2005 Restaurant Trends

[debthecook]

I heard the following scoop on a radio show here NYC:

1) Gone are the days of ordering an appetizer then a main course. The trend in 2005 is ordering several plates of appetizers as your main meal, 2 or 3 small plates.

2) Lots of egg meals for breakfast.

3) SMALL PORTIONS a big emphasis on smaller portions being served.

4) Still low carb.

Any other news fit to print?

 

[honeybee]

Deb, was what you heard about restaurant trends by any chance on NPR? There's a ongoing segment on NPR's MORNING EDITION called, I think, IN THE KITCHEN, telling about food memories, culinary traditions, etc. Where on the radio did you hear it? What show?

 

[marmalady]

Oh, I miss being on the 'edge' of the 'latest' food news in NY!

A 'trend' I can report on here in Charleston, SC, is one I wholly endorse; the chefs are all getting together to support a) local seafood purchasing whenever possible, to give support to an industry that is sadly getting pushed under the carpet by all the tourist developments on the waterfronts in Charleston; and b) not serving any fish on the 'endangered' lists put out by the environmental groups. Currently these include 'Chilean' sea bass; swordfish; some types of mackeral. There are a few restaurants who stand so solidly behind these principles that when they can't get local oysters, for example, they're taken off the menu!

 

[Erik]

Here in the midwest, we are selling a ton of comfort food. When we run Fried Chicken, Pot Pie, Beef and Noodles, etc., it flies out of the kitchen.

As far as Low Carb is concerned, we sell a ton of burgers with NO BUN, NO FRIES!!!

 

[debthecook]

Honeybee I heard it on 710WORam on a food show, not NPR.

 

[buckytom]

i love the send up that saturday night live does of npr. one of the funnier repeat segments...

every 15 years or so, that darn cycle comes around and food portions become smaller in restaurants, suggesting they are made from more exclusive ingredients. somehow, i think they are just following the trend, and are using the same old stuff...
i prefer it when i get to take something home. when i read a menu, i like to order something i can't make at home as well, and cross reference that
with what i think they will have that's fresh. usually, one of the specials.

and phooey on low carb. get your butt off the couch, and eat a loaf of bread on the exercise bike!!!!!

 

[mudbug]

Oxtail soup is all the rage in upscale D.C. restaurants, according to today's Washington Post. Paired with tiny bits of expensive ingredients, such as truffles or seared tuna and baby arugula, to boost and justify the upscale price, no doubt.

 

[Konditor]

DEB: Were you listening to Phil Lembert on 710 WOR?

 

[debthecook]

Yes, it was his program, he had a chef from a restaurant that was speaking on the trend. I've heard about the growth in Latin foods for years! Thanks for the financial advice, but I'm not investing in any food market Konditor.

 

[Leaf Storm]

molecular gastronomy

Molecular gastronomy is pretty big here ( UK ) and across Europe. It's where chefs get really wild and inventive with both the ingredients and the presentation. The idia is basically to mix foods that you would not normally think would go together to produce something new that tastes good.

Here is an article you might find interesting from a newspaper here. I wonder who would go for that menu at the end?


Restaurant wins praise for eclectic bill of fare

Helen Carter
Wednesday November 10, 2004


For dinner tonight perhaps you would like duck breast with olive oil and chocolate bonbon? Imagine breaking open the hard shell of the bonbon with your fork, allowing a pool of hot chocolate to ooze onto your plate.
Or maybe a teapot of fennel tea consommé, which you pour liberally over a plate of langoustines?

Welcome to the world of molecular gastronomy: where chefs combine unusual ingredients that somehow taste delicious. The appetite for this philosophy of modern cooking is clearly increasing as one of its main proponents - Anthony's restaurant in Leeds - has won a Rémy Restaurant excellence award.

The restaurant's 24-year-old chef, Anthony Flinn, used to work at El Bulli in Montjoi near Barcelona, often described as the most exciting restaurant in the world.

He was already being tipped as "the next big thing" in British cooking before he won the Rémy. His restaurant, in a basement in Boar Lane, opened only eight months ago but has rapidly gained a national reputation among epicureans. Tables are extremely hard to come by at weekends.

For dinner tonight perhaps you would like duck breast with olive oil and chocolate bonbon? Imagine breaking open the hard shell of the bonbon with your fork, allowing a pool of hot chocolate to ooze onto your plate.
Or maybe a teapot of fennel tea consommé, which you pour liberally over a plate of langoustines?

Welcome to the world of molecular gastronomy: where chefs combine unusual ingredients that somehow taste delicious. The appetite for this philosophy of modern cooking is clearly increasing as one of its main proponents - Anthony's restaurant in Leeds - has won a Rémy Restaurant excellence award.

The restaurant's 24-year-old chef, Anthony Flinn, used to work at El Bulli in Montjoi near Barcelona, often described as the most exciting restaurant in the world.

He was already being tipped as "the next big thing" in British cooking before he won the Rémy. His restaurant, in a basement in Boar Lane, opened only eight months ago but has rapidly gained a national reputation among epicureans. Tables are extremely hard to come by at weekends.

