Everyone loves a comeback story, including ones with a culinary twist. Curdy cottage cheese, for example, belonged to the era of rock ‘n’ roll music, drive-in movies and “I Love Lucy,” until social media influencers began exhuming it. Similarly, using animal fats as cooking oils fell out of practice decades ago, but now restaurants and consumers are reconsidering beef tallow and the like. At the same time, brands are breaking new ground with classic foods and beverages. Guinness is enjoying a boom thanks to the “splitting the G” challenge while breweries are finding their match in Girl Scout cookies.

In this month’s Bites and Sips, we’ll follow the ever-swinging pendulum of these “new again” trends while casting an eye to their menu potential.

Culinary Comebacks I: Cottage Cheese Redux

Of all the food trends generated by social media—think: butter boards or lasagna soup—the cottage cheese revival may be the most unlikely. Neutral in flavor and humble in presentation, the mid-century staple has long since been overshadowed in dairy cases and on menus by the sexier, more contemporary yogurt. Its recent rediscovery by TikTok influencers and protein seekers, however, has given it a second wind. In 2023, Thrillist credited “wellness girlies” for creating a “curd zeitgeist” that has propelled popularity of the product.

It officially attained juggernaut status last year, when cottage cheese was singled out in Grubhub’s 2024 Delivered Report as one of the most frequently ordered food items, accounting for a literal ton of deliveries. Most of this volume was from retail grocers, because despite its burgeoning popularity, menu sightings remain relatively few and far between.

Several years ago, First Watch launched a promotional Jump Start Menu that included Superseed Protein Pancakes made with cottage cheese, kasha, oats, sunflower and flax and chia seeds. Cottage cheese also holds a place of honor on the menu at Hope Breakfast Bar, which is expanding in the Minneapolis market. Here, the Cottage Bruschetta Toast combines cottage cheese with cucumber-and-tomato bruschetta and fresh basil; it’s served atop toasted brioche and finished with a balsamic reduction and a drizzle of olive oil.

While many of these applications are new, cottage cheese has never gone out of style as an element of the traditional relish tray that inaugurates meals at supper clubs and dinner houses throughout the Midwest. The appetizer menu at Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth, Mich., for example, touts the large curd variety, which is prized by cottage cheese aficionados for a sweeter taste and creamier texture than its more acidic, small-curd counterpart.

There’s a substantial runway for restaurateurs looking to tap into the trend. The International Dairy Foods Association pegs cottage cheese consumption at a mere 2 pounds per capita, which pales in comparison to more than 40 pounds of aged cheese consumed by Americans last year.

Split Gs and Cookie Pairings

Credit: Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Girl Scout cookie season presents the perfect pairing opportunity for operators like Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant.

Venerable Irish brewer Guinness has been on an internet-driven tear, making it the fastest-growing imported beer in the country. Impetus behind its rise: the “splitting the G” fad, which entails drinkers chugging the stout in the hopes that the horizon between the beverage and the foam falls in the middle of the signature “G” on the pint glass. The practice has reportedly enjoyed a strong boost thanks to celebs like the Jonas Brothers and John Cena splitting their own Gs online, and it may provide a promotional tailwind for operators looking to goose traffic on St. Patrick’s Day.

Speaking of beer promotions, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant is building a reputation for its creative pairings that feature some unconventional partners. The brand has invited patrons to earn their “beer badge” during a limited time in February with the 11th edition of its Girl Scout Cookie and Beer Pairings program. Suggested beer-and-cookie combos include Thin Mints paired with the Pig Iron Porter and Vienna Red Lager paired with Samoas. Iron Hill isn’t the only one getting in on the Girl Scout game; dozens of smaller operations across the country host their own pairing events, riding the wave of cookie enthusiasm while also touting their own signature brews.

Culinary Comebacks II: Where’s the Beef?

Credit: Steak ’n Shake

Steak ’n Shake’s frying oil switch might signal a great shift toward rendered animal fats as a cooking medium.

Steak ’n Shake grabbed headlines in January when it announced a company-wide switch from vegetable oil to beef tallow as the frying medium of choice for its signature shoestring french fries. It represents a back-to-the-future development in the cooking-oil category. Last year, beef tallow was featured among Flavor & The Menu’s Top 10 Trends, with the unctuous ingredient returning to its traditional applications, as well as new ones (edible tallow candles, anyone?). Steak ’n Shake’s entry into the space could signal more widespread adoption, or rather re-adoption among fast-food players.

As a quick beef-tallow refresher course: McDonald’s built an empire partly on its irresistible fries, which were originally prepared in beef tallow. In 1990, the chain switched to 100 percent vegetable oil, and in 2001, it ditched the beef flavoring it had been using to amp up the oil’s taste quotient. Since 2007, the chain has used a canola oil blend.

Now, the tides are turning, with animal fats no longer the villains to vegetable and seed oil heroes. The relative health benefits and drawbacks of the latter have been called into question, resulting in a debate not so different from the backlash animal fats faced decades earlier. Tallow will almost certainly be top of mind for restaurants and consumers in the near future. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the newly appointed secretary of Health and Human Services is pro-beef tallow and anti-seed oils. In fact, he has suggested that McDonald’s should be incentivized to use beef tallow in its operations.

It remains to be seen how the fast-food giant will respond, and restaurateurs will want to stay tuned for further developments. The North American Renderers Association pegs the sales for beef tallow at $480 million, a fraction of the vegetable oil market, but this imbalance could shift if substantial numbers of operators make the switch.