2013 Restaurant Preview: Biggest Trends, Openings and Recipes

We looked into our culinary crystal ball for 2013 and found more than two dozen new and upcoming restaurants, including an incredible rotisserie-chicken joint in Atlanta, a pasta mecca in St. Louis and the top-to-bottom revamp of Beverly Hills’s famed Spago. Plus: 10 recipes pulled straight from their menus.

Chefs may have finally hit their burger saturation point. Now, several are focusing on chicken as their new favorite, infinitely versatile protein. Shaun Doty’s Bantam + Biddy in Atlanta serves crisp-skinned rotisserie chicken with a choice of sauces, like the Dominican-style wasakaka (bantamandbiddy.com). In Chicago, Jared Van Camp’s Leghorn will specialize in fried-chicken sandwiches with flavors like pickle-brined (leghornchicken.com). More poultry projects for 2013: Stephanie Izard’s still unnamed, bird-centric Chicago spot and Rotisserie Georgette in New York City, from Daniel Boulud alum Georgette Farkas.

Chefs are turning their restaurants into a culinary version of nesting dolls, with one living inside another. At night, L.A.’s healthy Italian spot Tiara Cafe becomes Starry Kitchen (starrykitchen.com), offering an entirely separate menu—delicious pan-Asian from Nguyen and Thi Tran. To try the local-seafood tasting menus at Trent Pierce’s Roe (roe-pdx.com) in Portland, Oregon, you have to find it in the back of a Japanese izakaya called Wafu. Opening by this summer in Chicago: Radler, a German beer hall from chef Paul Virant; hidden inside will be DAS (dasradler.com), a single-table spot where Nathan Sears will serve high-end tasting menus.

Some of the country’s top chefs and food entrepreneurs are becoming Italian experts. Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson has a new Portland, Oregon, restaurant called Ava Gene’s (avagenes.com). The Roman-focused menu includes a clever melted-cheese-topped bitter-greens salad. (In the spring, Sorenson plans to open a second spot, Roman Candle, serving sauceless pizza biancas.) St. Louis’s Gerard Craft, an F&W Best New Chef 2008 for his creative food at Niche, is obsessed with making fresh pasta at his new spot, Pastaria (pastariastl.com). And in Houston, chef Ryan Pera of the provisions shop Revival Market is opening Coltivare (twitter.com/ColtivareHTX), a rustic Italian restaurant with a 3,000-square-foot garden.

Restaurants that double as artisanal food markets: That’s not new. But now, they’re becoming ad hoc community centers or mini-malls. In late spring, Erik Bruner-Yang is turning a vacant Washington, DC, building into Maketto (1351 H St. NE; no phone yet), an Asian market with stalls selling sneakers, espresso, bowls of noodles and more. In Oakland, California, Oliveto alum Paul Canales is opening Duende, a 5,500-square-foot space with a Spanish restaurant, a wine store-art gallery and a music venue (duendeoakland.com). In Philadelphia, Aimee Olexy sees her upcoming Talula’s Daily (210 W. Washington Sq.) as a “commitment to the community,” housing a coffee shop, cheese store, market and café where she’ll offer dishes like crumbly lemon scones and host wine-and-cheese happy hours.

It’s not enough to know East Coast fish from West Coast varieties; chefs are creating restaurants that focus on seafood dishes from specific regions. L.A. chef Michael Cimarusti, known for his luxurious seafood at Providence, is opening Connie & Ted’s (connieandteds.com), an ode to the Rhode Island seafood shacks he visited as a child. Among the dishes at Connie & Ted’s is Ed’s Portuguese Fish Stew, named for his uncle. At Stars in Charleston, South Carolina (starsrestaurant.com), chef Nathan Thurston features brioche-wrapped Charleston flounder and whole Appalachian trout, while Mike Lata’s newest spot, The Ordinary, will offer his take on low-country seafood and oysters (eattheordinary.com).

Consider it the cycle of life in the restaurant world. One kitchen’s leftovers are often key to the menu at another place—especially when both are owned by the same person. At Empellón Cocina in Manhattan, Alex Stupak serves large masa crisps as a snack; if they break into bits, the masa crumbs become the streusel for a salad at his Empellón Taqueria (empellon.com). Quinn and Karen Hatfield use leftover pastrami-style short ribs from their Los Angeles flagship, Hatfield’s (hatfieldsrestaurant.com), for special sandwiches at their new place The Sycamore Kitchen (thesycamorekitchen.com). And in Pittsburgh’s Union Pig & Chicken (unionpgh.com), Kevin Sousa makes sweet-and-tangy baked beans loaded with franks from Sousa’s Station Street Hot Dogs (stationstreetpgh.com).

