef prices down, and expected to fall by another percentage point or two in 2017, there’s no reason this won’t continue.

3. Sour Beer Beer aficionados are getting hopped out. Tired of the dominance of India pale ales on the craft beer scene, they are turning to beers that are interesting, but less overwhelming to the palate than IPAs. Most of the buzz is about a broad variety of brews that are made with wild yeast strains and funky bacteria and are collectively referred to as sour beer. They seem to be growing in popularity in Chicago and San Francisco, and, although sales don’t yet appear to warrant it, a number of craft brewers are betting that sours will be the next fashionable brew. I think 2017 will be their breakout year.

Quite apart from trendy modern Indian restaurants like Badmaash in Los Angeles, Choolaah Indian BBQ in Cleveland and Ananda in Baltimore, or fast-casual chains such as The Kati Roll Company in New York (see photo below), Tava Kitchen in the San Francisco Bay area and Biju’s Little Curry Shop in the Denver area, Indian influences are now being seen in restaurants with no connection to the subcontinent. Nix, John Fraser’s vegetarian restaurant in New York, has two tandoor ovens, fast-casual salad chain Sweetgreen introduced curry cauliflower to the menu in September and Chicken Salad Chick, based in Auburn, Ala., oﬀered a Cuddle Up to Curry Chicken Salad earlier this year. Even fine-dining bastion Le Cirque in New York City currently oﬀers an Australian lamb chop with curry mashed potatoes. Indian food has arrived, and we’ll see more of it in 2017.

Steep ground coffee in cold water for the better part of a day and you get a drink that’s lower in acid and less bitter than conventional coffee. High in caffeine and subtly sweet, it has broad appeal among young consumers. “The Millennials in particular appear to have really plugged into that product,” Bill Bowron, chairman, president and CEO of coffee-andtea supplier Red Diamond told me. The fact that it’s generally made in small batches in a sort of craftsman-like way also seems to appeal to them. Most major coffee chains have introduced cold brew by now, and Dunkin’ Donuts looks poised to introduce a nitro version, for which cold brew in kegs is infused with nitrogen to give it a beer-like head. You’ll probably be seeing more ready-to-drink cold brew offerings in beverage aisles, too.

2. Philly Cheesesteaks

5. Low-Alcohol Cocktails

Beef, grilled onions and melty cheese — what’s not to love? This comfort food combo is looking like the go-to flavor for operators wanting to do something new but not too new. Ruby Tuesday introduced Philly Cheesesteak Potstickers — braised, shredded beef short rib, chopped banana peppers, sweet onion, mushroom and American and cheddar cheeses wrapped in dumpling dough and pan-fried. Johnny Rockets currently has a Philly cheesesteak as a limited-time oﬀer, along with Loaded Street Philly Tots, which are fried tots topped with cheddar, thinly sliced grilled sirloin,

There are many advantages to making cocktails from beer, wine or sake rather than spirits: Restaurants with only beer-and-wine licenses can oﬀer them, they tend to pair easily with food, customers can drink more than one without getting drunk and operators can sell more than one without risking over-serving their guests. Micheladas — beer with spiced tomato juice — have long been popular among Mexicans, and Europeans have long enjoyed shandies, or beer mixed with soft drinks. As sherry and vermouth continue to grow in popularity, you can expect them to be incorporated more into mixed drinks as well.

4. Cold Brew Coﬀee

6. Older Animals Almost all of the meat we eat comes from animals that lived quite short lives. Chicken is slaughtered at between six weeks and eight weeks, hogs at around six months, and cattle at around two years. That makes for tender meat that’s relatively inexpensive and consistent. But there’s a movement to eat more mature animals. Chicken producer Perdue Farms is considering plans to raise chicken more slowly both to make the birds more comfortable, and also more flavorful. On a smaller scale, butchers such as Adam Danforth, author of “Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat and Pork: The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering,” are advocating eating more mature animals both as a more natural culmination of their life cycle, and because they taste good. Mature meat can reflect the terroir of where it was raised and has robust flavor and a desirable chewiness that makes it enjoyable in a diﬀerent way than younger, tender meat. Mature meat doesn’t have to be expensive, Danforth says: He’s talking about dairy sheep and cattle that have already earned their keep by providing milk. Typically their meat would be used for hamburger or sausages, but by taking the middle meats, possibly dry-aging them, which is what Mindful Meats of Point Reyes Station, Calif., does, and selling it at a premium compared to ground meat, the dairy farmers benefit and restaurateurs have a unique, tasty product with a great story behind it about the circle of life.

7. Insects I thought this was a joke when people started talking about it in earnest in 2014. Most Americans have an irrational but very strong aversion to eating insects. Nonetheless, cricket purveyors are showing up at trade shows, and grasshoppers, mezcal worms (technically caterpillars and therefore insect larvae), beetles and powdered ant are gradually appearing on more menus. Granted, they’re mostly novelty garnishes meant more for conversation than broad appeal, but they’re still spreading.

Protein powders and protein bars made from ground up cricket are proliferating, too, and post-apocalyptic televisions show such as Syfy’s Z Nation and Fox’s The Last Man on Earth have discussed cricket as a food source. Wayback Burgers oﬀered an Oreo Mud Pie Cricket Protein Milkshake in the summer of 2015, and management said it sold better than they thought it would. Don’t expect cricket tots to replace potato tots on menus anytime soon, although if you have a lot of customers on the paleo diet, it might be worth considering.

8. Delicious Vegetables There’s a lot of talk of cauliflower becoming the new kale, and of spiralized zucchini replacing pasta, (see photo above) but the bottom line is that Americans say they’re interested in eating more vegetables, but they’ve shown that they’re not going to give up on taste to do it. No matter: The country’s talented chefs, particularly at independent restaurants, have become more thoughtful about their vegetable preparations, jazzing them up with vinegars and spices, making their own pickles (Chili’s and Applebee’s do that, too, in fact) or, particularly in the case of Brussels sprouts, sautéing them with bacon. You can expect them to up their game in 2017.

9. Caffeine as the New Enemy Something’s going on with caffeine: High-caffeine cold brew coffee is probably the hottest beverage trend, but The Coca-Cola Company recently told me that data from their Coca-Cola Freestyle machines indicates that caffeine-free drink consumption was up by almost 2 percent in 2016, including a striking 10 percent increase in Sprite consumption. We have a tendency to cycle through different ingredients that we try to avoid. We’re currently on a long stretch of avoiding gluten and cutting back on carbohydrates while gorging ourselves on protein. Caffeine has largely been off the radar, and even seen as desirable by a lot of consumers. So is this Sprite spike a return to the joys of lemon-lime soda, or is the switch caffeine-related? Maybe that question will be answered in 2017.

Top 10 Food Trends thefoodchannel.com December 13, 2016 Based on research conducted by The Food Channel in conjunction with CultureWaves® and the International Food Futurists, this is the 29th year we’ve identified some of the significant changes expected to hit the food world. This year, what’s happening with food is starting to override what new flavors are emerging. That means the trends are no longer driven by flavors; instead the people who consume the food are driving them. The top 10 trends divided naturally into two groups—and that alone shows the way the industry is changing. It’s no longer simply about flavors and new items; it’s about the experience of food. For more details about each trend projection, visit thefoodchannel.com

Food Trends On the Menu

1. MEATS OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM What to choose, what to choose! Will it be beef, chicken, or pork? Those meats have been our standard choices, but we see a big change on the horizon—and it’s not just bison. As people dig into new and replacement proteins, they’ve begun asking what else is out there that isn’t just a one-time adventure in eating (think alligator).

3. NEW CUISINES We actually talk about ethnic flavors a lot—in 2015 we called out how ethnic was hard to distinguish, since food was getting “mashed up”. That has definitely happened, but the difference now is that there are a lot more cuisines entering the game. For a few years now, we’ve called out regions as opposed to “just” countries. However, even region isn’t niche enough anymore. It’s no longer Northeast. Now it’s coastal Northeast, or the Catskills. Niche is getting more niche. Hawaiian food differs from island to island, and even from part of an island to another, depending on the dominant culture. We’ve got a lot of different areas on our radar, including Appalachian cuisine, Tropical cuisine, even Cuban cuisine. 4. NO MORE WASTE There is a new class of sustainability that’s being demonstrated across most food categories. We’re seeing Farm2Table flowers, sustainably sourced seafood, repurposed ingredients, and restaurants worried about food waste. A turning point may have been the whole hog generation, which we called out in 2012 (Food Trend: New Agri Chef ). That’s when chefs began to more frequently use every piece of the animal or vegetable, right down to the soup and celery stock.

2. VEGGIES AS CENTER OF THE PLATE We know—we just talked about meat as though it were the only thing happening. But there is another side to the equation, and it’s no longer “just” a side dish. Vegetables are moving into prominence and the rest of the meal is now just as likely to be built around the veggies, as the veggies are to be the also-rans.

5. INGREDIENTS AS CONDIMENTS Think about what comes with your meals today. While ketchup, salt, and pepper may be the staples on a casual dining table, restaurants are beginning to oﬀer accompaniments to menu items that go beyond the traditional condiments. Order a steak, and get a side of specialty salts that come with the main dish. Order chicken and sprinkle on your own herbs. These dishes are using spices and condiments not as part of the cooking process, but as part of the dining experience. Morton Salt is even beginning to position salts as a topping and a texture, not simply an ingredient.

Food Trends Influencing the Menu

6. TREND LAYERED UPON TREND A menu today may have an item description that reads something like this: A housemade, Indian-inspired, sustainable, sweet breakfast bread served with a touch of nutmeg and a sprinkle of toasted Himalayan pink salt. It’s as though a description can’t oﬀer just one thing anymore, it has to hit several diﬀerent touch points in order to get our jaded attention. People are amalgamating all the food trends into each other, so that it’s now hard to call out singular things.

9. OCCASION DINING Our meal plans are no longer centered around breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacking. Now we tend to plan to eat around occasions. The food is both an excuse and a magnet to draw people together. It’s no longer the idea of coming together to eat; now, we’re eating to come together.

7. THE LANGUAGE OF FOOD There are dozens of ways to sum up how we think about food, but the one that is gaining traction is pairing a food source with a food delivery. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been saying Farm2Table or Farm-to-Table or F2T or any other combination. To be really on trend you have to take it a little further. Dock2Dine for freshly caught fish and shellfish. Seed2Glass, for those who imbibe, tracing wine all the way back to the seed. Farm2School, where educators meet with growers and urban farms pop up in classrooms.

10. GOOD IS THE NEW “NEW” Here’s the new mantra: Stop focusing on making things new. Just make them good. We’ve spent a lot of time in recent years asking brands and restaurants to deliver a new sensation. The constant swarm of Limited Time Oﬀers—the GET IT NOW BEFORE IT GOES AWAY feeling—has trained us to always look for something new and exciting. We’ve gotten into expectation mode, and believe there will always be something new. Our data shows that the consumers are quietly calling out for food to taste good, not just be new.

8. PET FOOD We admit to some hesitancy in mixing this idea with “people food,” but we might as well join the crowd! And there is no hesitancy in recognizing this as a trend. It’s actually a huge topic—people are now discussing pet food and pet food ingredients and comparing them to what they would eat themselves.

Part of this is the Global Flavor Curve that has had us paying attention to the amalgamation of American culture with ethnic flavors. However, the curve seems to indicate that restaurants haven’t yet fully explored the fact that ethnic doesn’t have to be authentic to be good. This could open up a whole new range of food ideas, where you aren’t worried about how to make something like the original, but are OK with it being something that works, and works well. So, we’ll be OK if Big Fast Food comes out with the Pad Thai Wrap or Emerald Chicken Skewer, as long as the flavor is good.

13 Food Trend Forecasts www.jamesbeard.org Dec. 8, 2016 With hundreds of dinners at the Beard House each year, dozens of events across the country, and our annual James Beard Awards highlighting the best of American cuisine each year, we’re lucky enough to get a broad view of the nation’s edible zeitgeist. With that in mind, we’ve dusted oﬀ our crystal ball and called on some of our expert eaters to forecast the food trends destined to be hitting your plates in the coming year. From the triumphant return of French cuisine to the frenzy over fermentation to the new “it” vegetable, we’ve got the roadmap to guide you through the highways and byways of the culinary landscape for 2017.

1. Everything is French Again — We saw classic French cuisine pop up in Los Angeles a couple years back, when Ludo Lefebvre opened Petit Trois, his homage to Parisian bistro culture. This year the stateside revival of la grande cuisine continued in New York City, with Le Coucou, Mimi, and Augustine leading the way. Ironically, the only place French food isn’t trending is France—but we're eager to see where this latest wave of mother sauces takes us in 2017.

3. Cauliﬂower is the New Kale — It’s hard to top the ubiquity of everyone’s favorite leafy green, but the formerly overlooked cauliflower is right on its heels. Maybe it’s the mild flavor that makes for a stellar blank canvas, or its comforting, starchy consistency (which lends itself to standing in for rice or pizza crust). From whole-roasted versions served in cast-iron skillets at the Florence in Savannah and Shaya in New Orleans to cauliflower “steaks” serving as stand-alone entrées from a Beard Award–winning cookbook, we’re devouring the cruciferous veg all over the country.

2. Make Way for Whey — At a panel on food waste we held in Charleston this fall, chef Dan Barber explained a food-waste side eﬀect of America’s obsession with Greek yogurt: acid whey (not to be confused with sweet whey, which is the byproduct of hard cheeses and is often used in protein powders). In Greece, as Barber explained, the delicious whey is used to marinate lamb, but here in the U.S., it is often discarded. As Bon Appétit reported last year, bottles of whey have been popping up on the shelves of health food stores and markets like Whole Foods, but recently we’ve been seeing an uptick of the ingredient on Beard House menus, both in traditional preparations or caramelized in both sweet and savory dishes. We think 2017 may be the year we finally say yes, whey!

