Fried chicken, lasagna, pot pie… pho, sushi, and tacos?
Lately I’ve been noticing that some of the most popular new restaurants in town are keeping their doors open morning, noon, and night—the better to function as neighborhood gathering spots whenever customers are hungry or thirsty, from college students to shoppers to local office workers.
Ever since humans first discovered fire, they’ve been drawn to the flavor of smoke on food. Perhaps it’s that ancient craving that makes smoked and wood-grilled meats so appealing today, and why so many chefs work so hard to recreate those smoky, satisfying flavors.
Nachos are one of those classic menu items that never stop evolving.
Umami is a word that’s getting used a lot more lately in cooking, but its role in menu development goes beyond mere flavor.
I grew up in Jersey City, NJ, eating calzone at the local pizzeria. They’d cut their meatballs in half and stuff them into a pocket of pizza dough and cook it in the oven—a cross between a sandwich and a pizza, and a perfect lunch for one person.
Not long ago I had a great meal at a new restaurant in a Southern city that has become known for its vibrant dining scene.
From bacon-and-egg tacos and burritos to chilaquiles and chorizo hash, Latin breakfast specialties are making their way onto more mainstream menus.
Virtually every culture in the world has a street food tradition, and almost every cuisine has its version of flatbread. Put these two ideas together and you get a platform for adding global flavors and on-trend handheld menu items, with street-worthy snacks and sandwiches.
What would happen if you put Moroccan spices in baked beans, or made chowder with herbes de Provence? You’d be turning a familiar food into a signature item by exploiting flavor, and claiming new territory in the culinary landscape.
Food trends may come and go, but wings remain eternally popular. In fact, since the 1964 “invention” of the Buffalo Chicken Wing at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo—about an hour from where I live now—the bar food favorite has become an iconic menu standard, beloved by customers across the country.
The fermented flavors of products and ingredients like kimchi, pickles, kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt and natural wines are trending big-time right now, and that’s great news for flavor-seeking chefs and consumers.
