Good and Comfy...Restaurant Food Trends in '09
It doesn't take much of a prognosticator to tell you that the coming year is going to be tough, for everyone. We get it shoved down our throats daily by the news media. (I firmly believe we create our own futures. Thereby, believing there is doom and gloom on the horizon will probably make it happen. But I'll save that for another rant.) But a bad few years ahead doesn't mean we'll stop eating in restaurants. We'll probably change our habits and eat out less often or maybe order less extravagant meals. The Wall Street soothsayers ( I don't know why we should even bother with these guys) are predicting an uptick in sales at quick serve restaurants like McDonald's, Wendy's etc. And a flat to moderate growth for casual dining restaurants like Ruby Tuesday, Applebees etc. High end restaurants will be most adversely affected by rising costs than lower sales. On top of that, this segment is generally made up of smaller business that don't have the opportunity to make up for lower sales by increasing volume with discounts and deals like the casual market can. With all that, we still gotta eat. So what will be on our plates in 2009?
In times of trouble we turn to comfort. We saw that right after 9/11. Whether it's on our own dining table or on a table at the corner bistro, everyone will be looking for comfort foods. What are comfort foods? they are anything that reminds you of a better time or helps you soothe the edges of a ragged day. It can be cream of tomato soup to one person or dried cuttlefish to someone else. It all depends on the culture, environment or region of the world you call home. We have so many great restaurants in this country that its really not too hard to find the comfort food you crave. And in the coming months there will be more chefs and restaurants featuring there versions of comfort food.
Besides visceral comfort many of us will be looking for ways to be comfortable in our own skin. Meaning that we'll be looking for ways to live a healthier lifestyle, which means eating healthier. This will affect restaurants in more ways than just putting a diet plate on the menu. The inventive ways many restaurateurs will use to approach this will range from putting more vegetarian and vegan items on their menus to using lighter cooking methods (less fats) to buying more locally grown or produced products. The latter being the most prevalent and the one getting the most attention. Because eating locally will carry with it a whole lot of cool this year.
So here's a list of just some of the things you may see on menus this year. Now you may only find some of these at that little Chef owned cafe down the street, but I wouldn't be surprised that a few of them don't pop up at your local chain eatery as well. Either way happy eating in '09.
almond pesto
candy bar desserts
cannellini beans
chocolate/peanut
churros & doughnuts & beignets
coconut desserts
duck fat fried potatoes
egg with asparagus
farro (Emmer Wheat)
gnocchi
parnmigiano flan
pork belly
prosciutto or bacon wrapped whatever
sauerkraut
bacon
truffles
pretzels
fish 'n chips
Russian dressing
Classic sauces; beurre blanc, perigourdine, veloute
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