4. And Kalettes Will Be Next — The first time we saw tiny little kale growing oﬀ of what looked like a Brussels sprout stalk at the greenmarket, we thought that some plant hybridist somewhere was also a marketing genius: what a great idea to take the two most unexpectedly and wildly trendy vegetables (and both brassicas, no less) and fuse them together. Cute as can be, they are also quite tasty. While they’re cropping up at farmers’ markets all over the country, we haven’t seen them on many menus in the U.S. just yet—though word has it that Rocky Maselli at A16 in San Francisco is serving them up to his diners—executive vice president Mitchell Davis noticed them recently on a trendy New Nordic menu in Oslo, Norway. And if history is any indication, that means it’s only a matter of time.

5. Sorghum Becomes the New ‘It’ Grain — We’ve long known about sorghum, the syrup of which had been the most popular sweetener in 19th century America (sorghum-glazed or -braised everything has been a repeat trend at the Beard House), but until recently, we had no idea that it was actually a grain you could actually cook like a grain. It resembles Israeli couscous, but with a little dot on each orb. It is chewier than you’d think (which means chewier than Israeli couscous) but satisfying to eat—and slightly sweet. Wanna try your hand at it? Start with Bon Appétit’s delicious recipe for Roast Chicken with Sorghum and Squash. Or check out dessert guru Alice Medrich’s Flavor Flours cookbook, which has an entire chapter dedicated to baking with milled sorghum. We’d wager that it’ll become the new gluten-free, ancient grain of the moment. 6. Frybread Jumps from State Fairs to Fine Dining — Whether it’s the Native American classic appearing at Marc Forgione’s American Cut and on an Ohio-centric Beard House menu, or the Eastern European iteration popping up at John Fraser’s Nix and Tim Cushman’s Covina, these days it seems you can’t open a restaurant in New York City without including some sort of fried dough topped with all sorts of decadent accoutrements. We won’t argue with that! 7. Where’s the Beef? — According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the consumption of red meat peaked in the 1970s, but up until recently at restaurants around the country—and at the Beard House—it was rare to see a menu that didn’t oﬀer up a juicy steak or other (red) meaty main. These days, whether a function of the increased costs, more interest in sustainability, or a change in consumer tastes, chefs cooking at the Beard House have increasingly made beef less of the star of their menus and more of a supporting player. So while we’re not seeing beef disappear, we are seeing it less as a main course, and more (and in smaller portions) as a canapé. Vying to take beef’s place? Duck, lamb, venison, pork, and more. 8. Delivery-Only Restaurants Take Root — While wide-ranging delivery services like Seamless have made relying on only pizza and lo mein a thing of the past, you no longer have to choose from brick-and-mortar restaurants with competing live customers when ordering in. Startups like Maple, David Chang’s Ando, and home-cook delivery service Umi Kitchen have proven that with consistently well-executed food, you don’t need a dining room to develop a steady stream of customers who will return time and again. 9. Fermentation Gains Traction — Fermentation has fascinated chefs for years as they’ve tried to uncover new ways to create naturally complex flavors, nuanced textures, and other gastronomic coloratura. While home cooks have dabbled—our executive vice president Mitchell Davis been on the invite list for an underground fermentation fest in Brooklyn for years—rotting food in the home kitchen hasn’t really broken into the mainstream. But we think that’s about to change: the new magazine Cured will cover a large number of topics about aging and fermenting food, and cookbooks like Bar Tartine give explicit instructions about how to ferment your own condiments. Even the current directive to minimize food waste (pickled watermelon rinds, anyone? – everyone from Alton Brown to Martha Stewart has a recipe) will likely play into the growing notion that older, bubbling, cultured, and fermented foods are better for your health, for flavor, and for the planet.

10. Vegetables as King — This growing trend has quickly gained steam, with vegan restaurants like Ravi DeRossi’s hot spots Ladybird and Avant Garden, and the perpetually packed, bicoastal ‘by CHLOE.’ shops pulling in eaters of all varieties. Even at the Beard House, we’re seeing vegetables take the spotlight, whether its showcasing a regional specialty like leather britches (where beans taste suspiciously like bacon), or presenting a vegetable centerpiece like a preserved whole tomato with animal-based garnishes. 11. Sprinkles and Technicolor Desserts Take the Cake — From local bakeries to Pinterest boards, the sweets world is exploding with color. Cakes filled with the tiny, bright confections are flooding our feeds, homemade versions are featured on menus everywhere, and recipes are shared in major news sources: the New York Times hopped aboard the sprinkle train, the Washington Post and BuzzFeed went nuts over rainbow bagels, and websites like Epicurious and the Kitchn waxed poetic about sprinkle-dusted “fairy” toast. Put on your sunglasses; our collective dessert future looks pretty bright. 12. Waste Not, Want Not — With nearly half of all food produced in the U.S. going to waste, restaurants, chefs, and even home cooks are getting smart and learning to create delicious dishes with parts of the animal, fruit, or vegetable that would normally end up in the trash. Make no mistake, this concept is skewing more haute cuisine than dumpster diving: the Beard Award–winning and Michelinstarred Blue Hill had a pop-up restaurant devoted entirely to the theme of food waste and re-use for three weeks last year; top toques Mario Batali and Tom Colicchio spoke out about how we can all reduce waste in our own kitchens; and recipes for the waste-less novice have been everywhere from Epicurious to Tasting Table to right here in our own collection. And for the health of our planet, this is a growing trend we hope will have staying power. 13. Tataki It Or Leave It — Move over crudo and carpaccio. From fish to beef, toro to kobe, tataki is the cold appetizer that is going to sweep the nation and land on every menu from coast to coast. Combining the tender, unadulterated meat of a tartare and the smoky, seared edges of negimaki, tataki is quickly seared, then thinly sliced, brushed with a bright vinegar, and presented with a host of east-meets-west accompaniments. Never had tataki? Don’t worry, you will soon. Elizabeth Laseter, our assistant to the director of house programming, especially loves the tuna tataki with shiso tempura and dashi gelée at Kinship in Washington, D.C.; the venison tataki with pickled ramps and walnut miso at Chicago’s Ruxbin; the cobia tataki with pineapple and cilantro at NYC’s Cosme; and beef tataki with romanesco, peanuts, and horseradish at Quaintrelle in Portland, Oregon. Or come try it at the Beard House, where it’s making an increasing number of tasting-menu appearances.

Hot Food Trends for 2017

TREND OF THE YEAR:

FOOD CITY OF THE YEAR

Modern takes on ethnic cuisine — Modern takes on lesser-known cuisines are taking the country by storm. Modern Indian, Modern Korean, Modern African, Modern Middle Eastern... it’s a modern day miracle! Go on an adventure to another culture, if only for an evening, and enjoy an escape filled with elevated twists on tradition.

Los Angeles — The City of Angels tastes a lot like heaven! The Los Angeles restaurant scene has been booming (three James Beard awards this year!), but wait till you see what’s in store. Watch out for a huge migration of chefs - Jessica Largey, former Manresa (SF) chef de cuisine and James Beard Award winner is opening Simone, and Dave Beran, former executive chef at Next (Chicago), is working on a yet-to-be-named restaurant. Angelenos, prepare yourself for lots of dining out!

According to our expert Chef John Griﬃths: “People are embracing flavors farther eastward in the Mediterranean and Middle East. I expect to see a further incorporation of Turkish, and Middle Eastern spice combinations and dishes. With so many men and women of the military stationed abroad in these regions and Afghanistan over the last decade, I think our acceptance of those cuisines will increase.”

UP & COMING FOOD CITY OF THE YEAR

DISH OF THE YEAR: Breakfast Sandwich — Restaurants are elevating the humble breakfast sandwich to new levels. Think breakfast sandwiches on dinner menus and Michelin-starred restaurants doling out egg sandwiches paired with exceptional latte art in the morning. These aren’t your typical Egg McMuﬃns, though we have a soft spot for those too. 2016 brought us the all-day breakfast menu!

Kansas City — Trending from the middle out! The tech start-up scene is on fire, and a new craft brewery opens up just about every month. And we haven’t even gotten started on the food! It’s no surprise that the tight-knit community is pushing the fold and staying true to tradition in an unparalleled fashion. Food is taken as seriously as beer in Kansas City, and an old-school approach is embraced (think butcher shops, pickling, fermenting and Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que) alongside modern techniques.

INGREDIENT OF THE YEAR CUISINE OF THE YEAR: FILIPINO — Influenced by a long history of culinary tradition and the flavors of India, Japan, Malay, China, and Spain, Filipino cuisine is bold, fresh, and borderline addictive. Wildly popular in Los Angeles, Filipino fare is finally getting its well-deserved moment in the spotlight across the country. And it’s about time! Filipinos make up the second-largest Asian population in the U.S.

Cannabis — California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada join the ranks of Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska in legalizing recreational cannabis. Marijuana edibles, cannabis cooking, infused cocktails, cannabis wine, oh my! According to Restaurant Hospitality, “chef Chris Sayegh is already tapping this market via his Los Angelesbased company, The Herbal Chef. He caters high-end meals ($300$500 a head) to medical marijuana card holders there.” Prepare for secret cannabis clubs and tasting menus to become mainstream!

Grain Bowls — It’s a staple vegetarian menu item (and delicious with meat add-ons too). Grain bowls are the perfect vessel for customizing. This Umami Bowl from Sweetgreen includes Wild Rice, Quinoa, Farro, Mushrooms and Tofu with a Miso Sesame Ginger Dressing.

Lesser-Known Asian Cuisine — Thanks to millennials, the desire for discovery and experiences is not going away. People are craving more and more authentic experiences leading to a rise in lesser-known ethnic cuisines, especially from Asia. Expect to see an increase in Filipino, Taiwanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Indonesian cuisine and more!

Rise of the Veggie Kingdom — Welcome to the future where veggie burgers taste delicious and look so much like beef that they appear to actually bleed. The popularity of vegetables continues to escalate. Whole-plant butchery is here to stay – nothing goes to waste (think beet green frittatas and carrot top pesto). Look out for more plant-based restaurants to join the ranks of Erven (Santa Monica, CA), and entire entrée sections devoted to vegetables (Salt House, SF). There’s a new wave of vegetable presentations and preparations in town.

Ta-Ta Traditional Tartare — Tartare is making a menu comeback. But this isn’t your classic steak tartare. Combining traditional techniques with modern flavor profiles, restaurants are reimagining the classic French appetizer. Above, roasted beet tartare with green papaya-pineapple salad from The Oval Room in Washington, D.C.

Expect to see these vegetables trending in 2017: • Red kuri squash • Imperfect Produce/”Seconds” • Lovage, an herb that tastes like celery • Micro greens BLEEDING VEGGIE BURGER: “Silicon Valley startup Impossible Foods has found a home for its “bleeding” veggie burger. David Chang's New York eatery Momofuku Nishi is now serving the plant-based patty, which is made from wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein and heme — the indispensable molecule that makes meat taste like meat” – Eater NY

The New Ice Cream Age — Maybe it’s the current climate, political and environmental, that’s got us seeking new an interesting ways to indulge in our favorite frozen delights. Maybe its just another arena for the culinary talents of modern day chefs to expand into. Whatever the reason, we’re glad it’s happening and look forward to seeing how far this trend can push the icy envelope! Watch for Soft Serve Matcha, Thai Rolled Ice Cream (photo above) and unique, chef-crafted flavors.

Dairy-Free Alternatives — As Vegan becomes more mainstream, cheese alternatives abound. Just don’t call it cheese! It’s “Gary” – the name bestowed upon the artisanal product by social media. Advances in food technology and vegan acceptance have paved the way for a bevy of animal-free products, all engineered to look and taste like the real thing. Above, a selection from the Riverdale Vegan Cheese Shop in NYC – cheeses made mostly from nuts and seeds.

Fermentation Sensation — Fermentation brings out other-worldly flavors in vegetables and is supposedly beneficial to your gut microbe. Curing stomach aches and imparting unique umami-packed flavor? We’ll have a (fermented) drink to that!

6 Trends for 2017

Nov. 28, 2016 Article by Tara Fitzpatrick

Among the trends making their way to a restaurant near you: Tiki’s back, but better; ceviche and poke go mainstream; plant-based fare keeps growing; chefs pay homage to indigenous American foods. Here’s what you’ll want to have on your radar. 1. It’s Time for Tiki A big part of tiki’s allure is escapism. Funny how rum-tastic drinks like zombies, mai tais, beachcombers, siren songs and mind erasers can take the edge oﬀ. That’s what Matt Spencer had in mind when he opened his new San Diego tiki place, The Grass Skirt. “Tiki is something we’re pretty passionate about here,” Spencer says. “The Grass Skirt will combine the fun, lighthearted, escapist nature of tiki culture with creativity and food and beverage quality.” That last part — food and beverage quality — is the key to tiki’s viability. Craft tiki cocktails with artisanal rum and fresh-squeezed juice elevate the experience of sipping through an umbrella. And the best new tiki menus are pupu platters gone to culinary school. Honey-soy marinated beef skewers with pineapple and ginger aioli, chicken “sidecars” on sweet Hawaiian rolls and regional treats like fried cheese curds and Minnesota potluck favorite pickle rollups star at Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, some Cleveland restaurateurs are using tiki as inspiration. The future promises more tiki mashups like the one at Porco Lounge, where owner Stefan Was is pairing tiki with meatballs. Was partnered with chefs Brian Okin and Adam Bostick of Cork and Cleaver, Graﬃti Social Kitchen and Dinner in the Dark to create Polpetta at Porco Lounge, a tiki-meatball mashup. Okin got the idea while visiting New York City, where meatball concepts have shown staying power and buzz appeal. 2. Housemade 2.0 Making your own sausage and charcuterie? Great! Pickling your own veggies? Pretty cool. But the true cutting-edge trend-of-the-moment is making your own flour. Bakers and chefs who do this swear it can exponentially change the quality of pastries, breads and any recipe calling for flour. One such innovator is Ellen King, baker/historian and owner of Hewn Bakery in Evanston, Ill. Like other bakers, she sees the value in getting local grains and turning them into flour in-house. She’s taking it even further and going all-in, attempting to preserve the truly ancient art of baking bread. King and the bakery are part of The Great Midwestern Bread Experiment, an ambitious, long-range project collaborating with a crop scientist from Washington State University and a fifth-generation farmer to produce authentically pre-industrial loaves of bread. “It will probably be three years until we’re able to get a loaf that’s really good,” King predicts. Why? It’s an exacting process. The bread experiment involves time travel back to the early 1900s, before — some would argue — all the goodness was stripped out of wheat. The group is combing through historical recipes that use grain varieties that were, to put it simply, not messed with.

