Food Trends for 2011
Posted on December 27, 2010 by Leslie Blythe No comments
I love seeing the food trend predictions for the year. Here are a few of the trends…..
Meatless Monday’s
Meatless Monday’s goal is to encourage U.S. consumers to cut their meat consumption by 15 percent for the betterment of our health and the planet.
Macaroons
Cupcakes and are so last year! Macaroons or macarons, usually made with ground almonds or almond paste, sugar, and egg whites, will be 2011’s sweet sensation.
Food Halls
America may be a century or two behind on this trend, but we are finally embracing the food hall. Following in the footsteps of giants worldwide (Paris’ La Grande Épicerie and the food halls at Harrods of London and Takashimaya in Tokyo), New York has gotten into the act in a big way. Mario Batali and the Bastianich family recently opened Eataly, a boisterous celebration of Italian cuisine, in Manhattan, plus a smaller version called Tarry Market in suburban Port Chester; Todd English made his mark with the Plaza Hotel’s Food Hall; Jeffrey Chodorow introduced the first installment of his FoodParc; and the former Limelight nightclub was converted into the Limelight Marketplace. Of course, the trend isn’t limited to New York: Thierry Perez just debuted L’Épicerie Market in Los Angeles; Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve is opening Society Fair in Alexandria, Virginia, next spring; and there are rumors that San Francisco’s Todd Humphries is planning a small food hall in the Napa Valley. We hope this trend becomes as ubiquitous here as it is in Europe.
Pop-Up Cafés
Food trucks are as ubiquitous as, well, trucks, but the freewheeling, catch-as-catch-can insta-restaurants are now picking up steam. Why? Little capital, resources, or planning is needed, and chefs have greater freedom to try out menu items, restaurant themes, and locations. Chefs can create their own venues, in art galleries, public areas, or their own homes, as did Ben Greeno of London’s Tudor Road. In Los Angeles, chef Ludo Lefebvre opened what he calls a “guerilla style pop-up restaurant,” LudoBites . And Top Chef‘s Stephanie Izard (of Girl and the Goat in Chicago) started out with an “underground” place called Wandering Goat, which enabled her to preview her menu and generate publicity. Meanwhile, San Francisco is leading the trend, with a multitude of pop-ups, no doubt a reflection, at least in part, of the city’s high rents and overcrowded restaurant scene. Eat Restaurant holds a monthly dinner in different locales so chef Tommy Halvorson can run the stoves without running his credit line. (We’ve even had our own pop-up restaurant, Epicurious Entertains NYC.) Look for more of these in 2011.
Haute Cuisine Vending Machines
The vending machine, last resort of the truly desperate, is in the midst of a much-needed makeover. High-end vending is already common in Asia, where street- and rail-side kiosks dispense everything from noodles and sushi to farm-fresh eggs. Now the trend is catching on in the West, with machines in the U.S. and Europe offering fresh lobsters, ice cream, and quiche.
