The holiday rush is over, and the new year has begun, which means a different kind of customer is walking through your doors. January diners are focused on healthier habits, smarter choices, and new experiences that align with their “New Year, New Me” goals.
The beverage industry has never been more vibrant, with innovation shaping everything from coffee and tea to functional waters and non-alcoholic cocktails. Today’s consumers want drinks that not only taste amazing but also align with their lifestyles, whether that means a quick grab-and-go cold brew, a health-boosting probiotic soda, or a visually stunning mocktail worth posting online. From adaptogenic tonics to globally inspired flavors, this year’s beverage scene is brimming with opportunities to surprise and delight your customers.
Fresh, flavorful, and functional is the winning formula in today’s beverage market. Customers are drawn to options that deliver more than refreshment, with better-for-you sodas, sparkling botanical blends, and sophisticated zero-proof cocktails leading the pack. Global flavors are making their mark, from tropical fruits like yuzu and soursop to warming spices and floral infusions. Expect to see more crossover between food and drink trends—think desserts reimagined as lattes, spice-infused teas served chilled, or tropical syrups lending flair to craft sodas.
Continue reading Beverage Trends to Watch: Innovative Drinks Customers Want Now
Inflation and restaurants are more closely linked than ever, as rising costs in food, utilities, and labor continue to pressure the foodservice industry. Inflation is impacting nearly every aspect of our lives, and restaurant owners are feeling the squeeze. While many expenses are beyond your control, there is one area where you can take charge and start seeing real savings: your kitchen equipment.
In this blog, we’ll explore how investing in energy-efficient and multi-functional kitchen equipment can help combat the challenges of inflation and restaurants, allowing you to reduce costs and keep operations running smoothly. Continue reading How An Efficient Kitchen Can Help You Beat Inflation in Your Restaurant
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you leftover lemonade concentrate, make cake. When life gives you cake scraps, make cake pops. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and there’s always a way to reuse the food items lying around in your kitchen.
With the volume of food waste reaching astounding and unprecedented levels, a new movement encourages chefs to find creative and delicious solutions for reusing leftovers and reducing waste. This trend is called upcycling and it’s not just eco-friendly. It also inspires tasty and exciting dishes. Learn about how to get started with upcycling, especially when it comes to those summer fruits and vegetables that taste great but tend to overripe so quickly.
Continue reading A Guide to Upcycling: Save Your Produce From the Bin
TikTok, the home of viral food videos, is awash with pastry art. Creators, with millions of views, design realistic cakes disguised as shoes, phones, everyday devices, and even other foods. Meanwhile, other netizen bakers showcase eye-catching methods of piping, layering, designing, and decorating desserts.
It turns out it’s not too hard to create a head-turning, modern dessert, but you do need the right equipment to get started. Here are some trending dessert decorating styles and how you can recreate them in your home or commercial kitchen.
Continue reading Trending Cake Decorating Techniques & Tips
In July of 2023, the Hashtag #littletreat reached 30 million views on TikTok. This phrase referenced a TikTok trend where influencers were highlighting the small ways they indulged — a $6 latte to get you through the early morning commute, splurging on an artisanal cookie after a long meeting, or treating yourself to a late-afternoon ice cream. “Something to get you through the day,” “You deserve it,” and “self care” are common captions to these videos.
Little Treat Culture, which grew into a trend on TikTok is moving from the social media world into the culinary-sphere. Whole Foods listed “Little Luxuries” as an expected 2024 food trend. But what does a “Little Luxury” mean and how can food establishments capitalize on this trend?
Continue reading How to Put Little Treat Culture and Self Care on the Menu
From the tropics of India to the fiery kitchens of Mexico, the world’s love affair with heat and spice is richer and more complex than meets the eye. The global journey of peppers and spices has transformed the culinary landscape, igniting a passion for the bold and pungent that transcends borders and cultures.
