Today’s Trend Is Tomorrow’s…
Posted by estiator at 10 March, at 16 : 30 PM Print
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS By CONSTANTINE N. KOLITSAS Business Coach
Some people will end that phrase with the word “joke” and others with the word “tradition.” Figuring out which trends will end up in the first category and which in the second can be tricky, but for observers of history, they can often be predicted. To be truthful with ourselves, we need to recognize that just about everything started out as a fad. And the good fads matured into trends. In the food world, chicken wings and mozzarella sticks became trendy about 30 years ago. Look at menus today and they’re still there (traditions). Not so much for jalapeño poppers and cronuts (jokes).
The best trends are the ones that are imported traditions from other countries and cultures. Think how few restaurants were serving octopus ten years ago and how ubiquitous it is on menus today. Americans finally caught on to what Greeks, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Japanese, and so many other peoples have known for centuries. And look at sushi. How many remember when President George H.W. Bush famously vomited after politely consuming sushi at a state banquet in Japan? Most Americans sympathized. “The poor bastard,” they said, “I’d barf too if they made me eat raw fish.” Luckily, we’ve acquired a taste for the stuff.
And fried calamari. I remember going to Greece in 1984 with a crew of college classmates. When one of our hosts served “kalamarakia,” a handful of the group frantically refused to even taste it, leaving it all to the rest of us, who happily devoured it in their stead.
But not all imported foods make it to the big leagues. Even some of the good ones. Scotch eggs, for example, are a personal favorite. A hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, deep fried and topped with a steak sauce is one helluva tasty bite. But this dish never even made it past “culinary curiosity” status. Same for arancini, or fried rice balls. The stuff is amazing. I first had it in the late 80s. While there are seemingly hundreds of Italian restaurants on every block, few menus have this deliciously simple appetizer.
And there are food trends that have absolutely nothing to do with taste. I know, that sounds silly, but you know it’s true. So many food trends are born of the desire to slim down or to suddenly transform ourselves into healthy beings. Some of the trends associated with this category have certainly been ordained into the tradition stratosphere while others have been relegated to the area of our brains where bad memories are stored.
The best trends are the ones that are imported traditions from other countries and cultures. Think how few restaurants were serving octopus ten years ago and how ubiquitous it is on menus today
Of the health-conscious trends, the ones that seem to have the most staying power are the ones that cater to specific diets. Gluten-free bread products and pastas for people who struggle with gluten allergies or celiac disease; milk substitutes for people who have difficulty processing dairy. One of the most important trends we are seeing in real time is the trend toward veganism. The jury will be out on that one for a few more years, but my money says that anything that is fabricated to taste like meat but isn’t will eventually have its reckoning day. You can tell me that it’s made from real vegetables until the cows come home (sorry for the image, my vegan friends), but if it began as a beet and now looks like a burger broiled on a Wendy’s grill, I’m not buying it. Someone with a chemistry set had more to do with it than any chef I know. But that’s not to say that veganism isn’t here to stay. My personal belief is that people will continue to gravitate to natural vegan dishes rather than the impossible concoctions that we may someday unbelievably learn are carcinogenic. Give me a dish of roasted beets with skordalia and keep your “beyond” meat any day.
So then, my rule of thumb is, if it’s a healthy trend, keep it real. And if it’s an imported trend, it’s all about how delicious it is, combined with whether people can get their minds around something new (is sea urchin ready to come from the comfort of sushi menus, or is its seawater mouthfeel something Americans will need more time to embrace?). And finally, when it comes to junk food, while there are hundreds of items that aspire to be the next buffalo chicken wings, there have been no serious challengers in the three or four decades that they’ve been with us.
With all this said, restaurants shouldn’t necessarily shy away from trends that we know will be the joke of the industry five or ten years down the line. If they are popular today, then seize the day and make the money. Just don’t build a business model around something whose longevity is suspect.
Constantine Kolitsas is the president of CNK Consulting, a restaurant consultant and coaching business. He can be reached at 203-947-6234 or at ckolitsas@gmail.com.