Even the best classic dishes, like the veal Wiener schnitzel at Beverly Hills’s Spago, can’t last forever. After a $4 million rehab, the schnitzel is gone from Wolfgang Puck’s flagship, along with the chandeliers; now there’s a two-sided fireplace and a more modern menu from chef Lee Hefter (wolfgangpuck.com). Philadelphia’s 43-year old Le Bec Fin has a new chef, Walter Abrams, whose menu includes unconventional dishes like buckwheat capellini with smoked root vegetables (lebecfin.com). Even modern classics, like New York City’s Eleven Madison Park (elevenmadisonpark.com), are changing. Chef Daniel Humm last reinvented it in 2010 with a 16-word menu. Its latest incarnation evokes old-school New York with elite versions of egg creams and smoked sturgeon, served with caviar.

A few years ago, chefs were turning everything into small plates. Now, they’re transforming pub food in much the same way. Ming Tsai describes his upcoming Boston spot, Blue Dragon, as an Asian gastropub (ming.com). He’ll sell sloppy joe sliders infused with hoisin and ginger for $1. Trenchermen, from the Chicago chef-brother team Mike and Pat Sheerin (trenchermen.com), serves experimental pub food, like bacon-cured sweetbreads. In Manhattan, another avant-garde chef is opening a gastropub-style place: Wylie Dufresne, chef of WD-50 (and an F&W Best New Chef 2001), is launching Alder, a modern American public house, in early spring 2013, serving cocktail-friendly dishes (157 Second Ave.; no phone yet).

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Food Trends: Good or Evil?

Bad-boy chef Anthony Bourdain and nice-guy chef Eric Ripert have been touring the US for their live Good vs. Evil show. Here, they talk pop-ups, TV chefs and cooks as sex symbols. Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert talk to Food & Wine about current food trends.

Anthony Bourdain is the irreverent, sound-bite-spouting host of the TV shows No Reservations and The Layover. Eric Ripert is the soft-spoken, brilliant chef at the astounding seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City. Perhaps surprisingly, the two men are buddies who delight in insulting and one-upping each other. Recently they turned their friendship into a live show, Good vs. Evil, with events around the country. (Check anthonybourdainontour.com for upcoming dates.) On stage, Bourdain and Ripert playfully torment each other and seriously discuss the state of food and restaurants in America. Recently, F&W got the two men together to hear their varying perspectives on food trends, both good and evil.

Anthony Bourdain: I’m not categorically against food trends. Cooks tend to see a breakout dish and replicate it, and eventually, you see that dish re-created all over the world. Sometimes good ideas are just good ideas. The impulse to copy them is understandable. When the public goes into a frenzy over something like a cupcake or a meatball, it may be annoying to us jaded foodie observers, but at the end of the day, a meatball can be a pretty damn good thing. Yeah, I don’t have strong feelings against food trends in general. You know what I’m against? Listicles. Those lists that are created by the media to predict the coming year’s food trends. They are always based on absolutely nothing. I don’t like those.

Eric Ripert: Actually, very often, those lists are all wrong.

ER: I find the pop-up trend entertaining and fun. I don’t want to be a part of it myself, and I don’t have to—I have a real restaurant. I have a kitchen and a dining room and so on. But some incredibly talented chefs, like Laurent Gras [an F&W Best New Chef 2002], are doing pop-ups in between full-time restaurant gigs. I think that’s interesting. I’m all for it.

AB: As somebody who’s done a lot of catering, I can say that pop-ups must be incredibly stressful for the chefs. But they clearly provide a venue for people who, for whatever reason, either don’t have a restaurant, or won’t have one, or don’t want one.

ER: Exactly—don’t want one.

AB: Pop-ups are a good thing. But what I like most are restaurants with visiting-chef programs. I love it when I hear a chef say, “We have a guest chef coming in and doing a menu for a couple of days.” I think that’s great. Coupled with a sort of theatrical booking concept—“Now appearing, for four nights only, Laurent Gras, with Laurent’s menu; buy your tickets in advance”—I think that’s really exciting.

