Culinary forecasting is a lot like predicting the weather: Sometimes it’s accurate, and other times, not so much.
This year, two of the most respected food-and-restaurant consultants on the national scene forecast a year of abundance, especially given last year’s strong economic growth.
Consumer confidence — at least right now — is high, so people aren’t cowering in conservative positions, either with their finances or their palates. They are more open to experimenting, and when it comes to new flavors and new ingredients, they’re going for it.
Baum and Whiteman consultants, based in Brooklyn, call this “our restless palate syndrome.”
Their 2015 trends report predicts a hunger for more spicy sauces and condiments, with chefs experimenting with ingredients like piquant honey (habanero honey, jalapeño honey and ghost chile honey) and vegetable yogurt, like kimchee yogurt and tomato yogurt.
They also say hummus is the new Greek yogurt. High in protein, low in fat, it’s already showing up in a wide variety of flavors — including Thai chile, lemongrass, chocolate mousse — and no telling how wild things will get by the end of the year.
And going beyond bacon, they’re hot for that’s made with roasted hot red peppers — tossed into pasta, spread onto pizza or mixed into sauces for fish.
Out on the other coast, San Francisco-based consultants Andrew Freeman & Company are busy with predictions of their own.
They’re also high on nduja and hot spices like sriracha, along with taco mania (Los Chingones tacqueria in Denver is a good example) and all things pickled and fermented.
And look for more high-end fast-casual restaurants, they say, helmed by fine-dining chefs. In Colorado, that scene includes (co-owners of Frasca Food and Wine) in partnership with Chipotle Mexican Grill, and include Jeremy Bringardner, recent winner of the Food Network’s “Chopped,” Art Smith — formerly Oprah Winfrey’s chef — and Tal Ronnen, considered one of the top vegan chefs in the country.
When it comes to food trends, Denver-based restaurant consultant John Imbergamo has been reading all the new reports, and has formed some opinions of his own.
“Everyone wants to know what’s the next kale, because kale went from 0 to 100 in 2014,” he said. “Everyone’s making everything out of kale.”
Some predict cauliflower will be the next kale, but Imbergamo disagrees, saying that you can’t predict these kind of trends, which tend to be “organic” in terms of popularity growth.
He agrees, however, that oysters will continue to be everywhere because a pipeline of supply has lowered prices dramatically.
“The sustainability of oysters is firmly in place,” he said. “They’re almost all raised in beds, almost to order in terms of size and salinity.”
When it comes to meat, he notes that “with beef prices at record levels,” restaurants will be looking for more affordable cuts of beef — like the .
Some predictions, he thinks, are just beyond the pale.
They include in restaurants. “I think that’s much ado about three or four restaurants pulling the plug,” he said.
Same for the idea that many restaurants will start selling nonrefundable tickets to meals — like airplane seats on a plane — which started with restaurants like Alinea and Next in Chicago.
“I don’t think we’ll see much change with that in Denver,” he said.
He waves off such suggestions as just part of the game.
“They always put some stuff on there designed to be controversial,” he said, “or a little crazy.”
