American restaurant consultants Baum + Whiteman have predicted twelve food and beverage trends for this year, reports Fine Dining Lovers:

1: Restaurants in Retail Stores:  restaurants will be used as a means of attracting more shoppers into malls, department stores, hotels, airports, and museums.

2: Tasting-Only Menus:  Tasting menus are increasingly replacing à la carte menus in fine dining restaurants, the diners having a more exact idea of what they are in for in terms of cost.

3: The Rise of Fine Dining Chicken (Posh Chicken):  Chicken is predicted to become as desired as a good steak when eating out, ‘cooked Sous Vide and served alongside foie gras, black mission figs or quail eggs’.

4: Out with Food Courts, In with Food Halls: Food Halls serving fine fresh foods in malls, even if more expensive, will replace the fare of fast food chains dominating shopping malls currently.

5: The Rise of Fish:  Oily fishes such as anchovies, sardines, and mackerel are increasing in popularity, served on salads and on pasta.

6: A Fresh Focus on Beverage:   Tea is big news, with Tea Bars being opened by Starbucks, and flavoured teas are the trend.  Teas are also being used in food preparation. Cider will also a big trend, as are low alcohol, gluten-free, and food-friendly beverages.   Vermouth, sour beer, and pressed juices will become more popular.

7: Regular Butter Out:  In restaurants plain bread and butter is boring and out.  Artisan bread baskets served with tomato jam, smoked eggplant dips, roasted garlic butter, beet butter, salsa butter, chicken liver butter, rosemary hummus, porcini oil, smoked ricotta, and more spreads.

8: Green in The Mainstream:  Vegetarian, eco-friendly, and gluten friendly restaurants will become the norm rather than the exception, as more restaurant patrons are diabetic, on Paleo diets, and ‘weight challenged‘.

9: Pop-Ups, Food Fairs, and Single Item Restaurants:  Creators of foods that became popular on food markets are opening one-item shops, pop-up shops, or food trucks, before they become big league retailers.

10: Off-the-Plate Dining Experiences:  It’s not only food that attracts the patron and plays with his/her senses, but other elements will influence the dining experience, such as image projections on the restaurant walls, smells, and music.

11: A New Wave of Asian Flavours: Asian flavours such as gochujand, shichimi togarashi, parilla, sansho, shisito peppers, and okonomiyaki are increasingly used as ingredients in restaurants.

12: Middle Eastern Cooking:  Turkey, Morocco, and the Middle East are influencing cuisine.