The cider craze has been booming over the past few years, with more and more establishments starting to carry hard cider. There are now four common choices for ordering a beverage at your local bar: beer, wine, liquor, or cider. Hard cider is an alcoholic beverage that is naturally gluten free made from the fermented…
Juicing isn’t new, and in fact, has been big business in Beverly Hills beginning in 1975 when Dave Otto opened the Beverly Hills Juice Club as “an extension of his ‘quest for the perfect diet,’” according to Mary Macvean in her LA Times article Juicing trend Still Going Strong in 2015. The latest trend, though,…
Fusion, mashups, frankenfoods…whatever you want to call them, combining foods that wouldn’t normally be prepared together into funky and creative dishes seems to be all the rage. Think about the nearly-passe “cronut,” the croissant-donut pastry invented by Chef Dominique Ansel in 2013—crowds went wild for the crazy, flaky, sweet, buttery goodness and the treat was…
Lemonade. It’s hot when it’s hot, and even when it’s not. As soda sales continue to dwindle, restaurant operators have seen lemonade sales increase. Not only in the summertime when temperatures soar; lemonade sales are relatively consistent from season to season. And why not? Lemonade is one of the few beverage categories that bartenders and…
Bone broth is probably as old as fire, or at least as old as when humans figured out a way to encase water in a vat while over fire—some 20,000 years ago. And surely you remember the old adage, “chicken soup is good for the soul.” Turns out what grandma touted as the healing properties…
Americans are drinking less soda and sweetened beverages, preferring instead to grab a cup of refreshingly cold iced tea, especially as temperatures rise. Sales have surged over the past twenty years—more than quadrupling during that time frame according to the US Tea Association. More than half of the American population drinks tea on a daily…
“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” ~Jonathon Swift In 17th century New York the island of Manhattan was covered with oyster beds and the salty shellfish was enjoyed by rich and poor alike, and by the 19th century oysters could be enjoyed from the street carts of the city, in saloons,…
Once thought to be an anomaly relegated to roam the earth in the form of a “roach coach,” food trucks are now the next culinary trend, suddenly everywhere: decorating the coastal regions of the eastern seaboard, dotting the landscape of the central plains and mountains, and coloring the beach towns along the west coast. Young…
We’ve all probably heard of it. Heck, many of us have probably even tried it. Craft sodas are not new, after all, and there are plenty of commercial varieties available in our neighborhood grocery stores. Jones Soda. Dry Soda. Reed’s. Thomas Kemper. They are all out there, and they are all very good. But now,…
It seems that America has small batch, artisan, and culinary fever. From food to wine, beer to coffee, the trend is rampant in 2015. So why stop there? Bring on the cocktails! Culinary influences from the kitchen are trickling into cocktail bars, especially inside fine dining. In 2015 look for more infused spirits. And not…