This year saw the MICHELIN Guide launch in five new cities: Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Toronto, and Vancouver. Our Inspectors ate a lot—from dim sum in Vancouver to Cuban in Miami—and these are the top food trends of the year that caught their eyes.
Sweets with heat:
- A meal at Pineapple and Pearls in Washington, D.C. ended with slices of mezcal-roasted pineapple topping off a bowl of chamoy (the addictive chili-spiced condiment) sorbet covered with condensed milk powder.
- Chef Jeremiah Langhorne's menu at The Dabney in Washington, D.C. features a dessert of vanilla ice cream atop torched meringue served with slivered rings of heirloom, sweet and spicy peppers, pepper pâte de fruits, and shiso.
- At Clover Hill in New York, 2022 Young Chef award winner Charlie Mitchell's kitchen served a plate of mignardise providing the final punctuation of a composed meal including a mango and Aleppo pepper pâte de fruits.
Pineapple & Pearls's mezcal-roasted pineapple with a bowl of chamoy sorbet and condensed milk powder © Aphra Adkins/Pineapple & Pearls
Clover Hill's mignardise plate with pâte de fruits © Natalie Black/Clover Hill
Elevated experiences:
- At Saga in New York, cocktails come with a side of eye-watering views and a unique experience on their terrace prior to dinner.
- The Green Star restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, NY offers tours of the grounds along with a meal served in the kitchen.
- Dinner at Oriole in Chicago includes nibbles at the bar and a snack in the kitchen pass before easing in for your meal.
- Cyrus in Sonoma starts with snacks in the lounge and small bites in the kitchen before taking one's place for the main event in the dining room.
View from SAGA's terrace © Elizabeth Leidel/SAGA
Oriole's kitchen © Garrette Sweet/Oriole
Global cuisine:
"Fusion" is oftentimes a loaded word in the gastronomy world, but, today, it's the result of a chef simply cooking their lived experience. We see this with chefs who grow up in countries different from their parents where two languages are spoken and two cultures are brought together. It’s an honest reflection of their present reality which is decidedly contemporary.Try it:
New York: Kimika—Japanese/Italian
DC: Tonari—Japanese/Italian
Vancouver: Kissa Tanto—Japanese/Italian
San Francisco: Nisei—Japanese/Californian
Good Good Culture Club: Laotian, Filipino, SE Asian
Sonoma: Animo—Korean/Basque
Orlando: Soseki—Global
Kissa Tanto © Hakan Burcuoglu/Kissa Tanto
Animo © Kim Carrol/Animo
Modern Korean:
The popularity of K-Dramas and K-Pop has filtered its way into the world of gastronomy with chefs bringing a contemporary slant on traditional favorites. Marrying familiar flavors with modern techniques, chefs are raising the bar on K-food.Try it:New York: Oiji Mi and Mari
San Francisco: Ssal and San Ho Won
Mari © Daniel Ahn/Mari
Ssal © Adahlia Cole/Ssal
The Dabney's dessert of vanilla ice cream atop torched meringue with slivered rings of heirloom sweet, spicy peppers, pepper pâte de fruits, and shiso
© Kimberly Kong/NOM Digital/The Dabney
