Cocktails with a culinary twist, the “nose to tail” movement, South American and Mediterranean-influenced cuisine, and reimagined childhood desserts are among the top trends to watch for in 2017 according to Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants’ 2017 Culinary & Cocktails Trend Forecast.
The forecast findings were uncovered via an extensive survey of leading chefs, sommeliers, general managers and bartenders from 70+ Kimpton restaurants, bars and lounges across 30+ U.S. cities.
New this year, the report also includes insights from renowned food influencers, photographers and videographers. These culinary and cocktail aficionados partnered with Kimpton to create original content via videos, recipes and images, to showcase their take on interesting forecast findings.
"When it comes to culinary trends, Kimpton chefs and bartenders are on the hunt for the flavors and techniques that tantalize taste buds and expand diners’ culinary universe,” said Alex Taylor, Kimpton's senior vice president of restaurants & bars. “They’re true trendsetters and innovators in our kitchens and bars. These are the most creative and cutting-edge culinary concepts … [for] the coming year.”
Here are Kimpton’s top culinary trends:
- A surge in Mediterranean-inspired dishes like creamy sesame hummus with braised chickpeas, olive oil charred octopus and Moroccan spiced lamp chops with tomato-cucumber fattoush.
- New twists on favorite childhood desserts like boozy berry sundaes with blackberry chartreuse and sour cherry mascarpone-flavored frozen push-ups
- Ongoing interest in using the whole beast to create rich, flavorful dishes like oven-roasted bone marrow burgers, chicken skin chips crusted with quinoa and marcona almonds, braised pork neck ragout pappardelle and cheekily named pig face candy bars.
- The sustainability-driven “root to leaf” movement that embraces using vegetables in their entirety in dishes like radish greens, carrot top pesto, salt roasted beets and celery root purées
- More lean meat alternatives popping onto menus to be featured in dishes like smoked elk carpaccio and venison tartare as well as ox, bison, boar and ostrich for the more adventurous.
- Spices like cardamom, cumin and turmeric that add an extra kick to any dish.
And here are Kimpton’s leading cocktail trends:
- Adding a culinary twist to classic cocktails with ingredients like roasted grapes, salt-roasted plantains, smoked tomato water, pureed red pepper, snap peas, corn or even pickling brine.
- South American-inspired cocktails like a Caipirinha using mezcal, cachaca, jalapeno-infused cachaça, serrano chili syrup or pisco.
- Fat-washing cocktails with alternative non-meat-based fats like milk, coconut and peanut butter.
- Wine and cheese remain the top food and drink pairing, but new combinations like oysters and gin or sherry and fries will emerge as chefs and bartenders collaborate more on menus.
- Signature cocktails developed out of fermented beverages like Kombucha, ginger beer and coconut kefir for creations like a cranberry and tangerine Kombucha cocktail
For more information on this year’s Culinary & Cocktail Trend forecast including survey findings, recipes, YouTube videos, infographics and more insights, check out www.kimptonhotels.com/culinary-trends.
