Restaurant trends – some of them linger for years, while others fizzle out in a matter of weeks. We’re only six months into 2011, but already we’ve noticed some pretty strong dining trends running throughout many of our Buzz cities. Here’s a look at the five most prominent trends this year so far.
Pop-ups
Here today, gone tomorrow seems to be the MO that fueled the massive popularity behind pop-ups in the last six months. From NYC’s What Happens When to DC's upcoming America Eats Tavern (from chef José André s) the idea of a temporary or concept-shifting restaurant is all the rage in 2011. Also, "perma pop-up" concepts were big as well, including Joseph Mahon's Burger Parlor in the LA area and NYC’s LTO, which rotates chefs every three months. Pop-ups were also a means for out-of-town chefs to workshop new concepts in new cities. NYC's JBF LTD in Chelsea Market showcased the talents of chefs like Laurent Grasand Michelle Bernstein, and LA chef Ludo Lefebvre announced plans for an upcoming LudoBites pop-up in NYC.
The other factor he uses very often is what I call the 'rollercoaster'. So he's not just telling a story. The story goes up and down. And up and down. So when you listen to the story where he's talking about the time he doubted himself, he's going from being super confident and super cool to feeling like he's not really that hot when he sees those photos on the wall. Then he drives home that fear, building it all the time (into a downward spiral). And it loops and yanks you along because you have no clue what's going to happen next. And then up comes the rollercoaster again. Now he comes good on the second show without realising what's happening. But Bill's carefully pulling the audience along with the way in which the story goes up or down. And he's also using very clear visual cues to keep you connected to the story all the time.
Posted by: cheap mbt shoes | July 26, 2011 at 07:30 PM