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20/20 Food & Wine
This year we dish out 20 of the hottest food trends. See what guiding principles are inspiring the world’s top chefs.
BY NICOLE ALPER
1. UNUSUAL FOOD & SPIRIT PAIRINGS Why stop at wine when pairing alcohol with food? The menu at Inter-Continental Boston Hotel’s SUSHI-TEQ features creative sushi and sashimi dishes as well as signature rolls paired with 69 premium tequilas, more than 10 flavored margarita cocktails, and 10 specialty exotic drinks, including the signature La Paloma with Patron Silver, fresh lime, and Jarritos grapefruit soda. (617) 217-5150, www.intercontinentalboston.com
2. INTERACTIVE DINING There’s a cooking class, and then there’s surprising your loved one with a meal you’ve cooked alongside a professional chef. In Los Cabos, Mexico, LAS VENTANAS’ new Men in White program lets guys take charge of the aromatic Herb Garden’s outdoor kitchen under the expert guidance of executive chef Fabrice Guisset. A butler escorts the man’s guest to the garden and presents her with the menu and champagne just as her date appears, donning his “whites” and completing the dinner prep. A private waiter then serves the couple under a palapa by candlelight. (888) 767-3966, www.lasventanas.com
3. HAUTE MIXOLOGY Having trouble telling your cocktail apart from your appetizer? At L.A.’s hottest new European bistro, FOXTAIL, Manhattans and gin and tonics take a back seat to haute creations such as Cucumber Pomegranate Deluxe and The Uva Bella, which features hand-pressed fresh green grapes and St. Germain Elderflower liqueur. (310) 859-8369, www.sbe.com/foxtail
 4. OFFBEAT DINING VENUES Many savvy diners are looking for an experience as much as a great meal, and restaurants are upping the ante by creating out-of-this-world dining environments. For one of the most aerial VIP dining venues, look to DINNER IN THE SKY, elevating foodies to new heights over such cities as Paris, Brussels, and Dubai. Dining tables are attached to a crane and hover 165 feet in the air. 011-32-2-333-3810, www.dinnerinthesky.com
5. THE RETURN OF ROSÉ After years of being snubbed, rosé has made a comeback as a wine of choice. “I believe this is due to greater sophistication of diners,” says Philadelphia’s FORK RESTAURANT owner Ellen Yin, “knowing that rosé isn’t necessarily sweet, and that a glass of rosé sparkling wine is very festive.” (215) 625-9425, www.forkrestaurant.com. Patrice Rames, chef/owner of Philadelphia’s restaurant PATOU is also growing his rosé list steadily with the increased demand. “It’s the perfect complement to healthy Provençal cuisine,” says Rames. (215) 928-2987, www.patourestaurant.com
6. UNIQUE LOCAL INGREDIENTS Risotto with pine needles, beef filet wrapped in mountain hay, and white wine soup with quail eggs and cereal flowers are just a few of the items on the menu at the two-Michelin-star ST. HUBERTUS restaurant in the Dolomites, Italy, located inside the Hotel & Spa Rosa Alpina. Chef Norbert Niederkofler also personally consults with guests at each of the restaurant’s nine tables to recommend the freshest ingredients and to customize dishes to individual tastes. 011-39-0471-849500, www.rosaalpina.it
 7. EATING LIKE A LOCAVORE Eating “local” is becoming all the rage. At the Park Hyatt Washington’s BLUE DUCK TAVERN in downtown D.C., eggs hail from a cooperative of Amish farms, and the menu notes where every kind of meat is raised before its journey to the table. (202) 419-6755, www.blueducktavern.com. In the Adelaide Hills in Australia a new restaurant, THE LOCAVORE, says it all, sourcing foods from local purveyors that deliver farm-fresh taste. 011-61-08-8339-4416, www.thelocavore.com.au
8. EATING FOR YOUR HEALTH Making smart eating choices has become de rigueur — especially on the road. With help from Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, the INTERCONTINENTAL HONG KONG has launched a new preventative health menu, Ihealth, addressing health concerns as well as the need for antioxidants. Think seared tuna kabobs and an omega-3 bento. 01-852-2721-1211, www.intercontinental.com
9. CHEF’S GARDEN TOURS Foraging for porcini mushrooms. Digging up beets. Plucking fresh rosemary from the garden. Today gourmet chefs are setting aside their toques to take guests on pick-it-yourself garden tours. Join the chef at New Zealand’s newly restored OTAHUNA LODGE for a tour of the potager-style gardens, where the resort grows virtually all of its fruits and vegetables, restoring many of the original heritage seed lines from the late 1800s, including indigenous varieties such as purple dragon carrots and Uvedale St. Germain pears. 011-64-3-329-6333, www.otahunalodge.com
10. CUSTOMIZED GOURMET COOKING CLASSES These days personalized cooking classes are on just about every menu — even at AAA Five Diamond restaurants. At the WHITE BARN INN in Kennebunkport, Maine, the charming chef Jonathan Cartwright will teach you to slice an onion and fillet a salmon (you can watch a demo or opt to be hands on, working alongside the entire kitchen staff), all before serving you one of the most delectable meals of your life. Each of the classes includes a White Barn Inn apron, signed cookbook, and a four-course dinner. (207) 967-2321, www.whitebarninn.com
