Culinary trends

Seems this past year the big food fads were butchery and raw cooking, which, to be honest, was a little weird. The food world seemed to be so polar encouraging you to get hands deep in offal and carefully slice sinew with a butcher’s knife … or make teff chips with coconut oil and chickpea mash. These will persist for a few more years until they reach middle-America and the major coastal cities get bored with them.

So then, what’s next? Some say barrel-aged cocktails will be the hippest new trend, one I anticipate some local bars and restaurants are probably already playing with. (I pin my hopes on The Shady Lady Saloon for this one.)

On the West Coast, a fervent push for specialty restaurants seem to be going. The soon to open Homeroom in Oakland, for example, is a restaurant that just serves mac ’n’ cheese dishes. La Bonne Soupe Café in downtown Sac, a place that focuses on soup, has had customers lining out the door ever since it opened.

Of course, it could be something completely different we haven’t heard of before. Here’s hoping!