The food scene changes so fast, if you stay in bed with the flu too long, you’ll miss out. But because I love to stay on top of it all, here’s a time capsule of what I see going and coming in 2012.
- The cult of Charlie Trotter will be disbanded come August when the famed and followed Chicago chef closes his namesake restaurant in order to travel and return to college to study something else (philosophy and political theory). Rising stars who have sought to mimic his food and his ways will be re-acclimating to life sans Charlie.
- While we’re saying our farewells, goodbye Gorgonzola and Pear Ravioli with Shrimp at Olive Garden. It was too “out there” and hurt the chain’s bottom line. The CEO of the chain’s parent company, Darden, conceded that the dish was too adventurous. It’s going off the menu. Well, maybe it was a tad bit ahead of its time, but barely.
- Let’s bid adieu to comfort food while we’re sweeping away 2011.The economy is starting to look up, and sticking with comfort food isn’t the path forward. That’s what Suzy Badaracco, president of trend forecasting company Culinary Tides Inc. told me this week. And I quote: “Right now is the best time to be experimental. (Consumers are) exhibiting recovery behaviors. Get more courageous and playful. Now is not time for comfort food.”
- Rising chicken and beef prices are slamming restaurants in the same blink of time that they are discovering the need to have a handful of value-priced items permanently on the menu to get the most business. Figuring out that balance will be the work of geniuses. Help wanted.
- Menu labeling laws requiring calorie disclosure on menus/menu boards will come down in 2012 with restaurants given at least six months to comply. Anyone noticing how popular apples are becoming at fast-food restaurants? Stay tuned for even more of that. Gotta show some respectable calorie counts.
Let me know what you see ahead.
Jody
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