2009 has been a great year for food in Seattle, but with the new year just around the corner, I thought I’d share my guesses insight into what we’ll see in restaurants and home kitchens 2010. Some of these may be national trends, but as Pacific Northwesters, we tend to be the canaries in the coalmine, especially when discussing what we put in our bodies.
As always, there will be a balance of healthy, socially-conscious eating and perverse gluttony (see Bacon Explosion).
Seattle will go sous-vide crazy
The fancy restaurants have already been doing it for years (though, perhaps illegally). But in 2010, I predict that sous-vide preparations will start showing up on restaurant menus everywhere (like The Keg and McCormick & Schmick’s), not just at cutting-edge gastropubs. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, sous-vide describes a cooking method where food is vacu-sealed and heated very slowly (hours or even days) in temperature-controlled water baths. The method lets cooks achieve heavenly textures not achievable with an oven, stove or fry-o-lator. 2009 saw the release of the SousVide Supreme, the world’s first home-use water oven. But at $499, it only appeals to serious food geeks (even I don’t have one yet). I predict that 2010 will give us the “George Foreman Grill of sous-vide”, an afforable, mass-market water oven, complete with late night infomercial.
Homemade Pasta is the new Canvolution
There’s nothing new about homemade pasta. Nor is there anything new about canned foods. Both are oldschool, inexpensive, and very social ways of preparing food. 2009 gave rise to a huge wave of canning parties, covered under the umbrella movement of “Canvolution”. I predict a similar wave of ad-hoc food gatherings next year, and I think homemade pasta could be the recipe of choice. Making pasta – particularly rolling and cutting noodles – is a fun group activity. Plus, dried pasta lasts forever and makes for a great gift (just like canned goods). Stock up on Semolina flour – it’s gonna be a carb-tastic new year!
Sliders Out, Rillettes In
You know sliders are falling out of fashion when they appear on the menu at Jack-In-The-Box. Although the mini-burgers enjoyed their time in the spotlight at almost every restaurant in the city, it’s time for us to move on to the next “it” dish. My prediction: rillettes. Sure, they lack the mass appeal of a very small hamburger, but these spreadable potted meats are a total rustic treat. The first rillette I ever tasted was a creamy little pot of salmon at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in New York. Let me tell you, it left an impression. Although pâté may be hopelessly off the mainstream, I think rillettes have a fighting chance.
Other Predictions, Hopes and Ramblings…
- Cupcakes are over. And so are the Pinkberry knockoffs. Please, let’s move on.
- Sustainable sushi will be the new norm. With more and more diners checking sustainable seafood watchlists at the dinner table, we can no longer gorge on unagi without social consequences. Bravo to chefs like Hajime at West Seattle’s Mashiko for leading the charge.
- Salts on the rise. Look for specialty salts to play a major role in restaurant menus. Oh, and regular table salt is so last decade. If it’s not Chardonnay-smoked, truffle-infused, or from an obscure seaport town in France, I’m not interested.
- We get it: bacon is delicious and makes for ironic kitsch. Let’s find a new punch line in 2010. How about blowfish?
- Seattle chefs embrace (or at least tinker with) molecular gastronomy. It may not be for everyone, but molecular gastronomy – sciencey food made through extremely geeky methods – is still turning heads around the country. There are a number of brave Seattle chefs are already having fun with science, but in a city with so many artists, I have to believe the best (and weirdest) is yet to come.
I’ll never give up my perennial love for bacon, but I love the notion of a sous-vide craze taking over the area. I’m still on the fence with the gastro-geekery; I appreciate the science of it, but haven’t quite developed a full-on crave for it yet. Definitely excited to see what the new year brings and happy holiday wishes to you!
Good to hear that Sliders are on their way out! They’re everywhere!
Oh, I forgot one. I think there will be an influx of Jewish Delis and corresponding NY bagel places. I hope Queen Anne gets one 🙂
Don’t forget local and sustainable food restaurants. Many local chefs have already embraced this localvore trend, Dillon from ‘Sitka and Spruce’ for one, but with the introduction of Seth Caswell’s ‘Emmer and Rye’ on Queen Anne, local is definitely here to stay.
Hey, great predictions. Not sure if Seattle will go sous-vide crazy, but I do like the idea of fewer cupcakes, more potted meats and homemade pasta!
And I just bought some smoked bacon salt, to be ground in a mortar and used, well, you know…
Cheers to you and good luck with your chef dreams!
Tamara
I love the homemade pasta idea. I would like to know more research about sous-vide. I’ve eaten sous-vide preparations- very delicious, but cooking something in plastic for a long period of time makes me wonder about the side affects. Do you know if there is research about sous-vide and cancer? (feel free to roll your eyes)
I would love to see rillettes more mainstream. And of course more molecular gastronomy, geeky food is the best.
I’d be happy if 2010 were the year of homemade pasta, sooo good, and so easy to make at home. Forget the semolina flour though, go to Big John’s PFI and get some 00(zero-zero) flour. (It’s what Italians use for pasta & pizza dough.) It provides a heavenly texture, sturdy enough to be kneaded, but not as tough as semolina creates.
Very innovative and looks great.
The amount and level of the work done here is very informative
I hope to be able to read more interesting posts then. Will probably tell all of my friends about how smart you are
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I love the idea of homemade pasta gatherings! It’s such a fun and social way to connect with friends. Do you have any favorite recipes or tips for beginners?
It’s exciting to see Seattle taking the lead in food trends! I can’t wait to try sous-vide dishes at local restaurants. Do you think homemade pasta will become as popular as canning parties? I’m all for more social cooking experiences!
great predictions! i remember when sous-vide was still this mysterious french technique that only the fancy restaurants used. it’s funny how quickly it became mainstream – now you can find sous-vide equipment at any kitchen store. the bacon explosion reference is perfect too – that was definitely the epitome of that “perverse gluttony” side of food trends you mentioned.
what i always loved about seattle is how the food scene here seems to predict what the rest of the country gets excited about a year or two later. the focus on local, sustainable, farm-to-table dining that seattle embraced so early? that definitely became a nationwide movement.
i’m curious which of your predictions actually panned out the most accurately. do you ever look back at this post and marvel at how right (or wrong) you were? it’s fun to see these time capsule posts from almost 15 years ago now. thanks for sharing your insights!
great predictions! i’ve been hearing a lot about sous-vide lately, so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s predicted to go mainstream. it’s one of those techniques that seems almost too convenient – you can cook something perfectly and it stays that way for days. that convenience factor alone could make it huge in restaurants.
the pacific northwest really does seem to be ahead of the curve when it comes to food trends. we were doing farm-to-table before it became a nationwide movement, and i remember when locavorism was still a weird word people had to look up.
i’m curious to see how the “balance” plays out – the healthy, conscious eating versus the bacon-heavy extremes. both seem to be thriving simultaneously, which is kind of odd when you think about it. are people really swinging between wheatgrass shots and bacon explososion? or maybe it’s different segments of the population entirely.
either way, looking forward to seeing what 2010 brings to the seattle food scene. thanks for putting together these predictions – it’s always fun to look back at the end of the year and see how accurate you were.
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