110 : 111THE : FUTURE : LABORATORY THE FUTURES REPORT : FOOD AND DRINK

It’s getting hot out there as fiery chilli sauces and authentically spicy Thai dishes come to the fore. With the expert help of Joe Lutrario, features editor at Restaurant magazine, we have pinpointed the 10 culinary trends that will make food and drink’s collective temperature rise in 2015 and beyond.

OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : SOM SAA, LONDON; DRINKING VINEGARS AT RAWDUCK, LONDON. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE WOODHOUSE; DIRT CANDY, NEW YORK; RAWDUCK, LONDON. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE WOODHOUSE

TOP 10 CULINARY TRENDS

We’ve explored restaurants with disruptive, third-wave chefs at the helm where a penchant for making everything in-house is driving the emergence of border-defying mash-ups and bespoke hot sauces.

Whether in London, New York or Sydney, these stripped-back, low-budget eateries feature tight, curated menus that are proving to be a breeding ground for the new and next.

Our attention has been grabbed by an exciting and authentically fresh take on fusion cooking, and by mainstream meat-free dishes that have broken free of their alternative lifestyle roots.

And we’re impressed by the brands and restaurants that are exhibiting high levels of creativity with hybrid and fermented soft drinks to surprise a growing brand of foodies under 30.

112 : 113THE : FUTURE : LABORATORY THE FUTURES REPORT : FOOD AND DRINK TOP 10 CULINARY TRENDS

OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : SINSEMIL.LA SUPPER CLUB, NEW YORK; NIÑO VIEJO, SPAIN; TOSTADA DE PULPO SALSA VERDE AT NIÑO VIEJO, SPAIN;26 GRAINS PORRIDGE, LONDON

4. Bolt-on Wine Shops

This year’s must-have restaurant accessory is a bolt-on wine shop. Jason Atherton’s Social Wine & Tapas in London, launched in June 2015, lets diners browse carefully curated bins before sitting down to eat. At Vinoteca in King’s Cross, London, an adjoining wine shop has proved a big hit with commuters.

5. Haute Vegetarian

Meat and fish are off the menu at Dirt Candy in New York but so is the word ‘vegetarian’. Veg-centric food is gaining traction in the culinary upper echelons by concentrating on pure quality and avoiding all the usual over-worthy lifestyle messaging about saving the planet one bite at a time.

1. Two-culture Mash-ups

Dual-culture restaurants with tight menus and a small-plate ethos are overturning the overworked ‘fusion’ stereotype by focusing on two specific traditions, such as a meeting between Vietnamese food and specialities from the US’s Deep South, and refusing to dilute either cuisine. Charleston’s Xiao Bao Biscuit (southern US meets East Asian) and Bó Drake in London (East Asian meets barbecue) typify the new breed.

2. Real Thai

Dumbed-down, overly-creamy, overly-sweet versions of Thai cuisine are being replaced by the fire and funk of the real thing. Authenticity is the raison d’être of Som Saa in London, and of Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon, and New York where turmeric, Vietnamese coriander and green peppercorns are married with locally sourced ingredients.

3. Fermented Soft Drinks

In high-end restaurants, mocktails are losing ground to complex, grown-up house-made ferments made using fruit, vegetables, grains and herbs. Delicately fizzy, they are as sophisticated as any alcoholic drink, can be paired with food, and come with health benefits. In Gent, Belgium, De Vitrine sets the bar high with combinations of blood-red beetroot and elderberry.

114 : 115THE : FUTURE : LABORATORY THE FUTURES REPORT : FOOD AND DRINK WHOLE-SYSTEM EATING AND DRINKING

Whole-system Eating and Drinking : 115

9. Chilli Chefs

In-house chilli sauce is a red-hot item as chefs ditch ready-made for more bespoke flavours. US chef Douglas Alexander has launched Kickstarter-funded Angry Chef, and London street-food chef The Rib Man’s expletive-inspired hot sauce range, including Holy Fuck and FuckYuzu, has achieved cult status.

10. Cannabis Cuisine

As marijuana legalisation spreads across the US, the controversial plant is becoming popular at gourmet eateries. In New York, underground supper club Sinsemil.la offers a fine dining marijuana experience in which the herb features in butters, oils and flavourings. The ‘weed pairing menu’ offered at Hapa Sushi in Denver, Colorado, was a smartly judged marketing campaign – one that indicates the shape of things to come.

6. Convergence Drinks

Unlikely-sounding alcohol crossovers are big this summer, ranging from speers (spirit/beer combinations) to spiders (spirit ciders). In the UK, collaborators Beavertown brewery, Dogfish Head and the East London Liquor Company offer beer infused with botanicals more usually found in gin. In Washington DC, a porter ale/Bordeaux hybrid is on offer at the Red Hen restaurant.

7. Mexican Wave

Mexican fine dining is breaking through as an antidote to ubiquitous burrito chains. Hoja Santa in Barcelona, where chefs Albert Adrià and Paco Méndez are on fine form, is setting the pace, and the Wahaca group in the UK is hosting some of Mexico’s finest, including Enrique Olvera, creator of the ‘inflated tortilla’ with grasshopper salsa.

8. Mono Mania

More and more restaurants are adopting the mantra ‘do one thing, but do it well’. The basic ingredients may be humble, but people queue round the block for London’s La Polenteria, an eatery focused on polenta-based dishes; 26 Grains, a café which serves only porridge and muesli with a Scandinavian twist, is also hugely popular.