THE Next 20

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THE YEARS'S BEST NEW DINING TRENDS

Tap Water Sorry, restaurants, we’re done paying $9 for imported H²0. We especially like it when you add a little something to our tap water, like cucumber (Karuchie) or strawberries (Gio).

Feist The new Gipsy Kings.

Tiny Restaurants with Tiny Menu Doing a few things very well for a limited number of people is the new recipe for success.

Blackboard Menus Saving the planet one laminated menu at a time. 

Champagne Cocktails Beyond kir royales, the ante gets upped with whisky (Gastropod) or simply with a shot of gin (Mosaic). 

House-Marinated Olives Always a good thing to snack on while perusing the menu – or blackboard.

House-Made Chorizo Chorizo makes everything better. 

Mom’s Cooking We love it, whether it’s Mom’s recipe (Atlantica, Smoken Bones), food inspired by Mom’s cooking (Vella) or Mom actually doing the cooking (Skinny Legs & Cowgirls).

Spaetzle The new gnocchi. 

Pannacotta The new crème brûlée. 

Single Varietal Honey (e.g. Fireweed) The slight herbaceous note gives fireweed honey a spicy complexity.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream We guess in Australia the equivalent would be Vegemite. 

Tongue Not just for sandwiches anymore. 

Cheek Not just for cod anymore.

Don’t Call It Tapas Both Kultura (Toronto) and Mosaic (Halifax) have appended the trendy catchphrase “Social Dining” to their names. It’s the new “Chinese and Canadian Food.”

Duck Confit in Risotto Crispy, creamy and rich.

Rosé No one’s confusing rosé with that sickly sweet plonk that it used to be. When not drinking our own Canadian wines, go for the claret. 

Salt Cod And not just the cheeks. 

Cheesecake Everywhere from high-end to humble, cheesecake is back in a big way.

Mostarda The Northern Italian condiment featuring fruit and powdered mustard. 

Fernet-Branca, Cynar Crazy bitter Italian digestifs, the latter made from artichokes.

House Ketchup Especially with unexpected flavours, like cherry (So.Cial) and chipotle (Mosaic).

Ratatouille The movie and the dish. 

AND THE WORST

Square Plates The tall food of the 21st century.

Foam About as cutting-edge as a rerun of Friends.

Vanilla in Savoury Dishes Almost never works.

Sous-vide Upscale boil-in-a-bag.  

Critter Wines Chances are if there’s a cartoon animal on your wine label, you’re a rube.

Half-Assed Tapas Anytime a waiter says, “Our dishes are somewhere between an appetizer and an entrée,” things are bound to get confusing.

Write to us: letters@enroutemag.net

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