Every year, a new and glittery trend takes over the restaurant world in a big way, setting Instagram and foodies aflame. This time, it was all about fake meats and bleed and healthy, eco-friendly remixes on classic favorites.
1. Plant based foods
Veggie and vegan diets. Health benefits of fruits and veggie plus smaller carbon footprint, hot veggie comfort foods including mashed cauliflower and pizza with zucchini crust, as well as veggie burgers that taste and bleed like the real thing.
2. Hawaiian “poke” bowls
Also, just bowls generally! Expect to see a resurgence in Buddha bowls or deconstructed bibimbap. A Buddha bowl is essential a bowl chock full of rice, seasonings, and fresh veggies. This is another move towards the healthy and customizable revolution.
3. Upscale street food
Small plates with global influence like decadent Belgium waffles, elevated Mexican elote, and flatbread pizzas. As long as the prices don’t go too high with this small plate and tapas inspired move, we’re all for it.
4. Farm to shaker cocktails
The age of farm to table when it comes to food has been soaring in popularity for a couple of years now, but there’s a new trend of locally sourced and fresh ingredients within cocktails. Some spots are using byproducts such as leftover fruit and beet trimmings – healthy and eco friendly.
5. “Ghost” restaurants
With so many folks opting for delivery instead of sitting down to dine, lots of restauranteurs are opting for the convenience over experience by outsourcing delivery with services such as Uber Eats or offering only pick-up. This is cheaper for restaurants, and lets us eat in our pajamas forever.
6. Root to stem and snout to tail
Food waste is a huge problem in 2018 – so restauranteurs are fighting that disaster via a new and innovative no waste method. Chefs will utilize leaves, stems, and things not commonly included in Western cuisines. Almost every food scrap is put to work.
7. House-made condiments
While you could just go the boring Heinz ketchup route, many restaurants this year are choosing instead to offer their own curation of homemade sauces, sorghum sauces, and smoked hot sauce or vinegar graced with hot pepper and sugar.
8. Good-for-your-gut foods
Fermentation, pickled foods and preservation have surged in popularity, though some find it a little too lip-puckering for their taste. Probiotic is going mainstream this year, and restaurants will be serving up goodies like miso, kefir and kimchi.
9. Heme
This trend kind of fits in with plant based foods, and we mentioned it in passing before. Yes, heme is incorporated in restaurant burgers and helps them bleed, imitating a medium rare burger like never before. It’s been used most famously by Impossible Foods, and we can’t wait to see more of it popping up.
10. Sustainable Seafood
It’s hard to picture a day when seafood would ever go out of style, but this year, it’s being reinterpreted in a new way. Restaurants will try to avoid overfished species and suspicious harvesting practices, swapping them out for local options or responsibly farmed seafood.