The tiki torch is burning brighter than ever, proving that the fun, kitschy trend may be a little retro but is also completely relevant.

3. Diving Deeper into Poke and Ceviche Poke, with its Hawaiian ethos, fresh flavors and ability to fit perfectly into a bowl, has grabbed diners’ attention in the last year, and it’s a safe bet for next year, too, as new concepts are just beginning to explore where one can go with poke and ceviche as well. In Fort Lauderdale, the Poke House, a fast-casual eatery led by former director of SBE Hospitality Memphis Garrett, is bringing the healthy, fresh, aﬀordable poke trend to South Florida by taking the Hawaiian tradition in a new direction. Your basic poke bowl consists of sushigrade tuna in soy and sesame over rice. But at the Poke House, it’s all about customization: Choose your protein (tuna, salmon, hamachi or tofu), base (white rice, quinoa or kale) and then things really get interesting with more than 20 sauces and toppings, including aji Amarillo lime, chipotle mayo, crispy lotus, black radish and more. Plus, there are composed bowls for those opting out of DIY, and each is inspired by a diﬀerent region, such as the Venice Beach Cali bowl with fish marinated in salsa verde and served with avocado, baby heirloom tomato, lotus and nori. Other regions are as far-flung as Florida, Peru and Korea.

Como Ceviche made a big splash opening last Fall in San Diego’s East Village. The focus is on including all sorts of international takes on ceviche. “Ceviche hits a lot of customers’ cravings all at the same time,” says co-owner William Lopez. “Ceviche is a versatile dish that answers the call from consumers who’ve been leaning towards food that’s nutritious, sustainable and authentic.”

4. Plant-Based Shift Still Gaining Steam Plant-based proteins, dairy replacements and nut butters are all gaining momentum. “Nut butters are growing,” says Brian Darr, who helps manufacturers stay ahead of the curve as director of Datassential’s Trendspotter publications. He points to a 158 percent increase of hazelnut spread on menus in the last year, going hand in hand with growth of breakfast sales. “Chefs around the country are starting to use nut butters to cook with, and in the retail environment you’re seeing a lot more nut butters on the shelves.” Plant proteins are also appearing on more menus, with jackfruit leading the way as “vegan pulled pork” and aquafaba (the liquid in a can of chickpeas) being whipped into vegan meringues. Black-eyed peas are in the inception phase of the food trend hierarchy, according to Datassential, which means they are starting to catch on here and there but growing fast. And lentils are now in the adoption phase, growing 15 percent on menus since 2012. Customers are also seeking out alternatives to dairy, and products like almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk have a firm foothold in Americans’ refrigerators. Cheese alternatives—made with cashews, for example—are also now in the inception phase. 5. Chefs and Menus Go Native How interested are people in learning about indigenous culture and food? Ask the “Sioux Chef,” Sean Sherman. His restaurant startup project just became the most-backed restaurant venture ever on Kickstarter, raising almost $150,000. He hopes to open in Minneapolis next year. Indigenous foods that Sherman had lost touch with while growing up on a reservation are what the restaurant will focus on. No stereotypical fry bread, either. Sherman works “microregionally,” he says, focusing on the foods you could find walking around a lake in Minneapolis such as natural wild rice and tuberose. “We built a curriculum around indigenous foods. Corn and beans and potatoes, amaranth and quinoa,” he says. “People were producing things so naturally without fossil fuels. We’re re-imagining what a kitchen can be.”

6. New-to-You ‘Cue on the Rise While the barbecue compass has long pointed to well-established barbecue meccas in the South, some unlikely barbecue destinations are emerging. Northern cities like Cleveland, Chicago and Brooklyn are putting themselves on the map with styles that aren’t so set in stone. Before Michael Symon opened Mabel’s BBQ in Cleveland this past summer, he dutifully researched regional barbecue, picking up tasty best practices along the way. Quite a few other serious barbecue spots have opened up in Cleveland recently as well. So what exactly is “Cleveland-style barbecue,” as Mabel’s is billed? Symon’s definition includes a sauce with iconic Cleveland ingredients like Bertman’s ballpark mustard and Eastern European seasonings. The meat is smoked on local fruitwood. Not having a set-in-stone style to either be true to—or rebel against— allows new embers of creativity to spark in places where barbecue legends are still being written. That freedom and fluidity are major qualities that Barry Sorkin of Smoque in Chicago likes about charting new territory in barbecue. His barbecue spot quickly gained appreciative fans when it opened almost a decade ago. Last summer, Sorkin set up an outpost as one of the best-loved Windy City spots at Chicago’s massive Revival Food Hall. “I think what’s starting to happen is chefs are starting to recognize that barbecue is a food where you can apply all kinds of things,” Sorkin says. “Ten years ago, barbecue was about a few regional places and the sauces we all know. But now you’re seeing people getting more creative with the method of smoking meat and applying diﬀerent ethnic flavors and other culinary techniques.” The freestyle philosophy allows barbecue entrepreneurs like Sorkin to adopt an overall broader philosophy that relates to playing with more flavor profiles. “Barbecuing is just a way of cooking food,” Sorkin says. “There’s no way it should be married to just a couple of diﬀerent flavors of sauce.” Sorkin has been checking out his barbecue brethren in Brooklyn lately, he says, and gives major props to Hometown Bar-B-Que, where Billy Durney has been making Jamaican jerk baby back ribs and lamb belly that’s worth writing home about.

Even Francis Ford Coppola is getting in on the act, with his new Werowocomoco concept in Geyserville, Calif. The film director himself has assumed chef duties at the restaurant, where the menu includes fry bread tacos, venison chili, cedar plank salmon and rotisserie prairie chicken.

Werowocomoco, Francis Ford Coppola’s new restaurant in Geyserville, California

2017 Flavor Trends www.comaxflavors.com Dec. 3, 2016

Today’s consumers continue to seek better-for-you products and engaging culinary experiences. In response to the ever-changing demographics and multicultural consumers, Comax Flavors introduces the 2017 Flavor Trends, divided into four unique flavor collections. Flower Power is a collection of floral-inspired flavors while Spice Is Nice addresses the globalization of America’s palate and the accessibility of flavorful spices. Smoke Out capitalizes on consumers’ aﬃnity for new textures and dimensional flavors while Nostalgia Remix taps into consumers’ desire to reconnect with the comforts of childhood. Each Comax Flavor collection is comprised of a variety of food and beverage applications such as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, beverage syrups, dairy, baked goods, confections, snacks, sauces and marinades.

Flower Power

Smoke Out

Unless used as a colorful garnish, traditionally U.S. seldom ingests flowers or floral flavors compared to other countries. However, floral flavors are popping up and making their way into food and beverages including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and dairy products such as yogurt and ice cream. “Driven by the health and wellness trend, consumers continue to seek flavors inspired by nature. Comax Flavors predicts floral flavors will be the next generation of better-for-you products and to meet the demand we created the Flower Power range,” states Catherine Armstrong, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Comax Flavors. This versatile floral collection can be used in multiple applications such as dairy, baked goods, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, beverage syrups and tea.

Smoking is no longer reserved just for meat and fish. Smoking, both hot and cold, is experiencing an uptick. It is appearing in dairy, fruits, vegetables, desserts and even cocktails. In packaged foods, inspiration from smoked foods can be seen in unexpected applications such as beer, snacks and chewing gum. According to 2016 StarChefs International Chef Congress (ICC) conference, where chefs discussed top trends for 2017, “charcoal is on the rise as more and more chefs incorporate it into their repertoire.” “Consumers’ crave smoked flavors and it’s not just for savory applications. Smoked flavors add texture and dimension to food and beverages and Comax developed the Smoke Out range to appeal to a wide audience,” notes Armstrong. This sophisticated flavor range can be used in a variety of applications including sauces, marinades, snacks, crackers, dairy, alcoholic beverages and beverage syrups.

Flavors in this group include: • Blueberry Hibiscus • Orange Blossom Vanilla • Raspberry Lavender

Spice is Nice

Nostaligia Remix

According to Technavio, the spices and seasonings market in the U.S. is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 6.72% during the period 2016-2020. Driven by globalization and the growing multicultural population, spices that were once exotic and unfamiliar are becoming familiar and ubiquitous. Spices are now mainstream and accessible. “Consumers are now open and willing to experiment with spices to experience new flavors. To address consumers’ desire for flavorful spice combinations, we developed the Spice Is Nice collection,” says Armstrong. This seasoned, multipurpose flavor collection can be used in several applications such as coﬀee, tea, dairy, alcoholic beverages and beverage syrups.

Nostalgia runs deep in our food and beverage choices. As consumers seek comfort foods and positive experiences, throwback flavors are gaining momentum because they take us back to childhood and fond memories. Classic and nostalgic flavors are finding their way into new and unexpected applications. From root beer floats to grilled cheese, these flavors are getting a makeover as chefs and food and beverage manufacturers are experimenting with reinterpretations. “Comax wanted to engage consumers. To make an emotional connection, we created the Nostalgia Remix assortment as a nod to childhood,” says Armstrong. This fun flavor assortment can be used in numerous applications such as dairy, baked goods, confection, snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and beverage syrups.

Flavors in this group include: • Cinnamon Caramel • Cocoa Curry • Ginger Mandarin Cardamom

Flavors in this group include: • Blackberry BBQ • Smoked Tomato • Torched Vanilla

Flavors in this group include: • Grilled Cheese • Milk & Cookies • Root Beer Marshmallow

McCormick Predicts the Future of Flavor www.mccormick.com Dec. 6, 2016 For nearly two decades, this much-anticipated annual report from McCormick has predicted emerging flavors – like chipotle chilies, coconut water and peri-peri sauce – that are now found everywhere from restaurants to retail shelves and kitchen cabinets.

Egg Yolks - The Sunny Side of Flavor Egg yolks leave breakfast behind! Whether poached, fried or cured, chefs are pairing these indulgent golden gems with a range of spices, herbs and sauces on lunch and dinner menus.

“This year, the Flavor Forecast identifies cutting-edge flavors that help chefs, tastemakers and home cooks refresh their menus,” said McCormick Executive Chef Kevan Vetter.

• Taste It: Mediterranean Vegetable Shakshuka - Sunny-side-up egg yolks simmered in a tomato and vegetable sauce make a rustic supper.

“Discover a new all-purpose seasoning – Baharat. It’s a fragrant, Eastern Mediterranean blend of spices such as cumin, cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg and more. Sprinkle over warm, seasonal soups, stir into tomato-based sauces, or add to your favorite chicken dish.” Here are the five flavor trends the chefs, culinary professionals, trend trackers and flavor experts at McCormick have identified for 2017: Rise and Shine to Global Tastes Breakfast options with big, global flavors are being sought after by a generation of flavor adventurists not content with the same boring bowl. Try warm, sweet congee or a Middle Eastern-inspired breakfast hash topped with a spicy skhug sauce. • Taste It: Breakfast Hash with Skhug Sauce - Tender chickpeas, ground lamb or beef and roasted vegetables seasoned with a blend of coriander, cumin and fennel. • Say It: Skhug [shug], this complex Middle Eastern hot sauce is made with Thai bird eye chilies, cumin, cardamom, coriander, garlic, parsley, cilantro, olive oil and lemon juice. Modern Med Discover the new cuisine for the 21st century - melding Eastern Mediterranean ingredients with Western European classics. • Taste It: Persian Minestrone - Persian Ash-e reshteh meets Italian minestrone.

• Say It: Shakshuka [shahk-SHOO-kah], flavored with a savory spice blend of smoked paprika, cumin, pepper, cayenne, turmeric and caraway. Plancha - Flat Out Grilling Hailing from Spain, France’s Basque region as well as Mexico, the plancha (a thick, flat slab of cast iron) is growing in popularity around the world for creating a sizzling, smoky sear and flavor crust. Grillers can easily use the plancha with meats, seafood and vegetables, paired with bold sauces, rubs and glazes. • Taste It: Espelette Pepper-Rubbed Steak a la Plancha - a zesty, Mediterranean-herb rub enhances juicy steak grilled on a sizzling hot plancha. • Say It: Espelette [es-PE-let] pepper, originating from the Basque region of France, delivers a distinctively smoky, sweet and mildly hot flavor. Sweet on Pepper Enter the new sweet heat. With an up-front bite and lingering sensation, peppercorns are finally capturing the spotlight. Their cedar and citrus notes pair perfectly with up-and-coming naturally sweet ingredients like dates and dragon fruit. • Taste It: Dragon Fruit & Strawberry “Poke” with Pepper Syrup Fresh strawberry and diced dragon fruit salad atop a dollop of peppered whipped cream and crispy wontons. • Say It: Poke [po-kay], create this unique take on Hawaiian poke salad with a drizzle of balsamic-pepper syrup.

• Say It: Ash-e Reshteh [OSH-e-resh-tay], a thick, hearty soup made with beans, herbs, turmeric and flat noodles.

