A trend is a funny thing: the first time you see it, you probably think, “This will never take.” Before you know it, it’s everywhere. Here are 10 food concepts, ideas and items we’ve seen cropping up on menus and storefronts that we think will become full-blown trends by the end of 2014.
From dairy-free to gluten-free to yeast-free, so many diners are becoming aware of food allergies that pre-decided dishes are becoming pointless for some chefs. There will always be some substitution. Instead, many restaurants are offering build-your-own menus. Diners can choose a protein, a starch, and a veggie, or some similar combination — their way. That way, everybody’s happy.
You might have noticed that your server, along with telling you how the chef reduces the wine sauce, also sometimes tells you where the grapes are from, and which farm the duck was raised on. We expect to see more of where food is from — printed on a menu — along with what it’s made of.
Nearly every server you ask knows which menu items are safe for gluten-free diners. Even employees of fast food chains can point gluten-free eaters in the right direction. We suspect soon every restaurant will have gluten-free menus. Most menus will even be complete gluten-free renditions of the original menus.
You used to have to Google the term on your phone when a celebrity chef on the Food Network used it. Now “umami” is comfortably used by amateur chefs, and placed on menu item descriptions with the assumption the general public knows what it means. One definition: it’s Japanese for “pleasant savory taste.” People taste umami through receptors for glutamate, commonly found in its salt form as the food additive monosodium glutamate, or MSG, according to NatureNeuroscience. Umami is considered the fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter — and we predict it will become a regular way to describe a taste. A popular gourmet burger chain called Umami has more than a dozen locations in Southern California.
Today, when a chef sends a plate out to a table, he knows that not only the diners at that table are seeing the dish — in fact, not even the entire restaurant is seeing it. Potentially thousands of people on social media are seeing it thanks to the photo you Instagrammed with your phone. The pressure is on to “plate” things prettier, and we think you’ll see it on more artfully crafted dishes.
It used to be cookies were defined by flavors: “chocolate chip,” “white macadamia,” “toffee brittle.” Loaves and cakes were defined the same way: “zucchini loaf,” “banana walnut bread,” “carrot cake.” But with unconventional flours becoming so popular, expect to see the type of flour in the description too like, “teff flour cookies” and “quinoa flour carrot cake.”
It’s easy on the chef, and somehow makes the diner feel like he has more options rather than fewer: one-item shops and restaurants. Think “Melt,” the restaurant that only sells grilled cheese. Or “The Peanut Butter Company” that makes more than a dozen kinds of peanut butter sandwiches. Diners love to see how many ways a chef can make one dish, and chefs love being “The grilled cheese guy” or “The taco chef.”
We already touched on how chefs are handling food allergens, but what about snack companies? The manufacturer of a snack bar isn’t there to tell you the healthy highlights of the item, but many are making it a point to tell consumers on their wrappers what’s not in their product. Expect to see ever-longer lists on the back of wrappers and boxes reading things like, “NO GMO’s, NO Gluten, NO Dairy, NO Refined Sugars.”
Stop by your local health food store’s bulletin board. It’s no longer just local yoga instructors offering private lessons. Now, the stores themselves are offering in-house classes: cooking classes, classes on eating allergen-free, classes on growing your own herbs and more. It’s a great way for the store to showcase its own products and establish itself as an authority on healthy eating.
If you’ve dined at a Chipotle recently, then you know the popular chain is now offering brown rice in substitution for white in its Mexican dishes. The chain has also stopped making its famous brown beans with animal fat, and has a new protein option called “Sofritas” (it’s tofu). Subway has sandwich choices listed by your health concern: “For weight loss, try these subs. For cholesterol watch, try these. For a low sodium diet, eat these.”