AB: I understand this trend. It’s dismaying, but I completely understand the impulse. What chef wants to die broke? And let’s face it: Burgers are good. But it is definitely a little dismaying, any time you see really great chefs cooking below their abilities by putting out a burger.

ER: A burger is part of the menu at our Westend Bistro in Washington, DC. Our burger was actually inspired by McDonald’s—except for the quality of the meat, of course. A McDonald’s bun is perfect. You put it in your hands; it’s not too big, it’s not too tall. The ratios, the slice of tomato—for some reason, it’s all perfect. The pickles are perfect. The shredded salad, it’s not too much, not too little. When we did our burger, for us, it was a very interesting research project. We looked at companies like McDonald’s and Burger King and thought, What is great in their approach? And how can we make it great with the meat that we have, which is, obviously, of different quality?

AB: With restaurants that don’t take reservations, you’re only getting customers who really, really, really want to eat there. Who’ll wait hours for a table if they have to. All others need not apply.

ER: I like the idea of offering reservations. At my restaurant, I want to pamper my customers and give them maximum service to make their lives easier. So we let people call for reservations.

ER: At Le Bernardin, we have six people answering the phone every day, taking reservations. It’s an investment for us, but at the same time, I think it’s fantastic when you call a restaurant and you hear a human voice talking to you, and you don’t have to wait or go through a machine. We provide that at Le Bernardin because, clearly, we are a fine-dining restaurant, but I also like more casual places that take reservations so you don’t have to go to your dinner with a feeling of uncertainty. Am I going to eat tonight? Am I going to freeze my ass off outside? Am I going to get drunk before the meal because I’ve had to wait at the bar forever before a table is ready?

AB: I don’t feel the same way. With these really good no-reservation restaurants, now the young hipsters, the college dropouts who save their money for a high-ticket meal, they’re just as likely to get a sought-after table as some Wall Street guy. And that’s kinda cool. These customers have just as much opportunity to eat at a place like Franklin Barbecue [in Austin] as anybody else. That’s a good thing, Eric; those people are your future clients.

AB: As long as chefs are combining cuisines that are actually having sex with each other, I think the cross-cultural cooking trend is appropriate. Some chefs can pull it off; most can’t. The guys at Torrisi [in New York City] do it well. Roy Choi [at Los Angeles’s Kogi BBQ] does it brilliantly. Dave Chang [of the Momofuku empire] does it really well. But their food always makes sense. These are chefs who grew up with certain culinary influences, so they think, “I know this food, so it may as well be mine. I’m Korean-American, and I grew up surrounded by Mexicans and eating Mexican food. It’s not like I went to Thailand for two weeks and came back with a fistful of lemongrass and an attitude.” For me, the dividing line is, is it a big-box place? A big-box place with a giant Buddha that’s serving a sort of indifferent pan-Asian food—a little Thai, a little Chinese, a little Japanese—I just instinctively start, well, hating it. I hate that restaurant before I even go in.

ER: I think we’re beginning to see chefs creating a natural, smart fusion cuisine because, if cooking is artistry, and if inspiration comes from somewhere, it comes from your surroundings. And when those chefs are working in big urban centers like New York City, where all the cultures are mixed together, it is obvious that at some point, they’re going to go eat the food of their neighbors or find some ingredients from another country, and be inspired by various techniques. Even in fine-dining places, you find influences everywhere.

AB: Still, the really good chefs who were influenced by Asia, what they choose not to do is really interesting. You’re not going to see one of them roasting goose anytime soon. There are things they don’t even attempt. That’s because there’s an unspoken respect for certain dishes that you understand—“That dish required six generations to get right; I’m not going to try it.” Chefs can understand certain processes and certain flavors, textures, ingredients, but it’s fascinating to see what they choose to not do.

AB: In general, the rise of TV chefs is a positive thing, even when those chefs are excruciatingly annoying. There are some glaring exceptions, obviously. But if shows get people interested in food, raise their expectations, empower them to cook, make them more intrigued by what they’re eating at restaurants and inspire them to trust a chef to suggest to them what they might order, rather than the old system, in which they’d walk into a restaurant and say, “I want this, this and this”—I think that’s a force for good.

