In the 1970s to 1980s, Shrimp Cocktail and Roasted Pork Crown was a big deal. So was the Atkins and South Beach diets in 2000. Not many people are into Atkins now.
What's the first place you think about when you think of gourmet food. At the least on the East Cost, most people think of New York. It has a great night life and the melting pot of diverse communities is as real as traveling to other countries. You have a Chinatown that is no different from the most authentic sauces you might savor in Hong Kong. Little Italy or any of the other gastronomic microcosms in New York are home to the world's finest cuisines.
Right from the immigrants landing on Ellis Island, New York and New Yorkers have kept up with its epic cuisines, adapting from international flavors and reinventing some of the authentic American dishes. It makes sense then that the pizza was invented in America using Italian ingredients, tomato sauce, and mozzarella and of course, a Coke to go.
Kenneth Welch, executive chef at New Leaf Restaurant in New York City, reminisced, "I see a continued trend, with some nuance, towards increased quality, convenience, and value," Thursday Life reports.
Welch, who was a private chef, said that consumers value the high quality produce bought on a daily basis and is consistently fresh. Whole Foods is locally sourced and consumers like this.
"Our customers at New Leaf also appreciate quality and locality," Welch added. "They want dishes with particular seasonal and local ingredients, and the questions these customers ask, while looking at the menu, suggest a fairly sophisticated understanding of products and techniques."
Chef Welch has noted an increase in what New Leaf's guests are willing to spend, which "tracks closely with the incrementally better economic outlook reported in the press. I am betting on a 2014 restaurant scene well populated with sophisticated consumers ready to spend a little more for higher quality, even if it's a little more out of their way".
No doubt money is a big factor in a diner's choices, "a desire to be doing the best, having the best, and squeezing the most from life" are also part of trend creation," says Welch.
