1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.