Some delicious examples of McCormick’s flavor predictions – From Egg Yolks: Tomato Fennel Bowl with Zucchini Noodles and Poached Egg, From Sweet on Pepper: Pulled Jackfruit Tacos, and from Modern Med: a Middle Eastern chicken dish seasoned with Baharat, a fragrant, Eastern Mediterranean all-purpose spice blend made from cumin, cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg and other spices. To view and explore the full Flavor Forecast 2017 report, visit www.FlavorForecast.com.

6 Restaurant Trends to Watch www.cspdailynews.com The foodservice experts from Technomic were joined by the editors of Restaurant Business in a spirited debate of which forces will flag, which will arise and how those currents will shape the restaurant market in the new year. Here are the trends they foresee.

1. Morning Grub Goes Globetrotting

4. Middle Managers as Endangered Species

Ethnic experimentation at breakfast and brunch is moving beyond Mexican and Sriracha. While some operators are testing the waters by adding interesting international sauces or spices to traditional American morning eats, others are diving in with unusual global morning dishes or riﬀs that translate well to American palates. North African/Middle Eastern shakshuka, Georgian khachapuri and portable street foods like Chinese jianbing are just a few new ethnic options exciting taste buds in the morning.

Restaurants’ labor challenges will be dramatically elevated by the new federal overtime regulations. One likely casualty: the middle manager whose salary falls between the old overtime threshold of $23,660 and the new trigger of $47,476. To level costs, some restaurants are recasting the assistants as hourlies. Others are calculating how duties can be shifted to the GM, who likely hits the exemption level. Either way, a rung on the career ladder could be removed.

2. Sin Is In

5. Automating the Experience

The widespread legalization of marijuana is quickly becoming more than a pipe dream, with more and more states looking to legalize recreational use of weed. The investment community is already assessing how grass might make restaurants’ fortunes a little greener, either by boosting tourism or permitting THC's use as an ingredient. But that’s not the only indulgence likely to figure into 2017 menus. More consumers are welcoming once-taboo fats back into their diet. Butter, lard and tallow enhance taste and fit into the new, natural definition of healthy.

Technology will continue to transform restaurant service, as both labor restrictions and consumer demands for customization, convenience and novelty drive automation. More chains will use kiosks and touchscreens, as well as chatbots and artificial intelligence to take orders through platforms from social media to smart TVs. With brands like Domino’s and Chipotle already testing drone delivery, it’s only a matter of time until this amenity becomes more widespread. Next up: Online reservation services will allow customers to choose their own seats, perhaps paying a premium.

3. It’s Playing in Peoria

6. Fluid Pricing Comes to Restaurants

Native talent, along with chefs who proved their chops in dining meccas like New York City and Los Angeles, are turning secondand third-tier cities into dining destinations. They’re getting topspin from the revitalization of long-depressed neighborhoods, low rents, blossoming food cultures and the ability to use pop-ups as low-cost trial ventures. James Beard Awards have recently gone to restaurants in Baltimore; Cleveland; St. Louis; St. Paul; Pittsburgh; Birmingham, Ala.; and the Portland of either coast.

Operators have a wealth of consumer purchase data at their fingertips, and they’re starting to use digital and in-app menus to change the bill of fare—and prices—more often. As a result, restaurants will turn to dynamic pricing to provide of-the-moment deals on overstocked items, charge higher prices at peak times and even adjust prices by location.

Six Trends Guiding Innovation in 2017 www.foodbusinessnews.net

Nov. 17, 2016

The year ahead will be one of extremes, according to Mintel in its Global Food and Drink Trends for 2017 report. “Ancient” products such as grains, recipes, practices and traditions, as well as the use of technology to create better tasting plant-enhanced foods play a major role on the market research firm’s list of trends.

• Saving time. The time required to prepare foods will become as important and influential as ingredient labels and nutritional claims. In 2017, the time spent on — or saved by — a food or drink product will become a clear selling point, inspiring more products to directly communicate how long they will take to receive, prepare or consume.

Mintel expects a rise in both “slow” and “fast” claims and more products designed to help consumers wind down before bedtime, sleep better and restore while they rest. There will be opportunities to leverage products based on the tea category and the use of chamomile, lavender and other herbs in formulations as a way to achieve a sense of calm before bedtime along with nighttime chocolate indulgences. Also, Mintel said to expect fruit snacks made with “ugly” fruit and mayonnaise made with the liquid from draining chickpeas, dubbed “aquafaba.”

• Evening occasion. Functional food and drink formulations will make a mark in the New Year. Modern life’s hectic pace will create a market that helps people of all ages calm down before bedtime, sleep better and restore the body while they rest. Ahead, there is potential for more evening-focused innovations formulated for relaxation, satiety and, taking a cue from the beauty industry, food and drink that provide functional benefits while the consumer sleeps.

According to Mintel, six key food and drink trends for 2017 will be: • Tradition. Consumers will seek comfort in modern updates of age-old formulations, flavors and formats. Consumers will seek safety in products that are recognizable rather than revolutionary. Terms like “ancient” will hold favor with consumers, and producers will find potential in innovations that use the familiar as a base for something that’s new but recognizable, such as cold brew coﬀee. • Plant-based. Natural and simple diets will further expand vegetarian, vegan and other plant-focused formulations. The industry will welcome more products that utilize plants as key ingredients. More packaged products and recipes for home cooking will leverage fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, botanicals and other plants as a way to align with consumers’ health and wellness priorities.

• Health and wellness. Consumers will look for healthy options that are not luxuries, but rather products that fit into everyday life and allow lower-income families to access healthy foods and improve their diets and quality of life. More campaigns and innovations, including apps to help people make use of ingredients that are on sale and a value-priced box of “ugly” vegetables. “This year’s trends are grounded in current consumer demands for healthy, convenient and trustworthy food and drink,” said Jenny Zegler, global food and drink analyst at Mintel. “Across the world, manufacturers and retailers have opportunities to provide more people with food and drink that is recognizable, saves time and contains servings of beneficial fruits, vegetables and other plants.”

• Less waste. The elimination of food waste has gained strength among consumers and will continue into next year. The food industry as a whole will address the sheer amount of food and drink that is wasted around the world, which is changing consumer perceptions. Food waste will be repurposed in new ways, such as power sources.

Expect vegetables to stay in the spotlight throughout the year as they figure prominently in half of the trends on our list: Health and Wellness, Plant-Based and Less Waste. At left, the trends converge with UK supermarket Asda’s box of misshapen-but-edible, vegetables that retails for 30% less than its standard produce.

Hottest Food & Beverage Trends www.restaurant-hospitality.com Nov. 10, 2016 Amid stiﬀer competition from supermarkets and delivery services, restaurants will face rising labor costs and rent prices in 2017, according to restaurant consulting firm Baum + Whiteman. However, upscale-casual restaurants oﬀering a unique experience continue to draw well-employed young people with few expenses. These restaurants “continue opening because they are the beneficiaries of our economy’s well-educated high earners who own little –– no mortgages, no car payments, few familial responsibilities –– and are blessed with good discretionary income,” the firm said in its annual trend prediction report for 2017. For the complete version of Baum + Whiteman’s Hottest Trends report, with more photos and colorful commentary, visit http://www.baumwhiteman.com/2017Trends.pdf

1. Center-of-the-Plate Vegetables

3. Butcher-to-Table

“Vegetables in 2017 will extend their domination of the dinner plate, shoving animal protein to the edges... or oﬀ the plate altogether,” Baum + Whiteman said. The firm pointed to chefs paying more attention to vegetables, as well as to the spread of vegetable-centric fast-casual chains such as Sweetgreen, in which customers eat mostly vegetables over bowls of salad or grains, sometimes with bread.

There’s a growing trend of restaurants with their own butcher shops attached, such as Parts & Labor in Baltimore, Gwen in Los Angeles, Shank Charcuterie in New Orleans, and Belcampo Meats in Los Angeles’ Central Market. The latter two are butchers with dining counters. Additionally, Le District Food Hall at Brookfield Place in New York City, “Where meat is priced like jewelry – you buy a slab of well marbled steak to cook at home or, for a $12 upcharge, they’ll grill it and dispatch it to your nearby dining table with fries and a salad while a waiter delivers your wine.”

2. Plant-Based Protein

4. Breakfast Revolution

Noting that 26 percent of consumers said in the past year that they were eating less meat, Baum + Whiteman predicted that plant-based protein would become more widespread. The firm noted that Tyson Foods has acquired a stake in plant-based protein company Beyond Meat, which is now oﬀered at several restaurant chains. Meanwhile Silicon Valley investors have shown interest in Impossible Foods, a firm with a plant-based hamburger substitute now available at the restaurants of San Francisco chefs Chris Cosentino, Tal Ronnen and Traci Des Jardins. The firm also noted that vegetable-centric restaurants were drawing crowds, such as Ladybird in New York City, which “has a vegetable charcuterie plate of smoked carrot, cured beet, mushroom pâté, beet chorizo, cultured cheese and fig compote.”

McDonald’s all-day breakfast has inspired competitors, such as Jack-in-the-Box’s Brunchfast, and more robust items from Starbucks (which the firm says is testing weekend quiche and French toast) and Einstein Bros. Bagels, which had a limited-time oﬀer of eggs, avocado, chorizo, pepper and jalapeño salsa on a green chile bagel. Independent restaurants are introducing heartier breakfast sandwiches, such as Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, which serves Wagyu tri-tip, fried egg, chimichurri, red onion and arugula on a brioche bun. Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken in Washington, D.C., and Falls Church, Va., oﬀers a honey-butter fried chicken sandwich served on a doughnut. Baum + Whiteman also suggested keeping an eye out for more creative breakfast tacos.

5. Beyond Kale

7. Bowls

Beet greens, chard, turnip greens, mustard greens and carrot tops are all becoming more widespread in this “waste-not” economy, Baum + Whiteman said. Additionally, seaweed is gaining wider acceptance in part due to the ramen boom, the firm said. “If we’re wrong, hedge your bets by exploring the world of squashes.”

Less likely to splatter, and potentially free of carbohydrates, unlike sandwiches, bowls full of greens, whole grains, raw fish, the Korean staple bibimbap and more are proliferating at restaurants, “and chefs are finding that assembling a decorous bowl is easier and faster than the complexity of plating upscale entrées because they don’t have to fuss around with all that white space.” Also, they’re portable.

6. Fast Casual Overload

8. Spice

Fast-casual sales started to slump in late 2016, perhaps due to an excessively formulaic experience: “Choose a (fill in the blank), add a (fill in the blank), top it with (fill in the blank) and garnish it with (fill in the blank). Your food will be (choose any three) local, sustainable, farm-to-table, mindfully sourced, natural, artisan, eco-friendly, authentic, healthy, humanely slaughtered, meaningful, seasonal, vegetable-forward, mission-driven, chef-driven.” Additionally, although there has been a proliferation of culinary genres in the segment — Indian, Chinese, Korean, Mediterranean, lobster rolls, salad bars, poke and ceviche, “bowls of all kinds,” and ethnic sandwiches — they’re “mostly dumbed down.” Look for innovation in the segment, including new design elements, more alcoholic beverages, delivery of food to tables or possibly drive-thrus.

Yes, cayenne pepper consumption rose globally by 47 percent in global product launches last year, Baum + Whiteman said, citing Innova Market Insights, but caraway, saﬀron, horseradish and turmeric are also on the rise. The firm predicted an upward trend in the spices of Indian and Southeast Asian curries, including chiles, tamarind, lemon grass, turmeric, ginger, coriander, cardamom, kaﬃr lime, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, caraway mustard seed, citrus juices and zests, as well as shrimp paste. “Not all at once, but a few at a time, sometimes with barely detectable drops of soy sauce,” Baum + Whiteman predicted. The firm added that hot spices are being balanced with sweetness, hence blends such as jalapeño honey and jerk watermelon.

9. Oddball Ice Cream Baum + Whiteman see a proliferation of new ice cream formats, including the freakshake — a fad that started in Australia and features milkshakes topped with ice cream, “as much sauce and whipped cream as possible, and then surmounted by insane quantities of cake, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream sandwiches and various candies until the concoction threatens, intellectually and physically, to topple.” Ice cream rollups — “liquid ice cream frozen into crêpe-like thinness on a super-cooled metal plate... and then scraped into tight cylinders” in front of customers — originated in Thailand and are now spreading, they said. The firm also pointed to decorated shaved ices proliferating in Southeast Asia, soft-serve embedded in cotton candy now being served in the United Kingdom, and ice cream with non-dessert ingredients such as avocado and roasted beets.

10 Product Trends www.foodingredientsfirst.com

Nov. 14, 2016

Growing calls for transparency throughout the supply chain are taking clean label and clear label to a new level. This comes as the inherent benefits of plant-based products are being actively marketed to more health-conscious consumers. “Clean Supreme” and “Disruptive Green” lead Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trends list for 2017.

1. Clean Supreme The rules have been rewritten. Clean and clear label is the new global standard. The demand for total transparency increases marketing eﬀorts incorporating the entire supply chain into a product's branding. The upstream part of the value chain is gaining more attention in product and brand positioning, as the overarching clean label positioning becomes more holistic. More products will carry claims referring to agricultural practices, while calls for transparency have led to strong regional marketing, through the use of origin flags and illustrations.

2. Disruptive Green As plant milks, meat alternatives and vegan oﬀerings have rapidly moved into the mainstream, consumers are looking for innovative options to take the inherent benefits of plants into their daily lives. Even dairy companies are now leveraging the functional and technical benefits of plants in new product development. This is driving more variety and excitement into their category. Plants are finding applications in diverse categories, whether as a product base or flavor inclusions, or as a source of color or health.

