Yesterday we took part in an hour-long, food writer Twitter chat hosted Colman Andrews, editor of The Daily Meal, about our predictions for 2011. (You can read em all if you check out the hashtag #fdtrends11.) While we’d be the first to tell you there always too much emphasis on what’s hot and what’s not and what’s next — green food trucks! more things on sticks! –as opposed to who is doing great work and what tastes good, we’re pleased at least a few of our guesses actually hew in that direction.
For example, that more and more foods ordinarily found only mass-produced in New York City — such as mayonnaise, bitters, bagels, crackers, potato chips, kimchee, seaweed and vinegar — are and will be given the artisanal treatment, made with care and with great, sustainably sourced ingredients. That the DIY, grow-your-own movement will continue to literally blossom (perhaps off-setting at least some of the cost of artisanal everything). That egg recalls, books like Four Fish and other food scares are leading more people to shop with eye toward production value rather than simply rock-bottom prices.
These are all largely good things, in our opinion. What’s more, we kinda think things being over is over. Just think of all the best trends of the past few years here in New York City: Pickles, bacon, comfort food, locavorism and farm-to-table, exploration of every corner of the world of cuisine, whole animals and little-seen proteins and parts, urban foraging and farming, supper clubs and canning classes. These and other “trends” aren’t going anywhere, thanks to the mere fact there are enough educated eaters to support them all and keep them constant. Though according to one recent op-ed on the New York Times Book Review website, our overall obsession with food in general may be the trend that will be the end of us all….