ER: I agree. With TV programs, you have choice. You select the program that fits you the most. You have programs that are certain to be entertaining and others that are sure to be inspirational. At the end of the day, they’re talking about food. It’s definitely positive.

AB: Anything that inspires someone who’s never eaten cuttlefish—they see it on TV, and they say, “You know what? I would try that”—that’s a good thing. There is, however, TV food from nowhere, like a hamburger on a doughnut bun. A dish like that exists entirely as a novelty. People would like to position this as a class issue, the elitists versus the working class, but that’s nonsense. All great food emanated from hardworking people with very little money. I deny this notion that there’s any class element to rejecting a hamburger on a doughnut bun. It’s relatively expensive to put a burger between two doughnuts!

AB: I think fine dining is an ever more difficult and perilous enterprise. It becomes harder and harder to walk the line that’s necessary, to be a fine-dining restaurant and still be convivial. But if fine dining disappears, where will we get cooks skilled enough to open up casual little places, counter spots with fantastic cooking where there’s no linen or crystal?

ER: I think fine dining has evolved. From the waiter with his hand behind his back until today, it has gone through a huge evolution. It’s never been so convivial and so diverse.

ER: In French, our nickname used to be the white rats, because the waiters were called penguins. So the white rats becoming sex symbols, it’s good.

AB: Works for me. I mean, we chefs were all considered hideous, unlovable brutes not too long ago. •

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Eating Better Than Humans - The Pet Food Trends

If the United States is in a recession, no one has told the pet industry. In fact, while people scrounge for jobs and ways to feed themselves, pets are living the high life more than ever and quite often eating far better than their human counterparts. While old school brands like Purina and Ol' Roy aren't going anywhere, there has certainly been a massive swing towards the organic and holistic side of the pet food market. Not aware that side even existed? You are not the only one but it is hardly new.

The Trend That Wouldn't Die

About a decade ago, roughly in 1999, it became a popular trend in parts of Australia for dog owners to set aside the weekend and prepare a week's worth of gourmet food for their pooches, then portion it into meals and freeze it all, bringing it out to be warmed up as needed. At the time this seemed ridiculous. It still seems ridiculous but quite a few other people and even entire countries have caught the fever. Now, we just have more options for how to get that gourmet food. It hardly has to be cooked by the owner anymore: there are a slew of posh and pretty pet eateries who would be more than happy to do it for you, for what many consider a reasonable price.

In 2011, though, it is not just about convenience but healthiness as well. How many of us have time to not only make gourmet frozen meals for our pets but also to grow it with organic fertilizers and make sure every part of Spike's food is additive and filler free? Our canine companions are enjoying such extravaganzas as blueberry compote, venison, duck, veal in a light sauce, ginger snap cookies and even peanut-carob Isabooscotti. Celebrity cooks like Rachel Ray offer pet-friendly dishes you can share with your dog and in the UK, Butcher's Pet Care now proudly offers a gastropub menu for the pooch who must accompany his human to the local Brakspear chain of pubs. No longer does the family hound have to suffer the humiliation of being left outside with naught but a bowl of water and maybe a nibble while his owner has a laugh in the pub with a pint or two. It is indeed a marvelous and progressive world in which we live despite there being no evidence at all that the human-grade foods are any better for our pets than the old tried-and-true Puppy Chow, even after studying thousands of dog diets and their outcomes. It should be noted that the 'old men' on the pet food block are not exactly shaking in their boots.

With the Strength Of A Bull Market

The trend, though, shows little sign of slowing and a savvy editor named Jessica Taylor asserts that the big push on antioxidants like pomegranate and grape seed in the realm of people will be the next big thing in the pet realm, too. Hard to doubt it. With Americans alone shelling out nearly fifty-five billion on their pets last year and with a seven percent increase in veterinarian services, it does appear that more pet owners are not just providing for their furry friends, they're investing in their longevity and even mental well being. Pet psychologists and therapists are being frequented more often these days and even pet psychics do not seem as far-fetched as they did just five years ago.

Incredible attention to detail and improvements have been made such things as indoor dog litter boxes. In Los Angeles, you can even hire a litter box specialist to come in and take care of all the poop-scooping for you. Real sod or life-like artificial turf, complete with a partial wall and fire hydrant can make your dog, regardless of size, feel just like he's going potty outside. These are indeed the marvel of modern technology.