His father and business partner, also called Anthony, said his son had his own style and did not like to be pigeon-holed alongside Heston Blumenthal, the Michelin-starred chef at the Fat Duck in Bray, and his approach towards the science of food.

"Anthony believes there are enough natural flavours," said Mr Flinn senior. "He works with the natural flavours rather than adding something chemical to make it something whizzy.

"The reason he has become so popular is because he is a chef's chef and they like what he is doing. He does not spend his time working out the science of molecular gastronomy, but instead spends his time understanding the natural food process."

Mr Flinn said his son used a system to deconstruct and reconstruct food in a different guise. "When he is deconstructing it, he takes a key element from somewhere else, which is totally off the wall."

Before the award was announced, the restaurant was already booked up on Saturday nights until January and on Friday evenings until Christmas.


Before the award was announced, the restaurant was already booked up on Saturday nights until January and on Friday evenings until Christmas.

Mr Flinn said his son had wanted to be a chef from an early age. At 14, he worked in a restaurant without pay and loved it. He completed a course at Huddersfield Technical College and began work in his first Michelin-starred restaurant. His sister, Holly, ran the front of the house.

"We are all working flat out to make it a success and just keeping our heads down," Mr Flinn said. "Obviously I am immensely proud of everybody for what we have achieved. This time last year, we hadn't even found our premises."

The awards are based on nearly 80,000 reports from members of the public who have a passion for good food.

Among the highly praised newcomers in London were the Coach and Horses in Clerkenwell and the Notting Hill Brasserie.

Molecular menu

Starters


White onion risotto with parmesan air & espresso coffee

Gourmet black pudding with salmon cheeks

Main courses


Roast breast of duck with olive oil and chocolate bonbons

Monkfish confit in cep oil

Desserts


Chocolate fondant with peanut ice cream and artichoke caramel

Fig & black olive tatin with brie ice cream

 

[debthecook]

All I can say is WOW Leaf Storm. I love reading this stuff.

 

[Audeo]

Artichoke Caramel????

 

[Leaf Storm]

All I can say is WOW Leaf Storm. I love reading this stuff.

Glad you liked the article! Yeah, I find it pretty interesting too!

Artichoke Caramel????

Yeah... but it's gotta be better than the mashed taters soda I posted about lol

 

[Audeo]

Hands down, I will definately agree with you on that one, Leaf Storm! That thread made my skin crawl!!!

Other than the Artichoke Caramel, I'd be willing to give the others a whirl, though. It was a very interesting article -- thank you!

 

[buckytom]

yes, thanks for the very interesting article leafstorm. i wonder what criteria they use to try odd pairings. i mean, is it just wacky trial and error, or do they use some intelligent method of determining what might be tasty...

 

[Leaf Storm]

You're both welcome for the article

 

[jennyema]

Small plates, for sure

Fondue!

Oxtails ... not so much. There are lots of rumors (and at least one supposedly confirmed case of a man who was a butcher) here of Mad Cow, so oxtails make people nervous.

 

[mish]

I heard the following scoop on a radio show here NYC:

1) Gone are the days of ordering an appetizer then a main course. The trend in 2005 is ordering several plates of appetizers as your main meal, 2 or 3 small plates.

2) Lots of egg meals for breakfast.

3) SMALL PORTIONS a big emphasis on smaller portions being served.

4) Still low carb.

Any other news fit to print?

When I go "out" to eat, I order as I please. Food trends come & go. As I recall, the big high-priced entree was Nouvelle (sp?) cuisine a long time ago. All that meant was paying a high price for a small portion of food. I order what I like to eat. I go to the best restaurants, that serve the best food, according to my likes. If you're on a diet, order accordingly. When you spend to your heart's content, get what you want...not what the trend or radio dictates. I want my shrimp cocktail, I want my bread, I want my salad, I want the best champagne that I like & no holds barred on some lo carb dessert.

 

[kyles]

Great minds think alike Leaf Storm, I was going to mention molecular gatronomy as well. I saw Heston Blumenthal on telly the other night, and he was fascinating. He talked about lots of different things, but two that stuck in my mind was the neglect of hearing as one of the senses involved in appreciating food, we use touch, smell, and visual appeal all the time (and of course taste) but he was demonstrating how important sound is as well. He had someone eat a carrot with headphones on, and when they were turned off, it diminished the taste of the carrot. The second thing was taste as memory and how important memories are in how we appreciate and react to the food we are presented.

Fascinating stuff.

 

[DampCharcoal]

I worked at a place called The Worthington Inn here in Central Ohio in the late 90's and became well acquainted with the executive chef. One day I started ripping him about a dessert item on the menu, the "Pineapple-Jalapeno Sorbet." He went to the freezer, put a scoop of the sorbet in a sundae dish and told me to try it. It was great! The jalapeno flavor was absent but a small amount of heat could be detected. It went great with the pineapple flavor and sweetness! After that, I'm not so quick too poo-poo strange sounding ideas! As for ordering appetizers for the main course, I've been doing that at the local Chinese restaurant for years. Maybe I'm a trend setter!!! Yeah, right, you should see the way I dress!