Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

Author: Flavor & The Menu Staff

Wood-Fired Up Trabocco | Alameda, Calif.

Trabocco Kitchen and Cocktails offers a wood-fired salmon using an almond wood for the oven, making it less smoky, lighter, and allowing the flavor of the dish to really come out.

Mastering the Marseille Classic The Willard Intercontinental Hotel | Washington, D.C.

PHOTO CREDIT: Flavor & The Menu Staff “Throughout my career, I’ve made several versions of bouillabaisse,” says Serge Devesa, Executive Chef of The Willard InterContinental Hotel. “But the one that stands out is a special Marseille-inspired recipe I created for a VIP guest this year.” Reworking the Provençal fish stew with the goal to impress the hotel guest and his wife, Devesa started with fish bones, then added tomato, celery, thyme and garlic. “I add a good amount of saffron, anise seed and Pernod,” he says. “The key is to add each element over time so that nothing gets...

Clean & Fresh Corner Cafe | Atlanta

Corner Café poaches its Alaskan Halibut in olive oil with a small sachet of herbs, and serves over a cauliflower “tabbouleh” with finely chopped parsley and preserved lemon, toasted pine nuts, sultanas and olive oil.

The New Italian Sandwich Zoë's Kitchen | based in Plano, Texas

PHOTO CREDIT: Flavor & The Menu Staff The piadina is the next “it” sandwich, folding all the best of Mediterranean flavors into a toasted flatbread. Zoës introduced two in February, adding to its grilled sandwich lineup that includes a Turkey Stack and a Grüben. The Rosemary Ham & Mozzarella Piadina starts with a thin Italian flatbread baked in a stone oven and topped with a spread of housemade Calabrian pepper aïoli. “The Calabrian pepperoncino, a mild pepper from the Mediterranean, provides a fruitiness and tanginess,” says R&D Chef Daniel Camp. “To balance the aïoli, fresh basil, oregano and parsley...