What’s Hot for Dinner? America’s Favorite Restaurant Food Trends
Today’s Dietitan
By Sharon Palmer, RD
Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 42

Whether it’s international cuisine, comfort food, or leafy greens and whole grains, Americans are dining out now more than ever.

From traditional to nouveau, restaurants are dishing up big business in the United States. The National Restaurant Association predicted in their 2005 Restaurant Industry Forecast that 900,000 locations will serve more than 70 billion meals and snacks, restaurant sales will push $476 billion, and the restaurant industry will employ 12.2 million, making it the second-largest employer. (The government is the largest.) Even with a sagging economy, consumers still find the spare change to keep ordering up meals in restaurants to quiet their growling stomachs. According to Mintel International Group, Americans spend nearly one-half of their household food budget on eating out.

Dietitians play an active role in understanding the ever-expanding menu options their clients face every time they stare down a menu. After all, America’s palate is finicky. Last year’s haute cuisine may be this year’s warmed-up leftovers. Some dietitians are making a business out of getting involved in the dining-out experience.

Joanne Lichten, PhD, RD, author and consultant to the restaurant industry, says, “People are eating out more and more all of the time. The trend will continue and grow. Dietitians need to stop telling their patients, ‘Don’t go out to eat.’ They need to get real. Most people don’t have the time or the interest to cook all of their meals. Dietitians need to go beyond simplistic advice. They need to listen to their patients and what their priorities are and come up with a solution that they can both live with.”

The National Restaurant Association is teaming up with FoodFit, a healthy eating Internet company, to launch the Dine Out Smart program, an online resource for the growing number of American consumers looking for better nutrition on restaurant menus. The Dine Out Smart program offers trends and tips to help diners order nutritiously.

To provide current nutritional advice, dietitians need to keep all their senses tuned in to today’s dining trends. So what do dining experts see in their crystal ball on dinner plates across America? Here’s a look at 10 food trends heating up restaurants across the nation.

Families Heading Out to Eat
“We can’t ignore it; the middle market is huge right now. Family casual dining is booming,” says Bill Briwa, chef and culinary instructor at Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, Calif. As the time involved in traditional meal preparation diminishes, dining out is becoming a habit for families these days. The casual family dining market, estimated at nearly $30 billion in 2001, is highly competitive. Families are looking for quick service, good management, kid-friendly menus, good values, attractive decor, and predictable quality. Casual dining restaurants are still largely comprised of small businesses, but the trend is moving toward consolidation.

Casual chain restaurants are coming up with glitzy menus and marketing ploys to pack their restaurants. Orlando, Fla.-based Olive Garden, with 531 domestic locations, won the 2004 MenuMasters Award for Best Menu Revamp and is now the leading Italian restaurant in the casual dining industry. Some of the new menu items include chicken castellina, ravioli with sage butter, and salmon piccata.

Healthy Dining Out: No Longer an Oxymoron
It finally happened. Diners cried out for healthy foods and the restaurant industry started to listen. The National Restaurant Association noted that health-oriented consumers are demanding healthy foods at restaurants and that 40% of table service operators are featuring menu items with specific nutritional benefits on the menu. Restauranteurs are taking note that health-oriented items on the menu for diet-conscious diners is now a model for the restaurant’s growth. “More chefs are stepping up to the plate and offering healthy foods,” says Briwa.

But the definition of what consumers consider healthy is forever spinning like a free-range chicken on a stone oven rotisserie. Benchmark Hospitality, which manages 25 award-winning resorts, hotels and conference centers, predicts that the Atkins Diet is a fading fad. It looks like all those low-carb menu displays may soon find themselves growing dusty in the storage room. The trend is moving toward a healthy balance in the meal. Briwa remarks, “The Atkins diet is a flash in the pan. When you look back on it, it will be a blip on the radar screen. The good thing is that people are more aware of what they eat.”

Briwa notes that there is a huge trend toward seasonal, regional produce. Responsibly raised meats and organic vegetables are hot commodities these days. “Organic has gone mainstream. Chefs and restaurateurs crow about ingredients from local areas. They call ingredients by name on the menu,” he says.

O’Naturals Restaurant in Falmouth, Maine, received a 2004 Hot Concepts award by Nation’s Restaurant News and Tyson Foods, Inc. The restaurant specializes in an all-natural, organic concept with high-quality, healthy meals for the entire family.

Personalizing the Dining Experience
Restaurant managers have figured out an important lesson: Let customers have it their way and they will come back for more. The ability to customize menu options has become standard operating business. Managers have taken note that diners now have more education and greater expectations. Eighty percent of table service operators with per-person dinner checks averaging $25 or more reported that their customers were more interested in customized menu items than they were two years ago.

“Every single year, the restaurant industry is more willing to let customers make special requests. It is easier for customers to ask for their food to be prepared the way they want it,” says Lichten. Eileen Faughey, MA, RD, consultant and author, says, “Restaurants are very responsive to what they see consumers are interested in. By being selective, you can enjoy a meal that is both healthy and delicious.”

Some restaurants are even going the extra mile by offering inventive menus that provide basic meats that guests can customize with their own choice of preparation and sauce. Patrons have grown to consider dining out a reward or a treat, almost like a spa experience. A variety of food choices, highly personalized service styles, and guest preferences are part of the deal. Open-hearth kitchen designs, chef’s specials, interactive dining, informative Web sites, and attractive decor are all part of the package in many dining hot spots these days.

