Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

By Katie Ayoub
December 15, 2022

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Culinary innovation is serious business for menu developers, but that doesn’t inhibit their sense of wonder and possibility in discovering new flavors, ingredients and techniques. That exuberance in flavor play is, of course, the driving force behind innovation. Even when the exploration of new flavors doesn’t lead to menu execution, there’s clearly tremendous value in pure discovery. Chefs can work the muscle that stretches inventive thinking around recipe development, not reined in by brand parameters. And creativity begets creativity—springboarding new ideas for successful menu implementation.

Here, we’re highlighting seven flavor discoveries from chefs across the country that were born from a simple request: “Describe one new flavor or ingredient that you discovered or enjoyed working with this past year.” The passion and creativity behind the answers are palpable. Our hope is that their exploration will spark more ideas, fueling innovation into the new year and beyond.

We invite you to scroll through this slideshow of flavor discoveries.

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About The Author

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Katie Ayoub is managing editor of Flavor & The Menu. She has been working in foodservice publishing for more than 16 years and on the Flavor team since 2006. She won a 2015 Folio award for her Flavor & The Menu article, Heritage Matters. In 2006, she won “Best Culinary Article” from the Cordon D’Or for an article on offal.