“The running theme through our trends list is naturalness and clean label, which has pretty much become the standard,” – Lu Ann Williams Director of Innovation Innova Marketing Insights

3. Sweeter Balance Consumers' quest to balance taste and health is driving profound innovation in new product development. Sugar is under pressure, but it's still the key ingredient that delivers the sweetness and great taste that consumers are looking for. Industry is posed with a challenge of balancing the public demand to reduce added sugars, create indulgent experiences and at the same time present clean label products. Consumers are further balancing their calorie intake between consumption moments and product category choice. Alternative sweeteners are part of the solution to finding a sweet balance.

4. Kitchen Symphony Move over Italian Lasagna... we want Melanzane Aubergine Al Forno. There has never been so much variety and spread in the choice of authentic cuisines from around the world. The connected world has led consumers of all ages to become more knowledgeable of other cultures. This has created an opening for visually appealing products with high authenticity and detailed product information. There are regional diﬀerences in the acceptance of highly authentic ethnic foods, however, with pride in local cuisine also enjoying a resurgence in marketing.

5. Body in Tune Consumers are increasingly personalizing their own nutritional intake, making food choices based around what they think will make them feel better. They are experimenting with “free from” products and specific diets like paleo and low FODMAP. Industry is providing consumers with the opportunity to further personalize towards their perceived dietary needs. At the same time, they continue to increase their intake of foods and beverages with ingredients that they consider healthy, like protein and probiotics.

6. Plain Sophistication Consumers are willing to pay that little bit more for an indulgent product oﬀering momentary escapism and premium quality. This is especially the case for a burgeoning middle class in developing markets. There is a return to the original basics of a brand to highlight origin through classic branding and packaging. Well-known brands are adding something else to their portfolio on the premium end of the scale. High quality products with an authentic and sophisticated look are being created by large scale companies.

7. Encapsulating Moments Different moments require different foods. Do I need an on-the-go yogurt for a busy weekday morning or an extensive family spread for a relaxed Sunday morning brunch? Targeting specific moments is becoming a powerful weapon for marketers, especially in categories like snacking. There is a lot to learn from the sports nutrition space, where products are optimized to the moment before, during or after exercise for maximum efficacy.

8. Beyond Pester Power Kids have become influencers in a big way. While “pester power” was behind typically less-healthy shopping 10-15 years ago, now kids are often setting the family dinner agenda. Cooking programs exist specifically to educate kids about food. On TV, we have MasterChef Junior and Chopped Junior. Today’s youngest generation is open to new things and are influencing what their parents eat, too. The days of neophobia are over and the kid’s role goes far beyond pester power.

9. Seeds of Change Increasing consumer interest in previously exotic seeds like chia and quinoa has fueled the application of seeds in general. Seeds bring a natural source of flavor, texture and health, including a high protein content, and consumers are looking to benefit. Lesser used seeds such as hemp are making NPD inroads, while chia is popping up in unexpected categories like soft drinks.

10. Fuzzy Borders The most innovative products are being observed at the crossroads of diﬀerent categories. Boundaries are blurring as visionaries continue to capitalize on the potential of hybrid innovation and fusion. Completely new product groups and categories arise to tempt the palate of the adventurous consumer. At the same time, other trends are inspiring a rethink of retail positioning as a whole, where the rise of flexitarian diets has led the meat department to eﬀectively evolve into the protein department.

For more trend projections, including the Top 10 Ingredient Trends, visit www.foodingredientsfirst.com

STERLING-RICE GROUP’S

CULINARY TRENDS FOR 2017 In today’s culinary culture, it’s clear that consumers care more than ever about nutrition, the health of the planet, and living an authentic life. Restaurants and food companies are taking note and providing experiences that cater to this elevated awareness—and it’s about time. Ancient health-and-wellness philosophies are being called upon for inspiration, and chefs and consumers are digging deeper to rediscover traditional cooking methods. But that’s not to say consumers don’t indulge in a bit of true decadence now and again—they’re just seeking a better balance. Food has become medicine, and dining has become a necessary means to interpersonal connection. Simply put, engaging with food is a conduit to engaging with the world. The 2017 Culinary Trends are all examples of consumers yearning to deepen their understanding of themselves and how they can fit into the world around them in a sustainable way. – Liz Moskow, Culinary Director SRG

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• The Handpulled Noodle (New York, NY): Dapan-ji, Spicy Bone-In Chicken Stew with Ribbon Noodles • Kam Hong Garden (Los Angeles, CA): Lamb and Hand-Pulled Noodle Soup • Xian Foods (New York, NY, multiple locations): Stewed Oxtail Hand-Ripped Noodles

• Queen Mary Tavern (Chicago, IL): Sugar Snap Pea Syrup, Ginger, Lime, Soda • Firefly (Washington, D.C.): Basil Shrub, Simple Syrup, Crushed Ice • Oak at Fourteenth (Boulder, CO): Black Tea, Lavender, Ginger, Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters

PLANT BUTCHERY

with Goat, Kale, Anchovy, Salsa Verde

• Dosha •Bars: three flavors corresponding to the Goat Salami three doshas—pitta, vata, kapha • Turmeric Tonic: available as tonic shots and tea, this elixir will restore balance consumer insights, business strategy, innovation, advertising, and design. • Dosha Pops: SRG candy madeA as aSmall cureall, fromhas been and promotes the growth of living well brands that make people’s lives healthier and happier. is a recent Agencymade of the Year, herbal tea

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A new breed of butcher shops is emerging, catering to vegans and meat lovers alike. From inside the meat display case, plant-based mock versions of chicken, ham, meatballs, steak, and charcuterie beckon to be sliced, wrapped in butcher paper, and tied up with string. No longer are the vegan incarnations limited to seitan and soybean. Chickpeas, corn, peas, legumes, and fungi are being utilized to entice meat eaters to make the move to Meatless Mondays.

GOAT! GET IT.

A category of upscale mixologist-created mocktails are being shaken and stirred for those who don’t care to drink alcohol every time they dine. Alternatives to the old standby of club soda and lime feature fresh-pressed juices, flavored teas, sipping vinegars, and macerated and muddled herbs, spices, and fruits. From nonalcoholic happy hours to standalone mocktail menus, beverages are being positioned as unique experiences that can be had without the hangover.

DOSHA DINING

Noodle lovers have already branched out from Americanized versions of mushy lo mein to embrace Thai pad see ew, Vietnamese pho, and fresh Japanese ramen. As Asian noodle traditions become American favorites, consumers are seeking more authentic experiences. Chinese lamian, or hand-pulled noodles, adds another layer of both taste and visual showmanship. Customers slurp their share while watching a master noodle-smith knead, stretch, and swing dough into strands for soup.

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Combined with findings from Tel Aviv University that report eating dessert after breakfast could help people lose weight, you can give yourself permission to partake in post-breakfast decadence. It’s science!

From street food to mango lassi smoothies, mainstays of Indian culture are spreading out from the subcontinent. Turmeric serves as a consumer conduit into the ancient practice of Ayurveda, a holistic science focused on physical and emotional balance. Consumers will learn more about their doshas, or natural constitutions, and gravitate toward foods and practices that provide balance, Empanadas, Miso-Blue Cheese Aioli,energy and reduce inflGoat ammation, and improve Squash-Apple Slaw stamina.•

MOCKTAIL MIXOLOGY

WAKE + CAKE

Rejoice! There’s no need to wait until after dinner to enjoy dessert! Feel free to wake, cake, and attack your day with a focused brain. A recent study by Syracuse University proves that a daily dose of chocolate improves cognitive abilities, such as memory and abstract reasoning.

NOODLE ON THIS

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Banish the bone broth; goat get it at its source. Did you know that goats have a high ratio of interstitial collagen, aka the stuff that bone broth devotees are bonkers over? Low in calories, fat, and cholesterol, goat is poised to become the next goat-to protein. There’s a reason that 63% of the world is gaga for goat—it makes a great foundation for spicy and sour preparations, can be kosher and halal, and is sustainable to raise.

• Atlas Meat Free Deli (Hollywood, FL): Chorizo Crumble, Pastrami, Italian Sausage • Yam Chops (Toronto, ON): Beet Burger, Coconut Bacon, Hickory BBQ Pulled Chick’n • The Herbivorous Butcher (Minneapolis, MN): BBQ Ribs, Pepperoni, Teriyaki Jerky

• The Girl and the Goat (Chicago, IL): Goat Empanadas, Miso-Blue Cheese Aioli, Squash-Apple Slaw • Tail Up Goat (Washington, D.C.): Lasagna with Goat, Kale, Anchovy, Salsa Verde • Avalanche Cheese Company Finocchiona Goat Salami

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) is a nationally recognized brand-building firm specializing in consumer consumer insights, business strategy, innovation, advertising, and insights, business strategy, innovation, advertising, and design. SRG has a deep expertise in food and beverage, and promotes the growth S living well brands that make people’s lives healthier and and promotes theSRG growth of living wellSmall brands that make Small Agency of the Year, of happier. is a recent AdAge Agency of thepeople’s Year, haslives beenhealthier named byand happier. SRG is a recent A Outside Magazine as one of the Best Places to Work for the last five years, and has been creating impact for clients for more than 30 years. n

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“Today, our tech-driven society may feel virtually connected, but we actually yearn for real-time interaction. Sharing a meal together is essential to our culture.” – Chef Rosemary Mark

SNACKIN’ SARDINES

COOK + CONNECT

The saying “sharing is caring” rings true with chefs, home cooks, and foodies alike who are taking advantage of the sharing economy. Smartphone apps like Eatwith and “Etsy for dinner” app Umi Kitchen connect eager eaters with communal dining experiences. And the fleet-farming movement allows others to farm your lawn in exchange for the opportunity to sell most of the produce.

“As much as 40% of the food grown in the U.S. will never be consumed. That’s hard for Americans to swallow and is the impetus for innovation.” – Rachel Begun, MS, RDN, Food and Nutrition Strategist

MIGRATORY MEALS

FOOD WASTE FRENZY

Waste not, want not! From stems to skins, items that were once considered trash are now products to treasure. Watermelon rind pickles, riced cauliflower stems, chips and burgers made from discarded juice pulp, and even vegan leather made from pineapple leaves are all adding to companies’ bottom lines.

Consumers continue to fish for protein-rich snacks. Recent interest in Basque cuisine and the rise of Portugal as the newest destination for culinary and global exploration will drive sardines to the forefront. High in omega-3s, protein, and umami flavor, sardines simply served on crusty toast with lemon, garlic, and aioli make for an uncomplicated yet elegant addition to any snacking situation. • Stoic and Genuine (Denver, CO): Sardines with Caponata, Corguette, Lemon, Parsley • Saltie Girl (Boston, MA): Sardines with Nordic Rye, Crème Fraîche, Pickled Vegetables • Bela Lightly Smoked Sardines

All over the world people are relocating, some by choice, others under duress. While host countries continue to face challenges associated with helping refugee populations, one area where these different groups are finding common ground is food. By celebrating their unique cultural heritages and cuisines, refugee populations are beginning to carve out their own culinary connections with their new home countries. Look for menus that highlight cuisine with herbs and fresh flowers, orange blossoms, cardamom, fenugreek, sumac, pistachio, and pomegranates. “As chefs, culinarians, and foodies, we exist beyond politics, in a world of expansive cuisine—an endless culinary comradeship.” – Chef Victor Matthews

Throwback Desserts, Oﬀbeat Meats www.restaurant-hospitality.com

Nov. 7, 2016

Oﬀ-the-beaten-path meats. “Root-to-leaf” dishes that feature vegetables in their entirety. “Fat-washed” cocktails that add flavor and viscosity. These are the hot trends that will lead us into 2017, according to the culinary and beverage team at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, which just released its annual trend report. Kimpton surveyed its chefs, sommeliers, general managers and bartenders across 70 restaurants, bars and lounges in 30 U.S. cities, as well as some tastemakers, to find out what’s hot. Alex Taylor, Kimpton’s Senior Vice President of Restaurants and Bars, says these are the trendsetters and innovators who are always on the hunt for the flavors and techniques that will stand out from the crowd. Some, like the nose-to-tail trend of using whole animals, have been around for a while, but continue to inspire innovation, says Taylor. Others are more cutting edge. Here’s what they see on the horizon.

Throwback Desserts

Mediterranean Madness

Whether it’s an ice cream sundae made with blackberry chartreuse or a sour cherry-mascarpone frozen push pop, chefs are updating some childhood favorites. SaltRock Southwest Kitchen in Sedona, Ariz., for example, has a S’Mondae with vanilla ice cream, Mexican chocolate syrup, house-made marshmallows, spiced coﬀee and a house-made graham cookie. At Finch & Fork in Santa Barbara, Calif., chef James Siao serves a Fire-Roasted Milk Shake made with caramelized banana ice cream, crushed graham cracker, salted caramel and toasted meringue.

Hummus. Olive oil-charred octopus. Moroccan lamb chops with tomato-cucumber fattoush and lemon yogurt. The Mediterranean style of eating has long been embraced as more healthful, but now Taylor sees dishes becoming less provincial and blending various cultures. At the Italian Tre Rivali in Milwaukee, for example, Chef Heather Terhune serves hummus flavored with rosemary and warm pita, and the dish fits right in, notes Taylor. At the all-American Shaker & Spear in Seattle, spicy chips are served with a yogurt dip.

Nose-to-Tail Lives On

The Other Meats

Chefs have been using everything but the moo for years, but Taylor observes that the trending animal parts this year are things like bone marrow, chicken skin and pig cheeks.

The paleo crowd is getting bored with tenderloin, so chefs are looking beyond traditional livestock at options like ostrich, venison, bison and elk. “These meats have a very distinct gamey flavor that people are demanding right now,” Taylor says.

Vol. 39 in Chicago, for example, is using chicken skin crusted with quinoa and marcona almonds in a way that resembles chips. (see photo above) “You could use it for anything like you’d use a pita or tortilla chips,” Taylor says. “It adds a layer of unctuousness.” At Geraldine’s in Austin, chef Stephen Bonin serves a Pig Face Candy Bar appetizer featuring a country-style pate bruléed with raw sugar and accompanied by a pear chow chow and housemade crackers inspired by Cheez-Its.

