Food

Food trends and recipes to keep menus fresh

Food

Seasonal platings

Greg Atkinson was buying and promoting local foods long before it became the routine thing to do for top chefs. The former chef of Seattle’s Canlis then took time off from cooking in restaurants to teach culinary arts and write about food. Now Atkinson is back at the stove in his newly opened Marché on Bainbridge Island in Winslow, Wash., where he’s again preparing the most indigenous ingredients he can get his hands on.

Food

The lake effect

August is a happy month in Minnesota, especially if “local and seasonal” is your mantra. “We have a short but very vigorous growing season, and August is when it peaks,” says Paul Lynch, chef at FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar at the Radisson Blu, Mall of America in Minneapolis.

A lot of places don’t bother with hot drinks because they can be difficult to execute, but it’s something we embrace,” says Bob McCoy, beverage programs liaison at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in Boston. “Not only do we offer five or six hot specialty drinks seasonally, but we are ready to prepare anything a guest might call for.”

U.S. pizza restaurant sales are expected to reach $44 billion by 2017, according to Mintel’s latest research. Traditional pizza options remain popular, but consumers’ pizza tastes are broadening when it comes to topping off their pies.

Restaurants are creating new kids' menu ideas to win over today's young customers and their families.

Chicken-and-biscuit and chicken-and-waffle combos appear on about 6% of menus nationwide. While growth was flat over the last year, it varies by region.

While the James Beard Foundation Awards typically highlight the best of the best from major food cities around the country, this year’s list of winners read a little differently on the map.

The FDA’s latest menu-labeling regulations draft, released in September and scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1, 2016, provides answers for catering.

Plant-based entrees were named on several forecasters’ top trends lists for 2016, positioning Mediterranean-focused fast casuals in a sweet spot.

Artisan toast is still gaining steam on menus, moving beyond the biggest cities to restaurants in more moderately sized markets. Here’s a sampling of concepts riding the toast wave.

  • Page 238