Philadelphia, PA - Today, the National Restaurant Association releases its annual survey of 700 professional chefs – members of the American Culinary Federation – to predict food and beverage trends at restaurants in the coming year.
The annual “What’s Hot” list gives a peak into which food, beverages and culinary concepts will be the new items on restaurant menus that everyone is talking about in 2018.
According to the survey, menu trends that will be heating up in 2018 include doughnuts with non-traditional filling, ethnic-inspired kids’ dishes, farm/estate-branded items, and heritage-breed meats. Trends that are cooling down include artisan cheeses, heirloom fruits and vegetables, and house-made charcuterie.
TOP 20 FOOD TRENDS
- New cuts of meat (e.g. shoulder tender, oyster steak, Vegas Strip Steak, Merlot cut)
- House-made condiments
- Street food-inspired dishes (e.g. tempura, kabobs, dumplings, pupusas)
- Ethnic-inspired breakfast items (e.g. chorizo scrambled eggs, coconut milk pancakes)
- Sustainable seafood
- Healthful kids' meals
- Vegetable carb substitutes (e.g. cauliflower rice, zucchini spaghetti)
- Uncommon herbs (e.g. chervil, lovage, lemon balm, papalo)
- Authentic ethnic cuisine
- Ethnic spices (e.g. harissa, curry, peri peri, ras el hanout, shichimi)
- Peruvian cuisine
- House-made/artisan pickles
- Heritage-breed meats
- Thai-rolled ice cream
- African flavors
- Ethnic-inspired kids' dishes (e.g. tacos, teriyaki, sushi)
- Donuts with non-traditional filling (e.g. liqueur, Earl Grey cream)
- Gourmet items in kids' meals
- Ethnic condiments (e.g. sriracha, sambal, chimichurri, gochujang, zhug)
- Ancient grains (e.g. kamut, spelt, amaranth, lupin)