JSix in San Diego, for example, serves a venison tartare with beets, rye croutons, cured egg yolk, mustard and bourbon-barrel-aged Worcestershire. At Three Degrees in Portland, Ore., chef Lauro Romero oﬀers smoked elk carpaccio with radish, preserved lemon aioli and parmesan.

Raiding the Kitchen

Fat Washing

Cocktails are getting more culinary with ingredients like roasted grapes, salt-roasted plantains, smoked tomato water, pureed red pepper or even pickling brine, Taylor says. At Geraldine’s, for example, the savory Beetnik involves Ford’s gin and lemon combined with a red-beet shrub made with vinegar, sugar, pink peppercorns and fennel. In Chicago, Boleo’s Ponche de Champagne includes salt-roasted plantains, cana brava, passion fruit, lime juice and Angostura bitters.

The technique involves infusing liquor with a fatty ingredient. Baconwashed bourbon has been popular for a while, but now mixologists are getting creative with some non-meat fats, like coconut milk and olive oil, says Taylor. “It not only adds flavor, it adds a subtle viscosity.” The Coconut Negroni at Boleo features coconut-fat-washed kappa pisco with Campari sweet vermouth. Patty’s Punch at Three Degrees in Portland involves vodka that has been milk-washed and infused with peppermint tea. The cocktail is spiked with baking spice syrup and lemon.

Root to Leaf

South of the Equator

In the name of sustainability, chefs are using all parts of vegetables. Doing so reduces waste, but also adds unique flavor. The trend is fueled in part by the use of more local ingredients, so root vegetables tend to arrive with fresher greens still attached. Radish greens, for example, are ending up in salads. The traditional celery root puree is back, and carrot tops are ending up as pesto. “I’m amazed it took this long to learn not to throw that stuﬀ in the trash,” Taylor says.

The Caipirinha is back but with alternative liquors like mezcal, or spiced with jalapeno-infused cachaça or serrano-chili syrup. “There are only one or two outstanding cachaça producers in the U.S., so you’re taking the idea of a traditional Caipirinha and using other ingredients to make it new,” Taylor says. Red Star Tavern’s Zika Repellant features jalapenoinfused cachaça mixed with lime juice, pineapple shrub and allspice demerara syrup, with a barspoon of mezcal and an apple slice.

Peculiar Pairings

Spicy Spices

Wine and cheese aren’t going anywhere, Taylor notes, but expect to see more pairings like oysters and gin, or sherry and fries. “You’re seeing Japanese sake paired with any cold shellfish, or sherries with South American dishes,” he adds.

Turmeric, cardamom and cumin are in demand. Chef Ed Witt at The Katherine Brasserie in Winston-Salem, N.C. serves curried cauliflower with pickled carrots, raisins and pistachios. And a top seller at Dirty Habit in Washington, D.C., is a curry shrimp with coconut milk, eggplant, cucumber salad and rice.

Beverage Trends for 2017

WINE OF THE YEAR:

BEVERAGE OF THE YEAR

Natural Wine — Natural Wine is minimally processed, additive-free, and generally produced without adding or removing anything. According to NPR, natural wine “can be darker than usual, a little fizzy, cloudy or with good-sized clumps of yeast floating about.” Aimed at the health conscious, prepare for an influx of this funky fine wine. Above, The Ordinaire, a stylish natural wine bar in Oakland, CA.

Switchel — Say hello to the next kombucha! A staple thirst-quencher amongst farmers for hundreds of years, the tart and tangy Switchel is back with vengeance! A slightly vinegary drink typically seasoned with ginger and sweetened with molasses, honey or maple syrup, Switchel is gaining popularity as a healthy sports drink alternative.

BEER OF THE YEAR:

Year-Round Rosé — Move over summer, rosé is here to stay! ”Rosé is no longer just a Spring/Summer oﬀering, it is being featured throughout the year as a sound wine for food pairing,” according to our expert Carolyn Wente. “Rosé continued strong double digit category growth all year. Both retail and restaurant lists have expanded their rosé oﬀerings, and we think this is a trend that will continue and prove that the category is finally here to stay.”

Sour Beer — Pucker up, buttercup! Keep your eye out of Flanders Red, Berliner Weisse, Gose - all types of sour brews that are taking the beer scene by storm. According to Lucky Peach, “most brewers have tried, with great success, to keep souring agents (a few certain kinds of microbes) out of their beer. But today sour-on-purpose beer is increasingly popular.” Restaurants and bars are welcoming entire menu sections devoted to the super sour brew.

SPIRIT OF THE YEAR: SAKE TO ME — Out of the box and into the spotlight! Craft sake breweries and bars are opening all over the U.S., educating customers on the intricacies of the spirit. Coinciding with the popularity of Japanese cuisine, it’s no surprise sake is finally getting the love it deserves. Above, NY sake bar Decibel stocks over 100 varieties.

Wine Flights — Instead of having to decide on just one glass of wine or commit to sharing an entire bottle, focused wine flights are the way to go. Typically offered in 2-oz pours of three different wines, the amount is perfect for supplementing a meal or catching up with a friend. One glass usually isn’t enough, two glasses is sometimes too much... a wine flight is just right. Flights allow the sommelier and staff to both introduce and educate their guests on what they consider some of the finest wines on the market. Guests are able to experience the wines in a casual yet highly informative format. Wine flights allow staff to curate unique combinations based on almost anything, such as regions around the world, obscure grape varietals, and wine styles.

IFT Predicts 2017 Trends

ift.org Dec. 20, 2016

The editors at Food Technology magazine, published by the Institute of Food Technologists, announced their food trend predictions for the year ahead.

Personalized Smart Bars As Google develops needle-free blood-drawing technologies, we will have real time access to our micronutrient levels on smart phones and watches. These smart technologies will analyze our micronutrient needs each day and communicate them to novel home processing devices. These devices will then custom process smart bars containing personalized micronutrient levels in order to meet our daily needs. —Tara McHugh, Contributing Editor, Processing

Intentional Snacking Snacks will continue to evolve into more snacking with a purpose. Consumers want more from their snacks than just satisfying a craving. This will open the door to increased use of nonconventional snack ingredients like sprouted grains, ancient grains like sorghum and teﬀ, and alternative flours like pulse-based flours. Also, look for an increased interest in microalgae ingredients, as they are an example of a whole ingredient that is both sustainable and a healthy source of beneficial fatty acids and protein. —Linda Milo Ohr, Contributing Editor, Nutraceuticals

A Sweeter Balance Expect to see continued interest from both consumers and food manufacturers in the amount of sugar used in formulations as scientists study the potential links between sugar intake and obesity and other diseases. Something else that is fueling this interest is the updated Nutrition Facts label, which will go into eﬀect July 2018 and require food manufacturers to declare the gram amount of “added sugars” in a serving of a product and list it below “total sugars” on the label. —Karen Nachay, Senior Associate Editor

Food Waste in the Spotlight Food waste will be front and center for companies’ sustainability eﬀorts. In 2017, consumers will begin to move past the stigma surrounding imperfect produce and companies, especially startups, will debut creative eﬀorts to make use of ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste. In addition, 15 food companies have publicly committed to reducing their food waste by 50% by the year 2030. Companies will realize that not only does reducing food waste benefit the environment, but it can help the bottom line. Analysis by ReFED (Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data) estimated that businesses stand to generate $1.9 billion of profit each year by adopting strategies like food waste tracking and analytics to measure and prevent food waste, right-sizing portions, and improving inventory and cold chain management. —Kelly Hensel, Senior Digital Editor

Fast Forward, Fresh! Better alignment with today's food lifestyles (such as single-serve or on-the-go packaging, fresh snacks, health claims on fresh products, precooked/heat-and-eat meats and gourmet ingredients) will drive explosive incremental growth in the fresh food marketplace. —A. Elizabeth Sloan, Contributing Editor, Consumer Trends

Convenience Becomes Personal Convenience has long been a crucial consumer consideration, but in 2017 this will play out with even more meal kits and delivery services designed to target consumers' individual tastes, diets and even microbiome. —Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, Associate Editor

Plant Popularity The demand for plant-based foods will continue to grow as more consumers try plant-based dietary patterns (vegetarian, vegan, etc.) and seek out foods that are minimally processed. —Toni Tarver, Senior Writer/Editor

It’s All About Me When it comes to matters of health and nutrition, today’s consumers can be know-it-alls, trusting in their own judgment about what’s best for themselves and their families. As individualized nutrition moves further into the mainstream, watch for consumers to feel more comfortable with making their own dietary decisions and less interested in recommendations of government and public health authorities. —Mary Ellen Kuhn, Executive Editor

Even Safer Food Food companies in the United States and abroad will increase their eﬀorts to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act regulations, leading to improved safety of foods. Universities, analytical laboratories, and suppliers will continue to develop new and improved methods of analysis and instruments, as well as specific applications, particularly with respect to food safety; nanotechnology will feature in many of these developments. —Neil H. Mermelstein, Editor Emeritus

Food Taxes: Mo’ Money for Local Governments If the recent November elections in the United States are any indication, “junk” foods like sugary beverages may become a bigger target for local governments to raise revenue through special taxes. Voters recently passed laws that raise the price of sugar-sweetened drinks by 1 or 2 cents per ounce. While the proponents claim that these taxes are designed to reduce consumption and improve public health, many folks suspect that the real aim is to raise revenue to pay for government programs or to fill a budget gap. Foods and beverages are an easy target for local taxing bodies, and the recent sugary drink tax victories will likely embolden other municipalities to move to enact similar taxes on soft drinks, sweetened teas, sports drinks, and energy drinks. But don’t expect them to stop there. With red meat linked to cardiovascular disease and cancer and contributing to greenhouse gases and climate change, it’s probably only a matter of time before some well-meaning local legislator proposes a special tax on beef. ––Bob Swientek, Editor-in-Chief

Food and Drink Trends for 2017 www.foodbev.com January 3, 2017

Jackfruit ‘New Vegan’

Spiked Seltzer

Amid a wave of interest in natural ingredients and transparency from food companies, even vegan cuisine is evolving beyond soy products to more natural and unprocessed alternatives. Jackfruit, a spiny-shelled Asian fruit that’s closely related to the fig, has been popping up on menus around the U.S. as the fruit’s texture makes a convincing, all-natural alternative to pork. Brooklyn pop-up Chickpea & Olive makes its barbecue jackfruit sandwich southern-style, with pickles and fried shallots. In London, Club Mexicana makes jackfruit tacos, while Seattle’s No Bones Beach Club has the fruit in flautas form. It has even appeared on the menu at authentic barbecue spots, including Sneaky’s BBQ in San Francisco.

As consumers have come to seek natural, wholesome alternatives at every turn, the alcohol industry wants to be next in line to provide low-calorie, healthy options. Craft brewers and major labels alike are lining up to oﬀer these new wellness-branded products. In March, the Wachusett Brewing Company rolled out Nauti Seltzer, an attempt to diversify its brand in the crowded craft beer market. Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired SpikedSeltzer in September, while the Boston Beer Company (distributor of Samuel Adams) launched Truly Spiked & Sparkling in April.

Why it’s interesting: New natural vegan alternatives don’t stop at jackfruit. Try coconut jerky, cauliflower nuggets, or any of the nut milks currently sweeping the country. As even vegan foodies seek more natural, unprocessed options, “plant butchers” will finally have the chance to shine.

Nootropics Blame Silicon Valley. Following the optimized nutrition trend (embodied by brands such as Soylent, featured in our 2016 Future 100 report), startups are using so-called ‘bio hacking’ to engineer products that offer brain-boosting properties without negative side effects. The Nootrobox startup, fresh from a $2 million seed investment by Andreessen Horowitz, has launched Go Cubes, a new chewable coffee gummy candy product. Packaged in cartoonish, candy-like wrapping, Nootrobox Go Cubes are made with L-theanine, B6, and methylated B12 that ‘improve caffeine for enhanced focus and clarity’. Two cubes are equal to an entire cup of coffee, according to the brand. Nootrobox describes Go Cubes as ‘coffee for astronauts’. Branding appeals to the ‘work hard, play hard’ ethos of the tech set: “Looking to ace your midterms? Push 10,000 lines of code? Stay extra crispy for poker night? Fight spreadsheets in your office? Climb Mt. Everest? Be the first human on Mars? Go Cubes have your back.” Hacker’s Brew, a nootropic coffee, is another recent addition. The coffee claims to help drinkers reach peak cognitive performance and enjoy cumulative long-term benefits. “Hacker’s Brew starts with the highest-quality ingredients, including organic coffee, coconut cream and cacao. We then added a good dose of adaptogens, and extended the half-life of caffeine so that it lasts longer. Full-day performance, with the same amount of caffeine as a normal cup of coffee – this is not your ordinary coffee experience,” the company promises.

The alcohol sector is playing oﬀ the meteoric rise in interest in flavored sparkling waters, which have replaced soda for many Americans. Flavoured sparkling water brand LaCroix has become an unlikely cult hit, with sales exploding from $65 million in 2010 to $226 million in 2015. Why it’s interesting: Although arguably the least likely to be thought of as a ‘healthy’ sector, alcohol’s foray into healthconscious branding shows just how thoroughly consumers have adopted the wellness lifestyle.

