SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues.
Last week’s poll question: Which 2011 culinary trend are you likely to invest in?
- Half portions or smaller portions — 29.41%
- Local produce, meat or seafood — 28.57%
- Sustainability — 23.53%
- Local beer and wine — 12.61%
- Culinary cocktails — 5.88%
We rounded up our favorite 2011 forecast trends lists to help you figure out which ones you want to invest in.
- Restaurant Hospitality reports on Andrew Freeman & Co.’s top restaurant trends, which include pies, one-ingredient restaurants and minimal menus.
- National Restaurant Association offers trends from the “What’s Hot” survey. Trends include micro-distilled spirits, food-beer pairings and culinary cocktails.
- Epicurious highlights food halls, Meatless Mondays and sweet potatoes as top food trends of 2011.
- Restaurant Magazine showcases Technomic’s forecast for 2011, which includes Korean food, c-store competition and celebrity farmers .
- QSR Magazine sees restaurants adopting back-to-basics cuisine, nutritious kids meals and locally sourced meats.
What trends are you looking forward to?