A Touch of Comfort
A big shift has plunged diners back to the ’50s, the days of old-fashioned comfort foods. The National Restaurant Association noted this change occurred post-9/11 and it looks like it’s here to stay. As Americans find themselves going out to eat more frequently, they are craving plain, simple food just like their mama used to make to soothe the stressed-out soul. The comfort food movement embraces the roots of American regional cuisine, whether it’s Cajun beans and rice from the bayou or clam chowder a la New England.

“There is an American regional food resurgence. You can think of it as ethnic food. It is embraced as a cultural food, reconnected with its original setting in different parts of the country, whether it is from German, French, or Eastern European heritage,” says Briwa.

A Nouvelle Taste of European Cuisine
Americans are finally catching on to European eating habits, and not just by ordering an American imitation of Italian spaghetti. True European classics are bubbling to the surface, such as antipasti meats, cheeses, vegetables in marinades with olive oils, caponata, smoked fish, and tuna in oil.

“Bistro food is a hot commodity,” remarks Briwa. “American bistro restaurants are hitching their wagon onto this style. It is not as exalted as fine dining.” The straightforward flavors of American bistro food gives a respectful nod to European cuisine while it celebrates the quality of simple, hearty foods unspoiled by too much fuss or complication.

Part of this trend is seen in the slow food movement, which supports the artisan philosophy of food production with its roots in small, regional food fabrication the old-fashioned way. The artisan style stirs in a liberal sprinkling of pleasure in the food process, easy on the concept of industrialization. “Artisan anything is on the radar screen, whether it’s cheese, wine, charcuterie, or bread,” says Briwa.

Ethnic Is Hot
Ethnic food is so grounded into our taste buds that it might as well be classified as American food. Briwa says, “Ethnic food has been absorbed. It is showing up in new American cuisine. The trends that are unfolding include Vietnamese, Southeast Asian, Indian, and Greek food throughout the country.”

Probably the trendiest ethnic cuisine hitting the dining room table is Asian. Thaifoon - Taste of Asia is a new, full-service Asian restaurant with locations in California, Arizona, and Utah. Offering affordable, modern Asian food, the restaurant won a 2004 Hot Concepts award by Nation’s Restaurant News and Tyson Foods, Inc.

Another dining trend as hot as a tamale is authentic Latin cuisines. Chicago-based Nacional 27, a Latin restaurant that celebrates the unique cultural heritage of South and Central America with a Nuevo Latino menu, won the prestigious 2004 MenuMasters award for Best Independent Operator Menu.

Breakfast of Champions
Diners are also going out to eat more often for the most important meal of the day: breakfast. And they’re not just reserving their restaurant dollars for a Sunday pancake breakfast with the family. This trend is moving in on weekday breakfasts. Unfortunately, the breakfast dining trend continues to emphasize indulgence, according to recent menu analysis from Food Beat, Inc. Just look at breakfast menus today and mentally calculate the calories of menu offerings like French toast platters, stuffed package combos, eggs Benedict, four-cheese and bacon omelets, steak fajita omelets, and pork chop biscuit breakfasts, and you’ll probably conclude that the American breakfast menu needs to go on a diet. Signature breakfast meats, such as smoked bacons or glazed hams, are making a big hit at breakfast time, too.

Toss the Salad
“I’m seeing more fruits and vegetables out there,” says Lichten. “There are more salads on the menu. It’s very promising to see.” Salads are flying out of kitchen doors and onto dining room tables as fast as food servers can toss them these days. Food Beat, Inc. reports that the number of entree salads on chain menus has been rising steadily. Salads had an overall increase on chain menus of more than 15% between 2001 and 2003. Classic hits such as Caesar and chopped salads are continually being reinvented with ingredients such as boneless short ribs, fried chicken, tofu, and cusabi finding themselves sprawled atop a bed of greens. An emphasis on fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables is also rising. In fact, some restaurants snip the fresh herbs directly in front of customers. Others are offering salad preparation choices, such as chopped light, medium, or heavy.

“Salads can be very healthy, especially if you’re selective. Look for lots of vegetables, lean protein, and reasonable dressings. Notice the ingredients on the menu,” says Faughey.

Between the Bread
Sandwiches have always been an American classic, but dining experts say they are more popular than ever. Sandwiches are offering a multitude of ingredients between their two pieces of bread—from grilled buffalo meat to soy-poached salmon. Unusual dressings are slathered on breads, such as creamy sun-dried tomato spread, pesto aioli, and fire-roasted stout ketchup. And a variety of breads are used to hold the ingredients in place, such as panini, ciabatta, tortillas, and Mediterranean flat breads.

Good Things Come on Small Plates
“Small-dish cuisine is an idea whose time has come,” says Briwa. And maybe it’s come at a good time for America’s ever-expanding waistline. “One of the major things to focus on is portion size. Portions alone can make a big difference. The basic concept of small plates might help with portion control, but it depends on what’s on those plates,” says Faughey.

Small-dish cuisine is predicted as the next big thing to hit the dining table. Small plates come straight from the heart of ethnic cuisine, such as tapas from Spain, antojitos from Mexico, meze from Eastern Mediterranean region, and street food in Asia.

By keeping your finger on the pulse of American dining trends, you can learn to speak the multilayered language of food, whether you’re talking tapas or arguing artisan cheese.

— Sharon Palmer, RD, is a freelance journalist in southern California.

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