Not everything that should be a food trend is. It takes dedication by culinary thinkers around the world to make something a trend. Still, if we had our way, these 10 things would become this year’s next big things in food.
Food trends pop up everywhere, seemingly with a mind of their own. Sometimes these food trends are great and lead to bacon everything and Cronuts. Other times they lead to years of Asian fusion and too many dishes made with kale. Still, we love food trends for what they are. In fact, we love them so much we’ve come up with 10 of our own. These probably won’t be the next big trends, but they should be.
1. Complementary chocolate course
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This one pretty much speaks for itself. A lot of places start a meal off with free bread, but if we’re going to eat all those carbs, we might as well just eat chocolate.
2. Singing wait staff
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This used to be a thing. It can be a thing again. Imagine how much greater your restaurant experience would be if you had someone to sing during your supper. Forget all that awkward conversation and stuff. Just listen to the dulcet tone of Vigo, your waiter, as he sings some song in a language you don’t understand…
3. Artisan edible stemware
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Sure, there are artisans who have made stemware, but we’re not talking about that. If we’re going to do artisan cocktails made with artisan ice served with artisan air, then we want an edible cocktail glass we can actually consume with our drink. Seriously, someone needs to get on this.
4. Escargot bars with carryout
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Personalizing your drink, your plate and your meal is very 2015. That’s why we wanted to have a do-it-yourself bar, but most of them have already been done. So we had to dig a little deeper, and we discovered no one has done an escargot bar! Different types of snails, butters, sauces and flavored butters… What more could you want except a carryout container to take it home?
5. Hot and cold running meat
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Condiments have greatly expanded in the past several years (thank you, Sriracha!). Now we think it’s time to go the next step — to meat spigots. Need some more beef on your burger or a side of shrimp? Just turn on the hot meat! Want some more charcuterie to go with it? That’s the cold-meat lever. Just turn, and voilà! Running meat!
6. Fried artisan mac and cheese
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Not all our ideas have to be quite so out there. That’s why we went with artisan/gourmet mac and cheese that we roll into little balls and fry.
7. Eating lunch “speed dating style”
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Have you ever looked at what someone at the next table ordered and decided you needed to eat that? Why not do that with 30 complete strangers? Just order a dish. Eat it for about 30 seconds, until the buzzer goes, and then pass your plate to the left. We’re still working on the sanitary conditions on this one.
8. Year-round pumpkin
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There’s really no reason pumpkin lattes, cookies, rolls, candies and pies need to stop. Ever. No, really.
9. More foods that sizzle
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Go to a Mexican restaurant, and order fajitas. Your waiter (who probably won’t be singing) will soon carry out a smoky, fragrant, delicious dish topped with meats and veggies still cooking away on a platter that will melt your eyes if you look at it too long. Not only are those fajitas cool to behold, but they’re great to eat too. We think other sizzling foods should follow in fajitas’ footsteps.
10. Edible lipstick
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You ever get a food craving real bad and all you have is your makeup kit? Have no fear, because if this trend takes off, you’ll have a lipstick capable of delivering rich, luscious lips and a quick boost of chocolate, caramel or nacho cheese all in one little tube.
More on trends
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10 Fall food trends we’re already excited about
Food trends through the ages and what to expect next
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