Ayurvedic Eating “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need,” says an ancient Ayurvedic proverb that may help explain why this diet is catching on among today’s health-conscious consumers. Ayurvedic eating is an ancient Indian medical practice that uses natural ingredients such as ginger and ghee to promote balance and happiness. It involves practices already in vogue among the health-conscious, including juice cleanses and oil pulling. It can even be customized to address the balance of energies, called ‘doshas’, in a person’s body. In Autumn 2016, New York City’s first Ayurvedic restaurant, Divya’s Kitchen, opened in the East Village. If the explosion in popularity of turmeric is any indication, there’s sure to be more to follow. Turmeric, a bright-orange spice used in the Ayurvedic system to fight disease, is one of today’s trendiest superfoods thanks to its powerful anti-inflammatory powers. It was ranked as one of the year’s top food trends by Google, and can be found in lattes and juices at hip eateries including Los Angeles’ Sqirl, where chef Jessica Koslow ranks it among her favorite ingredients. Why it’s interesting: Ayurvedic eating aligns with the next-gen wellness consumers, who are becoming more intentional about consumption and looking to foods with a function. (see food photos on following page)

Three Hot Spirits

Bygone Fast Food Revival

Producers of baijiu, China’s staple grain alcohol, are eying overseas markets for expansion as government corruption crackdowns have dented the local market. Experimentation with the drink, often considered an acquired taste, has caught on particularly in the U.S. and Europe. “If you looked at the U.S. five years ago, you would find fewer than five bars that were working with baijiu, and now there’s probably dozens, if not hundreds, that are working with it,” Derek Sandhaus, author of Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits, told the South China Morning Post.

The past two years have been defined by a backlash against fast food giants oﬀering cheap food laden with chemicals, sugar and soy – not to mention sodas. Once heralded as wonders of food standardization and aﬀordable quality, this side of the industry has been replaced by a message that emphasizes the artisanal and handmade, as companies seek to reassure consumers that goods are healthy.

Not quite the white whiskey that rode moonshine fever to success a few years back, nor the stronger spirit typically associated with whiskey connoisseurship, a new in-between category of lighter whiskey is catching on with younger drinkers. Still packing a flavorful punch, but not overpowering, these ‘whisper whiskeys’, as christened by Bloomberg Businessweek, are ideal for summer sipping. They include High West Valley Tan with its ‘bright, grassy aromatics’ and Compass Box Enlightenment Scotch, which ‘mingles a gentle waft of smoke with fresh apple and vanilla’. And Fog Point, a new vodka by small-batch distillery Hangar 1, announces itself as ‘a true expression of California, distilled’. The spirit is created using vodka distilled from premium wine, blended with water gathered from fog catchers that harvest San Francisco’s well-known haze. The result, the brand says, ‘yields an extraordinarily crisp, pure, and gluten-free sipping vodka with elegant hints of pear, citrus, and honeysuckle’. Why they’re interesting: Small-batch and craft no longer impress – today’s cocktail trends are emerging from fine flavor distinctions, novel production techniques, and spirits of remote origin.

Three New Proteins In last year’s Future 100 report, we looked at algae, a protein substitute with game-changing potential. As the market for plant-based protein alternatives remains strong, these three under-the-radar protein sources could be the next to break into the mainstream. Pea protein is sustainable, non-allergenic and natural. It’s made from ground dried yellow peas with no added preservatives – exactly what the name implies. In 2016, health brands such as Bolthouse Farms and Bob’s Red Mill began to feature peas. The real story, however, is the Beyond Burger, the burger alternative that even bleeds like real meat. It’s made from pea protein isolates and recently became available in the meat section at Whole Foods.

A new crop of restaurants is seeking to revive fast food by revisiting its roots. “There was a time when fast food was house-made and nutritious, when the ingredients used were unadulterated and understandable. We’ve turned that past into the present,” reads the website of Starbird, a recently launched California chicken restaurant. “Our positively delicious food, served from morning ’til night, is the result of a few essential elements: purposefully sourced, quality ingredients; an unwavering commitment to cook in house; and never sacrificing flavor and ultimate craveability.” Menu items include Chicken and the Egg, a sandwich made with crispy chicken, egg, organic American cheese, bacon and a house-baked roll. The Chicken Feed breakfast dish features Greek yogurt, local fruit preserves and ‘small batch granola’. Starbird is one of a few recent additions to the fast food market, mainly coming from California: Loco’l, launched by Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi, brings healthy, locally sourced fast food at an affordable price to California residents. Amy’s Drive Thru, a vegetarian fast food restaurant, follows similar principles: “Amy’s Drive Thru is returning to the roots of American fast food, serving lovingly handcrafted food to nourish hard-working citizens, busy families and road-weary travellers”. The aesthetic of early American fast food restaurants is also being revisited. Torchy’s Tacos – launched in Austin, Texas in 2006 – references mid-century American roadside buildings and signage. A new Austin branch that opened in 2016 on the site of a 1970s burger joint features a distinctive zigzag profile supported by red-painted structural columns. Why it’s interesting: It’s the latest sign that we’re entering a ‘postartisan’ era where an apron and a moustache no longer necessarily denote quality. These restaurant concepts also share more than a hint of Americana, celebrating early fast food restaurants where affordable quality was the mission. They formed a key part of American culture in the 1950s and 1960s and were a source of national pride because standardization allowed them to produce cheaply at scale. As many businesses place social good at the core of their DNA, embracing this early stage in American fast food is a creative way to offer quality at accessible prices for consumers of all incomes.

Move over, seaweed, there’s a new floating superfood in town. Duckweed is frequently cited by scientists as a potentially key food source of the future: it’s protein-rich and boasts more amino acids than other plant-based proteins (including soy). Consumer awareness of duckweed is low, but Florida-based Parabel hopes to change this with the launch of Lentein, a duckweed-based protein powder that won the 2015 Innovations award at the Institute of Food Technology. It should hit the shelves by 2017. And Shiitake mushrooms are already popular worldwide, so why not explore their full potential? That’s the thinking behind MycoTechnology, a Colorado-based food tech company that has engineered a strain of the fungus which produces an above-average protein load. The resulting shiitake powder, called PureTaste, has a neutral flavor that works in everything from breads and tortillas to sauces. Bonus: the powder has a lower carbon footprint than plant crops and contains 79% protein. Why it’s interesting: By 2050, the United Nations projects a global population of nearly 10 billion, which would push our current agricultural system to its limits. These companies are on the cutting edge of the battle for the sustainable protein of the future.

Some of the Ayurvedic cuisine at Divya’s Kitchen in New York City: Spinach and cheese cutlets with a raisin and cranberry sauce (used to replace nightshades) and coconut carob cake.

12 Fast Food Trends for 2017 www.qsrmagazine.com January 2017 Several fast-food trends—from the evolution of new technologies to veggies creeping closer to the center of the plate—are expected to kick into overdrive in 2017, while others will make their debut. Here’s what restaurant experts say will be the 12 biggest limitedservice trends this year. Tech runs wild. In 2017, tech is where it’s at for the fast-food and fast-casual sectors, says Gary Stibel, founder of New England Consulting Group. “It’s not the food, stupid. It’s the tech that matters,” he says. This will affect everything from ordering to pick-up to delivery. And curbside pick-up will explode in 2017 as improvements are made, Stibel says. Delivery on steroids. 2017 will be the year delivery blasts into hyperspace, according to restaurant consultant Michael Whiteman, president of Baum + Whiteman. As dozens of food delivery specialists take shape in an app- and tech-driven world, the delivery revolution will “uberize” the limited-service industry, he says. Bowled over by bowls. To call 2017 the year of the bowl would not necessarily be an overstatement, says Melissa Abbott, vice president of culinary insights at The Hartman Group. Some bowls will be loaded with salad. Others will be filled with grains and veggies. And some will be protein-infused. Chains like Sweetgreen and Cava Grill are already bowl havens. “Bowls are all about seeing things made right in front of you,” Abbott says. Hybrid eats. If you can have hybrid cars, why can’t you have hybrid foods, too? “The world seems to be coming apart politically, but with so much culinary mixing and matching, the world is coming together on the dinner plate,” Whiteman says. Look for new hybrid menu items in 2017, including these unusual mash-ups: bulgogi hamburgers, pastrami-stuffed bao, Mexican ramen, congee with Polish sausage, sushi burritos, and hummus “in every flavor but pork belly.” Workers matter, too. Animal welfare issues began to take center stage in 2016, with major moves like McDonald’s announcing it planned to switch to cage-free eggs. But 2017 will be the year that animal-rights issues play second fiddle to growing consumer concerns over how restaurant employees are treated, Abbott says. “It’s a new millennial mindset that asks: How are the people treated who work for this chain?” she says. Want kombucha with that? Most Americans have probably never heard of kombucha, the fermented tea that’s made by adding a culture of bacteria and yeast to a solution of tea and sugar. But they will in 2017, Abbott says. “This is a fun, magical, low-cal drink that has lots of beneficial properties,” she says. Such familiar names as Safeway and Celestial Seasonings already have dabbled in it. It won’t be long until familiar fast-food and fast-casual chains sell it, too. Veggies Go Viral Vegetables will extend their domination of the dinner plate, shoving animal protein to the edge or sometimes off the plate altogether, Whiteman says. “You can gauge the growing impact of veg-centric dining when you discover a steakhouse scrapping ‘sides’ and moving vegetables to the middle of the menu,” he says. In the fast-casual space, Pret A Manger recently made permanent its 40-item Veggie Pret pop-up experiment in London, with plans for expansion.

Cava Grill’s customizable bowls feature greens, grains, a hearty variety of meats and several vegetarian protein options.

Pop-ups explode. Now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t restaurants have a strong rationale: buzz. That’s why In-N-Out Burger tested a pop-up restaurant in London in September that caused a frenzy—particularly after it ran out of food. Pop-ups in both quick service and fast casual will become more common state-side, says Stephen Dutton, consumer foodservice associate at Euromonitor. “It’s all about oﬀering an exclusive, limited-time-only experience,” he says. Breakfast becomes brunch. The very texture of breakfast is being transformed, Whiteman says. He says the morning meal used to be populated with “smooth and soothing” foods like scrambled eggs and oatmeal, but has since become full of “aggressive” meals like fried chicken, chorizo, and coarse whole-grain cereal. For example, Jack in the Box launched “Brunchfast” with an assortment of heavier items; Starbucks spiced up its breakfast sandwiches and is testing weekend quiche and French toast; and Einstein’s launched a green chile bagel with eggs, avocado, chorizo, pepper, and jalapeño salsa. Drive thru goes fast casual. Now that Panera has proved that fast casuals can successfully implement drive-thru restaurants, look for a slew of other fast-casual chains to embrace the drive thru in 2017, Dutton says. He envisions some fast-casual salad-focused chains testing drive thru in 2017 along with others that focus on healthier fare. Suppliers become competitors. It’s one thing when the competition opens a location right next door. But it’s something else when your supplier does—and competes against you. Uncomfortable as it sounds, this may become relatively common in 2017, Whiteman says. Kellogg’s, after all, opened a cereal restaurant in the heart of Times Square last year. If it succeeds, there could be more. Fast casual embraces value. For years, the biggest wall between quick service and fast casual has been price. But that wall will finally start to collapse in 2017, as fast-casual chains will be forced to embrace true value oﬀerings, Stibel says. No, you won’t see a value menu featuring dollar items at fast casual. But Stibel believes consumers might see $5 meals. “[Quick service] is infringing on fast casual’s space, so fast casual will have to compete on value,” he says.

Another Take on 2017 Trends Plenty of new items will spice up the food world next year; others are ahead of their time www.restaurant-hospitality.com Nov. 15, 2016 Article by Bob Krummert Khachapuri, brinner, crowlers: you’ll need to expand your vocabulary if some of the items that made Food and Drink Resources’ (FDR) predictions for 2017 trends catch on. And catch on they might.

• Brinner. All-day breakfast menus found success in the quick-service segment last year. FDR sees the breakfast-for-dinner concept spreading to other segments in 2017.

FDR’s first crack at forecasting food trends last year accurately foresaw many of the new ideas that took hold in restaurants in 2016. So what do the prognosticators at this Denver-based food consultancy see on the horizon? Here are some of the key food trends FDR thinks will impact the restaurant world in 2017.

• Nikkei cuisine. Food from Peru has made numerous trend lists over the years but has yet to catch on in a big way. Operators might have better luck if they blend it with elements of Japanese cuisine. “Japan and Peru have a long cultural history between them, which has resulted in a melding of ingredients and techniques,” FDR says. Need evidence? The Nobu empire is built on a version of chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s personal take on Nikkei-style food.

• Khachapuri. It’s “a Georgian (country, not U.S. state) dish of bread, cheese, and eggs,” FDR explains. “It’s a lot like American-style pizza or cheese bread with an egg on top, and it is delicious.” This dish could redefine hearty eating if it finds a market. • Seaweed, which FDR dubs “the new kale.” Much of it will be used to make kombu, the umami-rich flavor booster that’s a key element in many Japanese dishes. • Harissa, a North African chile paste that explores the next level of heat and flavor beyond sriracha. Restaurants could make their own in-house. • Plant-based proteins. The news here is that meatless entrees, typically grain-based, have become must-haves in the eyes of many restaurant-goers. Their new favorites? Barley and farrow. “People really are tired of quinoa and are looking to other high-protein grains,” FDR argues.

Food and Drink Resources also produces a list of what it dubs “2017 Unusual Food Trends.” It consists of items and ideas that have generated some publicity in the food world but might be just slightly ahead of their time. The big caveat from FDR on these trends: “Honestly, we can’t stomach them or don’t expect them to go mainstream anytime soon despite the buzz.” Among the entries on this list are: • Savory yogurt. These products have gained shelf space in some supermarkets and might make it into the foodservice world. With powerful companies like Nestle and General Mills now pushing the “surprisingly savory” category, there might be new demand generated that hasn’t been out there so far. “While you’ll see more savory, we’re not guaranteeing you’ll like it,” FDR says.

• Jackfruit, a high-yielding, shreddable fruit that works as a substitute for meat in certain applications. Also, dragon fruit, which FDR thinks could become the next acai, thanks to the high levels of antioxidants it provides.