11. FEMALE WINEMAKERS IN SONOMA The California wine country has enjoyed a female touch lately with more and more women — Sarah Quider at Ferrari-Carano, Margo Van Staaveren at Château St. Jean, and Melissa Stackhouse from La Crema Winery, to name a few — becoming more known in the winemaking business. Recently, Merry Edwards, the grande dame of pinot noir, opened MERRY EDWARDS WINERY in the heart of the Russian River, strategically placed among her three estates. (707) 823-7466, www.merryedwards.com
12. UNDERGROUND DINING In San Francisco, some chefs with more talent and daring than funding cook spontaneous feasts for food-obsessed city dwellers in a variety of unofficial venues (a rented space, someone’s home, an Airstream trailer). One of the most famous is Russell Jackson, whose underground eatery helped him raise enough money to open an above-ground restaurant, Lafitte, featuring a “no formal menu structure” concept, driven by what ingredients Jackson can source fresh rather than predetermined dishes. www.subculturedining.com
13. UPSCALE COMFORT FOOD Mom’s cooking is back — only today’s craze of good old-fashioned comfort food uses the finest ingredients. At SCREEN DOOR, a modern Southern kitchen located in One Arts Plaza in Dallas, you can indulge in deconstructed lobster potpie with young vegetables and a truffle corn puree, and The Ultimate Meatloaf studded with foie gras bits and served with garlic-buttermilk mashers and tomato gravy. (214) 720-9111, www.screendoordallas.com
14. SERVING UP WHOLE GRAINS Move over, potatoes and rice. With a new interest in all things Latin, whole grains such as quinoa, which is packed with protein and has a nutty flavor, are replacing heavy starches on plates around the country — even down South. At TRISTAN in Charleston, South Carolina, chef Aaron Deal has added a rack of lamb with quinoa risotto and Meyer lemon curd to its menu of innovative international dishes. (843) 534-2155, www.tristandining.com
15. COMMUNAL DINING Breaking bread with strangers has never been more fashionable. At Chicago’s ZED451 guests can opt to sit at one of four large wooden communal tables extending from a circular fire pit and can cherry-pick from one of several seasonally driven Harvest Tables. A variety of entrees are then brought around by the chefs themselves, who also act as servers. (312) 266-6691, www.zed451.com. And at XIV, the new Philippe Starck-designed Los Angeles restaurant, chef Michael Mina offers his version of “social dining” (think tasting menu with small, individual portions, served family style). www.sbe.com/xiv
 16. GOURMET AIRPORT EATS Upscale airport cuisine has taken off. LaGuardia Airport’s FIGS (concourse D), owned by celeb restaurateur Todd English, serves up Mediterranean dishes like mouthwatering fig, Gorgonzola, and prosciutto brick-oven flatbread pizza. (718) 446-7600, www.toddenglish.com. Want the ultimate airport dining? At Stuttgart Airport’s RESTAURANT TOP AIR, you can actually experience Michelin-star “airport food.” 011-0711-948-21-37, www.restaurant-top-air.de
17. WINE CELLAR DINING Today oenophiles can mix their passion for the vine with an intimate dining experience as wine cellars begin offering the ultimate insiders’ table. At VILLA FELTRINELLI in northern Italy, up to eight guests can dine amid more than 1,000 bottles of the finest vintages. 011-390-36-579-8000, www.villafeltrinelli.com. And at the newly opened GRAND DEL MAR in San Diego, up to a dozen guests can choose from a custom-designed menu as sommeliers move in and out of the working cellar to retrieve needed bottles. (858) 314-2000, www.thegranddelmar.com
 18. CHEF S’ AND RESTAURANTS’ OWN VINTAGES At CHARLIE PALMER’s eponymous restaurant in the newly opened — and very hip — The Joule hotel in Dallas, stop in at the chef’s NEXT VINTAGE wine store after dinner and pick up a bottle of Palmer’s own International Sommelier Conspiracy wines. (214) 261-4600, www.charliepalmer.com. And FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE & WINE BAR (locations nationwide) has also partnered with established vintners to launch the private wine label, 46 Diamonds, with labels designed by the artist Thomas Arvid. www.flemingssteakhouse.com
19. ANTIOXIDANT COCKTAILS Why shouldn’t your cocktails have a healthful, antioxidant-packed kick? The TIDES SOUTH BEACH in Miami has created a new signature Coral VeeV Cocktail, featuring VeeV liquor, the world’s first acaí spirit (acaí berries are packed with antioxidants), together with orange juice, muddled cucumber, and strawberries. The cocktail celebrates the hotel’s redesign and the launch of its new Coral Bar. (800) 439-4095, www.tidessouthbeach.com
20. ORGANIC EATS Today just about every property with enough acreage — and a gourmet dining room — is developing an organic garden to supply its kitchen. The 300-acre Brenham, Texas, gem, THE INN AT LAS DOS BRISAS, has devoted two of those acres to organic crops. Stroll through one of the four gardens, including orchards proffering persimmons, nectarines, and plums, and a greenhouse hosting over 150 different heirloom tomatoes that supply the newly anointed Mobil Five Star dining room. (979) 277-7750, www.dosbrisas.com
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