Trends 2015: What You'll Be Eating Next Year

Anyone who spends much of the week in restaurants will notice that some items crop up on menus over and over and we’re not just talking about kale salad or artisan mix burgers.  Food tastes and offerings do run in trends so the  San Francisco-based restaurant and hospitality consultants AF & Co surveyed industry experts and restaurateurs about the trends they see simmering and just issued their second annual Food Trends Index called The Pleasure Principle. The name isn’t accidental, it’s generational:  at the base of the trends is the instant gratification oriented millennial consumer, the most sought after customer by restaurants and hotels at the moment  even as they seek to retain or attract other age groups.

“Millennials spent upwards of $90 billion on food service in the past year,” explains agency President Andrew Freeman, “so it’s no surprise that the hospitality industry is adapting to cater to this generation’s wants and priorities.”

Zucchini pancake with jalapenos at San Francisco’s Hog & Rocks restaurant. Photo by Madeline Janning.

What, then, do they want? Apparently, kale is phasing out..salads next year will feature banana blossoms.  Also expect to see more cuts of meat labeled collar instead of belly, trout roe to replace sea urchin and the cuisine of Spain to overshadow those of France and Asia.  Tacos are also becoming widespread and serious chefs are devoting energy to them—even Noma’s superchef Rene Redzepi made several trips to Mexico to study them in preparation for an advisory role in his pastry chef Rosio Sanchez’s upcoming  taco shop in Copenhagen, Hija de Sanchez.  Spices are  on the upswing including more use of chiles and sriracha, the hot sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, vinegar and garlic, apparently the condiment of choice for millennials.  And expect to see an unfamiliar name: nduja, a meaty, spicy spreadable cured meat from Calabria that is already in evidence in restaurants such as San Francisco’s barbacco and Brooklyn’s Blanca.  Other shifts: sharp, sour flavors whether it’s with mustard, vinegar or pickled vegetables and pancakes will move from breakfast to dinner such as chef Robin Song’s Korean zucchini pancake topped with jalapenos and served with a soy chili dipping sauce at San Francisco’s Hog & Rocks. 

One food you’ll be hearing about more in 2015 is the spreadable cured meat nduja from Calabria, here served at the San Francisco restaurant barbacco. Photo by Jason Wang.

Changes are afoot in the overall restaurant too: expect to see more pop ups and varied menus instead of one adhering to a specific cuisine as chefs indulge passions even if they seem to be an odd combination at first. One example: Durham, North Carolina’s Rose’s Meat Market & Sweet Shop with an additional surprise of ramen served on Wednesday nights.  Smaller cities outside of the L.A.-N.Y. axis are also in for growth as new, more experimental restaurants sprout in more affordable cities. Chefs will also do more guest appearances, the concept entirely of the recently opened Chef’s Club in New York and the original in Aspen.  Higher end fast casual restaurants are on the rise, with serious chefs reimagining fast food classics with superlative ingredients–even Noma’s Redzepi is considering doing a casual restaurant of everyday food. And given the vagaries of tipping, with more restaurants moving to service charges, 2015 may be the year when you’re no longer trying to figure out 20% of the bill.