When it comes to trends, 2023 was a very busy year. Everything from Tik Tok’s butter boards to caviar bumps were impossible to miss. The best trends lead back to ingredients and techniques that are still kicking around because they are just that good.
Some trends stand the test of time. Which will make it to 2024?
These are the trends you will start to see in every restaurant next year.
The real trick is using old ingredients in new ways to excite the palate and create that incredible sense of having traveled with just your senses.
2024 Culinary Trends
First things first, restaurant dining is back big time. We predict that everything Omakase-style will continue to grow in popularity with ticketed chef’s table meals that feel anything but formal. Keep your eyes peeled for tinned treats from the sea and the reemergence of quality sardines packed in Spanish olive oil filling up charcuterie boards with house made seafood conservas, smoked mussels, and more.
First trend? Restaurant dining is back.
Look for tinned treats on every charcuterie board.
Sardines, caviar, and octopus will be a savory, salty treat in every spread.
Veggies take center stage in everything from dry aged koji carrots to the unseating of cauliflower, with our prediction that the cruciferous crown will pass to cabbage in all of its frilly glory. Think charred, braised, or fermented cabbage gracing that cozy lunch or dinner table.
Veggies and meats will push the limits of dry aging beyond tomahawk steaks, enabling chefs to play with flavor and texture in new ways with beets, seafood, and more. Simon Dolinky, Director of Culinary Development, points to Chef Charbel at Lady Hawk in West Hollywood who “is dry aging several items in house. The Rohan Duck which is dry aged and then grilled over a woodfire is a standout.”
Move over cauliflower, cabbage is in town.
Cabbage is an unlikely centerpiece-worthy-vegetable.
Salty and sweet are always in fashion but with more awareness comes more varieties of sugars made from dates, beets, and coconuts. Small batch salt producers are in higher demand than ever with varieties like Celtic Sea Salt, Fleur de Sel, and Portland based Jacobsen Salt Co. that source locally and ship widely.
Good salt has added health benefits to boot. We’re big fans of the chocolate smoked salt croissant, in particular, and think that pastries of the savory and sweet variety with international flare are here to stay. Did you know that salty and sweet could be so complex?
2024 Cocktail and Beverage Trends
Behind the bar, we’re shaking things up, texturally, to incorporate all of your senses with floral scents and savory notes from lesser used herbs like tarragon and chervil. The best part about these trends? “Anytime we dig deeper on a specific ingredient to understand [more],” says Andy Nelson, Director of Beverage Experience for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, simple ingredients like “sugars and cinnamons, warming spices, and umami flavors” can make classic cocktails new.
Look for cocktails experimenting with unique, unexpected spices.
Umami is a familiar term but when used to enhance a drink, the results are truly special. Take fat washing for example. Gin, whiskey, or tequila get a little duck fat or spam wash which brings out the smooth richness in a truly mind bending way. Case in point, our unforgettable salmon martini.
Right now, Nelson is especially excited about “savory cocktails. As an industry, I feel like we have tried and failed at this multiple times. Now, there’s a new generation of bartenders approaching the challenge with a newfound lens.”
Which is why raiding the kitchen is especially fun. Staples like a dash of fish sauce or swirl of black tahini make unforgettable drinks. Katherine Wojcik, Director of Beverage Programs and Partnerships, shares the most surprising trend this year happens to be cinnamon. “It makes sense because it is used in so many cuisines, but also surprising because it has always been there…..”
Salt rims are about to get a whole new upgrade.
Cinnamon, with its roots in Ceylon, Sri Lanka, is a fragrant warming spice that has way more to offer then just its supporting role in a pumpkin spice latte and can be found as far back as ancient Egypt. Drinks like Mexican horchata or Peruvian chicha morada steep the fragrant bark in liquid to infuse every sip with a subtle woodsy depth.
Keep an eye out for cocktails made with some of the lesser-known Latin American spirits like Singani, Cocuy, and Bacanora and then garnishes that play well with others. Your salt rim is about to get a playful upgrade with the addition of 3D printed images or edible bubbles.
2024 Dining Experience Trends
All, of course, with an eye to sustainability efforts including a zero waste kitchen and bar program, with special attention paid to farms that use regenerative agricultural practices. Of course, culinary experiences as a whole will be multi-sensory with meals that don’t just taste good but smell, sound, and feel good, too with table settings that wow.
In 2024, the culinary setting and presentation will wow.
And we really mean it — wow.
And last, but certainly not least, is the impact of AI on everything from the kitchen to the bar and beyond.
So, cheers to a new set of trends to welcome in 2024! We can’t wait for you to try them all.
