Infographic - The National Restaurant Association annually surveys around 1,300 professional chefs to explore food and beverage trends.
 
The National Restaurant Association (NRA), Washington, DC, annually surveys around 1,300 professional chefs – members of the American Culinary Federation, St. Augustine, Florida – to explore food and beverage trends. The findings are used to create a “What’s Hot” list, which provides insight to the foods, beverages and culinary themes that will be trending on restaurant menus the coming year.

New cuts of meat (e.g. shoulder tender, oyster steak, Vegas strip steak, merlot cut, etc.) ranked No. 1 for 2017 trends and was followed by street food-inspired dishes, many of which contain meat or poultry. House-made charcuterie came in fourth, while house-made sausage was 12. Trends that are cooling down include quinoa, black rice, and vegetarian and vegan cuisines. Concept trends centered on local, clean and sustainability are growing in popularity.


“Menu trends today are beginning to shift from ingredient-based items to concept-based ideas, mirroring how consumers tend to adapt their activities to their overall lifestyle philosophies, such as environmental sustainability and nutrition,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research for the NRA. “Also among the top trends for 2017, we’re seeing several examples of house-made food items and various global flavors, indicating that chefs and restaurateurs are further experimenting with from-scratch preparation and a broad base of flavors.”