• Bugs. Wildly prolific insects would definitely be an ideal way to produce abundant protein-rich foods for the masses. But they are still way, way out there on the fringe of what restaurant customers want to eat. “We’re thinking not-so-much,” FDR says. “Though we respect the debate.”

• Heat treatments. On-table burning herbal scents paired to accompany desserts or other items at some restaurants in France could find a home in the U.S. Restaurants that employ open fire cooking could switch to compressed sawdust fire logs because they “take up little space and burn real hot.”

• Oﬀal. Nose-to-tail eating has gained a little traction in the restaurant world, particularly among some high-profile chefs. But isn’t likely to gain much more. “For those who grew up in rural areas, it may not seem strange to eat internal organs of animals. For the rest of us? Whoa.”

• Crowlers. Craft brew aficionados already fill their personal growlers with their preferred microbrews and transport them home for future consumption. Now brewers are getting in on the act by putting beer in oversized cans, 32 oz. and 750 ml being the go-to sizes so far.

• Sustainable proteins. Aren’t restaurant customers demanding more sustainable fare? They are, but while low-impact proteins such as goat, rabbit and carp already appear on a few menus, FDR isn’t buying in. “While we see it happening, it still doesn’t feel exciting. Waiting for someone to show us otherwise.”

Seaweed is the new kale! It’s a rich source of nutrients like Vitamin K, Calcium and Iron, it has detoxifying properties, and like many vegetables, it’s low in calories. Medical researchers are investigating how seaweed may reduce blood pressure and help regulate hormones. Tastes great, and it’s great for you!

7 Dining Trends that will Define 2017 www.eater.com

Jan. 6, 2017 Article by Bill Addison

In looking ahead to the coming year, I’m thinking back on my country-wide travels over the last 12 months and the cuisines, ingredients, and design elements that most stood out as compelling heralds of current restaurant trends. Glancing over the list (presented here in no particular order), I see a wonderful hodgepodge quality to culinary undercurrents: favorites from the past re-emerging, overdue innovations finally appearing, and some fresh variations in pursuit of our never-ending desire for comfort. If these aren’t yet a part of your local dining community, they’ll likely be arriving shortly.

1. Pasta is here for us like never before The love of Italian flavors is fully grafted onto the rootstock of America’s culinary culture, as integral and inseparable as garlic to Sunday gravy. In selecting the 2016 Eater Awards, editors at seven out of our 23 city sites named a Restaurant of the Year that spotlights pasta. But beyond quantity, we’ve entered a golden age of pasta in America. It wasn’t as though we couldn’t find exquisite pappardelle or orecchiette in restaurants; Mario Batali and his partners have made a coast-to-coast business out of transforming noodles into luxury. This latest wave ushers the silkiest, most ingeniously sauced pastas into the more casual settings of neighborhood restaurants. I’m thinking of Lilia in Brooklyn, where Missy Robbins crafts splendors like mafaldine — ruﬄed threads that look like they’ve been cut oﬀ the curly edges of boxed lasagna noodles — needing no more embellishment than crushed pink peppercorns and Parmigiano-Reggiano. At Monteverde in Chicago, Sarah Grueneberg shows equal brilliance with delicate pork-filled tortellini (served in chicken brodo with a splash of Lambrusco, a classic addition in Emilia-Romagna) and no-holds-barred feasts of ragù alla Napoletana, sierras of soppressata meatballs, sausage, and pork shank tumbled over fusilli. And my favorite new restaurant of 2016 in Atlanta, is laid-back, always-bustling Storico Fresco Alimentari, which morphed out of a pasta shop run by Italophile chef Michael Patrick. The menu hones in equally on timeless pleasures (tagliatelle alla Bolognese) as well as obscurities (pi fasaac from Lombardy). The latter’s name translates as “swaddled bundles;” taleggio, ricotta, Grana Padano, and spinach fill the silky parcels. It’s an uncertain world, but the pleasure of eating pasta in America has never been more reassuring.

2. Black walnuts are the new pistachios Black walnuts are to English walnuts what blood oranges are to Valencias: similar in appearance but punchier and headier in flavor. English walnuts originally migrated to the West from ancient Persia; the black walnut tree (Juglans nigra) is native to North America, thriving from lower New England up through the breadth of the Midwest, and down south as far as Florida and Texas. My grandparents had a black walnut tree on their farm in Maryland; the walnuts’ ashy, golf-ball-sized hulls were so thick that my grandfather would run them over with his car to crack them. The expense of commercially processing black walnuts has kept them largely in the province of home baking, but lately forwardthinking chefs have adopted black walnuts as potent accents in savory dishes. Their savory, tannic, almost smoky flavor means they can be used sparingly. In the fall, Smyth, a new tasting-menu restaurant in Chicago, served as one course an herb salad with duck tongues, roasted squid jus, and a scattering of black walnuts for crisp, earthy contrast. Shepard in Cambridge, one of Eater’s 2016 Best New Restaurants in America, oﬀered rabbit agnolotti with a buttermilk sauce that smoothed out the black walnuts’ intensity. And at Alter in Miami (another BNR winner), Brad Kilgore paired sorrel and black walnut as an astringent one-two punch to jolt the gentleness of poussin with corn pudding. Honestly, once you taste black walnuts, you know if you’re in or out on them — but it’s nonetheless exciting to see a divisive ingredient in wider usage.

LA’s Petit Trois, which opened in 2014, is leading the new French (culinary) Revolution.

3. Re-emergence of the proudly French restaurant Post–World War II America fell in love with French restaurants as metaphors for sophistication: places where rich, showy dishes made dining feel like an event. Then came the American food revolution, deeming French restaurants and their Continental counterparts stuffy and stodgy. It wasn’t that French gastronomy (its techniques, its influence, its breadth) disappeared from dining in the United States, but overtly labeling restaurants as “French” fell largely out of favor. Culture is cyclical, though, and specifically, Gallic restaurants of all styles are once again becoming vogue across the country. These genre reboots shun primness, favoring a more casual savoir-faire. LA’s Petit Trois arguably led the charge when it opened in 2014, with Ludo Lefebvre’s precision-engineered takes on bistro fare (steak frites, mussels marinière, rice pudding with caramel) served in a tiny, effervescent bar. Le Coucou, Manhattan’s splashiest 2016 opening, reincarnates the French-Continental genre for modern tastes, tackling haute grandeurs like tête de veau ravigotée (fried veal head) and sole Véronique with a deft hand that sidesteps the overwrought versions of yesteryear. A mile downtown, Keith McNally brought to life his 14th restaurant, Augustine, with all the brasserie joie de vivre for which the creator of Soho’s Balthazar is known. (Hint: Order the cheese soufflé.) Across the country, Seattle chef JJ Proville, who holds both French and American citizenships, opened L’Oursin in November, where he cooks warming comforts like veal sweetbreads with apples, cabbage, and Calvados cream. Many of these dishes have been out of circulation for so long, it seems as if a wholly fresh European cuisine is surfacing in the United States. But they’re comeback hits, and their return feels both welcome and overdue.

4. Baked pancakes are sizzling

6. Crab Rangoon leaps from Chinese-American menus

There is unfussy Americana pleasure derived from a stack of griddle flapjacks — fluﬀy yet hearty, maybe studded with pecans or blueberries or chocolate chips, but definitely saturated with butter and maple syrup. A baked pancake, the batter poured into a skillet or pan to set and rise in the oven for 25 minutes or so, has more of an air of sophistication and complexity. No surprise, then, that as the breakfast space emerges as an arena where chefs are excelling, we’re witnessing some accomplished innovations.

If in 2015, pierogis reveled in chefs’ attentions, the current dumpling darling is crab Rangoon, that veteran of Chinese-American menus. The dish is straightforward enough: a wonton wrapper sealed around a seasoned crab and cream cheese filling and then deepfried. Crab Rangoon’s origins are vague, though they’re most likely a 1950s-era contrivance of Trader Vic’s founder Victor Bergeron. He suggested the recipe was Burmese (Rangoon, now called Yangon, was in Bergeron’s day the capital of Burma, now Myanmar), but the use of cream cheese — hardly an everyday ingredient in Burmese cooking — puts the claim more in the realm of stagecraft.

At game-changing Milktooth in Indianapolis, Jonathan Brooks has absolutely mastered the art of the Dutch baby — popover-like beauties that emerge from the oven puﬀed and bronzed. He flavors them both sweet and savory, in combinations like local pears revved with caramel corn, puﬀed rice, and honey-almond yogurt, or roasted broccoli and cheddar emboldened with beer mustard, pickled fennel, and mustard greens. LA’s unstoppable Sqirl rocks a version of socca, a chickpea pancake from the Mediterranean edges of France and Italy, which it currently flavors with kabocha squash, sparks with a mix of chiles, and then cools with cilantro yogurt. At New York’s Le Coucou, the easiest reservation to snag is at breakfast time. That’s when the kitchen serves clafoutis, a baked French dessert pancake studded with whatever fruit is in season: It translates as a satisfying morning meal piled with blueberries and a dollop of crème fraîche. When these fresh-from-the-oven stunners show up savory, I’ll gladly welcome them for dinner, too.

5. Korean cuisine has fully arrived in the U.S. In 1993, during her first year as restaurant critic for the New York Times, Ruth Reichl wondered why Korean cooking wasn’t more popular in the United States. It would be a full two decades after Reichl’s lament that much of the country would begin to relish Korea’s culinary riches: volcanically bubbling tofu soups, bi bim bap, hubcap-sized seafood pancakes, kimchi and other fermented and pickled vegetable sides, and, most accessible, tabletop barbecue. This, of course, is only a starting list of dishes, but we can thank Korean-Americans David Chang and Roy Choi, two of the nation’s most influential chefs in the last decade, for nudging our palates in the right directions. Now that America understands the culinary vocabulary, Koreaninspired restaurants can thrive through innovation, rather than just education. Chicago’s Parachute models this evolution thrillingly: On Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark’s menu, ddukbokki (spicy rice cakes) with pork mingles fluently with global ideas — say, chopped broccoli with dates and the North African spice mix ras el hanout. LA’s Baroo, owned by Matthew Kim and Kwang Uh, zigzags around Korean flavors with dishes like kimchi fried rice and “bibim salad” made with quinoa, oats, and bulgur. The restaurant also serves homemade tagliatelle with ragu, and it works; the kitchen’s style seems holistic, unrestricted. If Baroo trades in complexity, Portland, Oregon’s Han Oak aims for hominess, in a very literal sense. The restaurant’s living room-esque dining space, which faces a walled courtyard, doubles as chef-owner Peter Cho’s residence. Han Oak only serves three days a week, Friday and Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch, and it’s reservations only. Evenings feel like a dinner party, with servers lugging out familystyle bowls of banchan (ever-changing pickles and vegetable sides, subject to the improvisational way that Cho rolls with the seasons) and ssam plates featuring pork belly and hanger steak. At brunch, diners gobble down purple-tinged, umami-blasting kimchi waﬄes as though they rank along scrambled eggs and bacon as an American sunrise staple.

Despite its dubious roots, this can be a narcotic snack if prepared with quality ingredients and keen execution. Olmsted, the current sweetheart of Brooklyn dining, added kale from its own garden to give the filling some color and bulk. Momofuku’s David Chang, as part of the menu for his delivery service Ando, experimented with crab Rangoon in spring roll form. D.C. is also having a moment with crab Rangoon and its potential variations: TenPenh in Tyson’s Corner, for example, rejiggered the recipe into crab dip with wonton chips. As a tribute to what he calls a "neighborhood Asian restaurant,” Kris Yenbamroong of LA’s Thai sensation Night + Market Song serves a riﬀ that includes mentaiko (cod roe) served with cucumber salad and sweet and sour sauce. The most precisely honed version I came across this year was at the Peterboro in Detroit, where Brion Wong revamps Chinese-American warhorses like honey walnut shrimp salad, sweet and sour pork, and almond boneless chicken into cleaner, sharper exemplars. He folds his crab Rangoons into shapes nearly resembling lotus flowers, and the distinct taste of scallion cuts through the rich, gushing filling. His is the fine-tuning that will advance a mid-century stunt food into the stuﬀ of connoisseurship.

7. Chawanmushi as a vessel and palette for showcasing luxe ingredients A staple on Japanese restaurant menus, chawanmushi (the word translates as “steamed in a tea bowl”) is a savory egg custard set with dashi rather than milk or cream. Traditionally, it cradles morsels of shrimp or chicken breast and seasonal treats like gingko nuts and lily root. But its elemental purity makes it utterly adaptable, and chefs beyond Japanese kitchens have started embracing chawanmushi as a medium for showboating top-notch ingredients. Anita Lo, at her Manhattan institution Annisa, was an early interpreter, steaming uni and morels in the fragrant custard. More recently, I’ve savored Peter Serpico’s version, gilded with caviar and cauliflower mushrooms, at his eponymous South Philly restaurant Serpico. And one of the most spectacularly gorgeous dishes I beheld all year was at Sung Ahn’s new 18-seat hideaway Mosu near San Francisco’s Japantown: His riﬀ on the dish combined trout roe, crab, okra, and radish, all glimmering together like crown jewels. Chawanmushi can equally be a showcase for stunning ceramics; Ahn served the custard in a mottled, wide-lipped earthen bowl that was as elegant as the food.

Chawanmushi Egg Custard Mosu San Francisco

And given how prevalent Korean food has become, kimchi waﬄes — and who knows, Korean-inspired brunch served everywhere — may well be the next big thing.

Highlights of our 2017 Top Ten are below. Visit getflavor.com for the stories behind each trend, and the insight and information you’ll use to make menu decisions for the coming year. getflavor.com Jan. 1, 2017

SALAD’S CRISPER FOCUS

chickpeas go chic

japan’s comfort cuisine

SEAFOOD’S MODERN HOOK

small potatoes go big

GUAJILLO GAINS GROUND

skillet sensation

next-GEN TACOS

mindful on a mission

next-level non-alcoholic