TREND REPORTS

• 12 TOP RESTAURANT, HOTEL FOOD-AND-BEVERAGE TRENDS 2010
  How the downturn has altered consumer expectations and what it will take to lure diners out of their economic storm shelters. Emotional resonance and the left side of the menu. Going downscale to go upscale. Fresh = Local = Hand-Made = Safer. Why fried chicken is the new pork belly. Food additives are back, but this time they're "good" ones. All about Innards and Odd Parts. How "Voices of Authority" have lost control over food and beverage language. Why tart/sour is the New Bitter. Plus: 25 buzzwords for 2010.
  
  
• 13 TOP RESTAURANT, HOTEL AND FOOD TRENDS FOR 2009
  With the economy whipping everyone, look for major menu tinkering…especially by hotels and casual restaurant chains; The bistros are coming, the bistros are coming!…and prices are tumbling; Eating lower on the hog; Comfort food is back but this time with fascinating gastronomic twists; Watch for an upsurge in small plates as more people make dinner out of affordable bar snacks; "Underground restaurants" will plague traditional operators; Breakfast-like food on the menu all day…a great time to be in the diner business. Buzzwords include: Maple syrup. Mozzarella bars. Porchetta. Stevia. Gastropubs. The cuisines of Peru and other Andean nations, Korea, Catalonia and the Basque regions. Duck eggs. An attack on sodium and on bottled waters.
  
  
• RETHINKING THE MEANING OF MENU LAUGUAGE:
  Your customers have become ultra-sensititve to menu prices. What should your strategy be? And what does this have to do with meatballs? Instead of playing around with prices and portions, we're telling our clients to appeal to emotions. To tug at heartstrings. To talk about feelings. Here's how.
  
  
• RESTAURANT CONSULTANTS PREDICT 11 TOP DINING TRENDS FOR 2008:
  The Need for Speed; Focus on Niche Markets; Live Fire Theatrics; Gastro-Bartenders: Innards and Odd Parts; Gastronomy for Children; Over-the-Top Burgers; Ethical Eating; Eggs; Korean Food
  
  
• RESTAURANT CONSULTANTS PREDICT TOP DINING TRENDS FOR 2007:
  We predict major dining trends for the year ahead: Tropical superfruits, chef-driven steakhouses, Peruvian cuisine, ethical eating, exotic salts, wildly flavored chocolates, and molecular gastronomy are on the menu for 2007. Buzzwords include: Marcona almonds, aji peppers, potatoes bravas, flavored salts, house-cured meats and fish, humanely raised cattle, bahn mi Vietnamese sandwiches, savory ice creams, slow cooking at home, matcha green tea powder.
  
  
• WHAT'S AT STAKE IN THE TREND TOWARD CHEF-DRIVEN STEAKHOUSES?
  Are star chefs overturning classic steakhouse economics by grafting fancy cooking onto what's supposed to be a simple broiler business?
  
  
• HOW TO SHIFT MENUS IN LIGHT OF NEW CONSUMER TRENDS:
  "Participatory shopping" and mix-and-match ordering has operators deconstructing their menus. Is this the end of the three-course meal? How you can react now.
  
  
• TOP TEN DINING TRENDS, 2006:
  International restaurant consultants Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. have forecast major new dining trends that will impact how Americans eat in the year ahead. Chocolate gets mass-market snob appeal; snacks muscle in on upscale restaurant menus; vinaigrettes are the new dressings; watermelon is the new tomato, fat is back, and others. Buzzwords for the year ahead.
  
  
• HOW MEGA-BUFFETS ARE CHANGING HOTELS' F&B FORMULAS:
  Striking designs, luxury materials, small-batch exhibition cooking are adding high theater to hotel ventures in Singapore, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Dubai. Where to next?