Will 2016 see the demise of frankenfoods?
My crystal ball is a little foggy but I feel safe in making a few 2016 predictions. We’ll be eating with gusto, drinking with glee and flocking to new places like geeks to Star Wars.
What’s hot?
Camel milk is the new coconut water. Seaweed is the new kale. Craft beer (and the ‘beertail’, or beer cocktail) is hotter than natural wine.
Modern Vietnamese will continue to rise: in Melbourne, see House of Hoi An (Windsor) (here’s my review), St Cloud Eating House (Hawthorn), Tenpin (Port Melbourne, broader than Vietnamese but with influences) and Anchovy (Richmond).
Indonesian: surely it’s time for this varied cuisine to push beyond cheap student filler.
Ice cream: Paddle Pops are over. The ice cream buzz is in artisan outlets and conceptual confections, such as at the Thai-style Scroll Ice Cream pop-up in Windsor. Look out for more savoury ice cream too.
Which restaurants are going to take Melbourne by storm?
Get excited about Embla, the new city wine bar from The Town Mouse team, plus Florent Gerardin’s French bistro in the old Yu-u basement. Keep an eye on Copper Pot, the Seddon restaurant owned by talented chef Ashley Davis. Southside, Paul Wilson’s new restaurant will give Prahran Market a boost and Clinton McIvor will fan the fine dining flame at Armadale’s Amaru.
If you’re not in Melbourne, tell me what you’re looking forward to in your vicinity?
What’s going to fade?
This is blind, desperate hope but we’ll see the decline of frankenfoods and silly mash-ups such as cronuts (a croissant-doughnut hybrid), cruffins (croissant crossed with a muffin) and freakshakes (oversized milkshakes, generally with doughnuts stuffed in them). I also hope sushi will steer away from its ‘random stuff rolled with rice’ pathway (ham and cheese sushi is not okay). Instead, there’ll be a movement towards restrained perfection: a sublime bread roll, a nice cold glass of milk, a simple fish fillet on gleaming white rice.
First published in The Age, December 27th, 2015.
Did you catch me chatting 2016 Food Trends on ABC News Breakfast? Check it out below:
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