While the story of spice is one of evolution and exploration, it’s also a tale of nuanced flavors, intricate sensations, and a quest for the perfect heat. As the world of spicy food continues to evolve, it’s no longer just about heat levels; it’s about the intricate and diverse flavor and heat notes that tingle (and more often than not – numb) the taste buds.
Complex heat, an appreciation for these nuanced flavors and notes, is predicted to emerge in the culinary world as a major trend, but how complex can the world of heat actually be? Read on to find out..
Continue reading A Deep Dive Into the Complex Heat of Chilies
So many of the foods that we eat are associated with their colors: “Taste the Rainbow.” “Golden Delicious Apple.” “Blueberries.” “White Chocolate.” Red Velvet Cake.” Sometimes these colors are a natural outcome of how the food grows or is produced. But, more often than not, in today’s culture of processed foods, our edibles are given artificial colors to make them more appealing and marketable. This includes everything from the use of Red 40 to bequeath Kool Aid with its fluorescent colors to the subtle use of Annatto extract to make Pop Secret’s buttery popcorn look more buttery than it is.
There are a number of reasons and methods to dye foods. And, while food dye colors can be controversial at times, let’s explore how food coloring can help at-home and professional chefs. We’ll look at which dyes to avoid, how to use natural dyes, and what the future of food coloring holds.
Continue reading The Vibrant World of Food Dyes: A Spectrum of Colorful Choices
Thai Beef, Caprese Salad, Pizza Pie, and Everything Bagels: What do these foods all have in common? In this case, it’s that the four aren’t just food dishes. Rather, they are also flavors of savory alcoholic beverages inspired by a new culinary trend that’s shaking up bars and restaurants world-wide. The trend is called savory cocktails, and allows mixologists to explore the full extent of their creativity in the quest to find unexpected, food-inspired flavors to” drinkify.”
How the culinary world came to the point of adding ghee and miso to its mixed drinks is an interesting story. If you go back to the origin of the word “cocktail,” when it first appeared in the early 19th century, it referred to a drink made up of sugar, water, bitters, and of course, liquor. By the 1870’s the concept of a sweet, fruity, alcoholic drink had become so popular that Connecticut native, Jerry Thomas, wrote “The Bartender’s Guide,” which popularized recipes for the Manhattan, Mint Julep, and Brandy Punch, but, what really helped the cocktail industry take off was the creation of better supply chains for bringing ice to warm areas. Somehow, cocktails survived the prohibition era, making a comeback during the mid-20th century, when interest in Hawaiian and Polynesian culture brought rum-based drinks to the forefront. Continue reading How to Craft a Savory Mixed Drink or Food-Inspired Cocktail
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the rich, smoky aroma of sizzling grills fills the air. What better time than now to fire up the grill for a tasty BBQ. While nothing compares to the crispy, savory taste of a steak or burger right off the grill, this is a great summer to add additional flavors and ingredients to your barbecuing repertoire. So, grab your apron and tongs, and prepare to learn about this summer’s hottest (no pun intended) flavors.
Barbecuing Basics
Welcome to the world of barbecuing, where food meets fire and magic happens! At the heart of barbecuing is the choice of grill. While barbecue purists may tote the benefits of a charcoal grill, and insist that it’s the only grilling method capable of producing the distinct smokey flavor and sear that we associate with barbecues, the truth is, gas grills are more than capable of outputting delicious, evenly-cooked meats. Gas grills are hardy, reach their desired temperature quickly, and as opposed to charcoal, where the temperature can’t be regulated, offer temperature control, ensuring that your hamburger gets seared to perfection. A great hack for indoor, or in-restaurant grilling is to pair a countertop charbroiler, with grilling briquettes that ensure an even sear and impart that unique smoky flavor profile. Another indoor option is to grill rotisserie style, using a special rotisserie oven, and a bird slathered in barbecue sauce.
Continue reading Spice up Summer with Traditional BBQ’s, Korean BBQ’s and More