The point is that pets are not going away; they have been with us since time immemorial and we are willing to spend more on them than we are on ourselves. We desire to bring them closer to us and spend obscene amounts of money to dress them in the cutest new fashions or to make sure they are insured in case they break a leg or get sick. Chemotherapy is absolutely an option if your friend develops cancer and nothing we would do for ourselves would we deny our animals, and then some. From mineral water for dogs to pumpkin puree labeled as dog food but that can easily be used in human-consumed pumpkin pies, to other human-grade goodies, gourmet meals and snacks, the pets are getting pampered more and more with each passing year. How much of it the animal understands is really beside the point; we pay for it and we want it for them. After all, love is priceless.

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Five New Food Trends

As our world continues to move toward instant communication gratification, so goes the same trend in food. Here are 5 new food trends that are in the market today that you may not have known about.

1. Canning is back. That's right, find your grandmother's kettle and recipes and go canning. Sales of canning equipment are up 30% this year alone. People are putting up food to save money and to have healthier goods. Also, there are social gatherings of caners across the country who are eager to share recipes and samples of their goods.

2. Gourmet food trucks are hitting the streets. In many cities, gourmet trucks and carts can be found during meal times with tasteful specialties. Lunchtime workers often track the trucks on line to make sure they don't miss their favorite gourmet truck rolling by.

3. Cooking classes are full. With the economy and finances tight today many people are enrolling in cooking classes to learn how to cook better meals on a budget. Also, many grocery stores are offering classes for free to get customers in the stores.

4. Sporting events across America has begun to realize that fans would like more than just an expensive hot dog or stale pretzel. Many ballparks offer such items as barbecue sandwiches, sushi, and regional specialties.

5. Look for a cupcake at your next wedding. Brides and grooms are disregarding traditional wedding cakes for a new fun hot trend of cupcakes. These childhood favorites can be red velvet, chocolate or what ever your sweet tooth desires. even Twinkies are showing up at the reception. Nothing is off limits at weddings today. Originality is the key.

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Reviewing Interesting Trends With Gourmet Foods

Trends in gourmet foods seem to be changing each year, but the basic premise is to find the best quality ingredients for a sensory explosion that tickles the palate and makes the mouth water just thinking of the exotic flavors. Consumers who purchase their favorite foods from all across the world aren't worried about paying more; rather, their concern is having the most enjoyable culinary experiences possible.

According to Mintel new product expert Lynn Dornblaster, there will be many new gourmet tastes and smells expanding globally through 2009. Persimmon, an exotic fruit, has been a key ingredient in Japanese yogurt and beverages, which will likely be blended with peaches, apricots and other familiar fruits this year. The Brazilian starfruit makes a delicious addition to Flor De Hibiscus's Chutney, while Latin American cactus has been incorporated into products like Nopalia Cactus Toasts.

German favorite lavender is being featured in Lindt Chocolat Provence's Lemon-Lavender Dream chocolate and Latin American chimichurri came up in Gaucho Ranch's Argentinean steak sauce. Peri-peri is a new African hot sauce making its way to other countries and masala is the latest Indian-inspired spice to reach the snack foods market.

A recent trend in gourmet foods is the number of restaurants exporting their products into retail markets. At one time, people had to head to Buffalo's Anchor Bar to get a taste of the original Buffalo chicken wing sauce, but now grocers are carrying this product nationally.

Similarly, Junior's is now selling its famous New York cheesecake; Il Mulino is selling their pasta sauces too. Additionally, gourmet ethnic foods are being packaged up in the frozen foods section to cater to the increasingly diverse American market. For instance, India's Tandoor Chef offers twenty-five different entrees, including Panek Paneer and a vegetarian marsala burger.

In addition to the whole foods market, there are many online destinations to learn about and to shop for gourmet foods. For specialty cheeses, particularly American-made cheese from almost every state, check out "Igourmet". At "Dibruno", you'll find the Dibruno Brothers' great selection of olives, charcuterie, caviar, pates, foie gras and truffles. Zingermans ("Zingermans") offers a solid selection of vinegars, olive oils, cheeses and breads. Earth Delights ("Earthy") specializes in mushrooms, but also offers salts, cheeses, chocolates, vinegars and more. Other places to check include: "Formaggio", "Chefshop", "Straubs" and "Zabar". Also, "The Nibble" is a great little gourmet foods magazine to check out on the web.

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