From Chifa and Nordic-influenced cuisine to Za’atar and Vadouvan spices, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants’ chefs and bartenders from 80-plus venues have revealed what’s on the horizon for 2018 in their fourth annual Culinary & Cocktails Trend Forecast.
The forecast findings were uncovered through an extensive survey of chefs, sommeliers, general managers and bartenders from Kimpton restaurants, bars and lounges across 37 cities in the U.S. as well as Kimpton properties in Europe and the Caribbean. Some of the highlights:
Meat alternatives going mainstream. A majority of Kimpton chefs said plant-based proteins such as tempeh or bloody beet burgers will disrupt menus.
Prepare for Nordic influences. Expect to see more Nordic food influences, featuring fresh and colorful ingredients like carrots, cabbage and beets, and the embrace of alternative berries including juniper and lingonberries. Nordic influences will find their way onto drink menus as well, with Scandinavian cocktail ingredients like bramble shrub, dill, rhubarb and aquavit.
Emerging spices. What for spices like Za’atar, a traditional Middle Eastern blend of familiar and obscure flavors from sumac to thyme, and Vadouvan, the French interpretation of Indian curry and Kampot pepper – an elusive spice found only in the Kampot Province of Cambodia.
Drink your vegetables. Ninety-one percent of Kimpton bartenders say they plan to use vegetables in a cocktail in 2018 – and we’re not just talking garnishes. Bartenders are embracing nontraditional vegetables like beets, carrots, green beans, butternut squash, corn and radishes in their cocktail creations.
Next-level coffee cocktails. Nine out of 10 Kimpton bartenders say they’ll go beyond traditional Irish coffee to create coffee cocktails with a twist, from a Turkish espresso with aged rum and agave infused with cacao nibs to a surprisingly sophisticated cardamom-coffee vermouth Manhattan.
Funky brews. The report unveiled an upswing in German-style Gose beers, or other sour beers, which offer beer drinkers a crisp beer with a touch of tartness and herbal subtones (typically from the coriander added to most Gose beers).