the buzz

“A Decade in Review (and your opinion, please)”

Happy 2010! I hope you all enjoyed your New Year's Eve with friends, family, even with your own fine self on your couch with Ryan Seacrest. Whatever your plans were, I hope you enjoyed yourselves, and here's to a wonderful, exciting, fulfulling new year and brand new decade. 

Looking back on the past ten years in the world of food is sort of surreal. Ten years ago, the Twin Towers stood high above the Hudson and Micheal Lomonaco was the chef at Windows on the World. Now, the Towers are tragically gone, and with them, so many beloved lives and treasured memories of one of the city's most impressive architectural and culinary landmarks.

But the city survived, with a gaping hole in its belly, but it went on. And we did too. I certainly can't account for every culinary milestone in this decade, culinary or otherwise, but here are some of my favorite memories of one of the most heartbreaking yet hopeful decades of our city's, if not our country's, lifetime.

Here are some musings on the past ten years...I hope you will share yours, too. 

• The rise of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn restaurant, from Franny's to Al di La, to Char No. 4, Henry Public, Motorino, and Roberta's. 
• Artisan everything: cheeses, beers, charcuterie, pickles, cocktails, bitters, heck, even ice cubes.
• Locavore becomes THE foodie term.
• Gourmet Food Trucks: So long kebab and rice combo, hello triple truffle brownie cake and homemade Belgian waffles. 
• TV's Best New Food Show: Top Chef. It gets better every season. And even though that Toby Young guy annoyed me at first, I kinda like him now. Will Padma and Baby Padma be back next season? Will there be a baby food Quickfire? That and so much more, I imagine. 
• Burgers, Pizza, BBQ: the gourmet-ification of these comfort staples.
• The End of Elegance: Goodbye La Caravelle, Chanterelle, Montrachet, and Gourmet. 
• The Rise of the Gastropub: The Spotted Pig, et al. 
• The Ramenization of the NYC: Our town's addiction to ramen gets going thanks to an enterprising young chef named David Chang who turned his skills from working at Craft and Cafe Boulud to the world of ramen and far beyond. 
• Food Blogs galore...And so much more.

I know I am missing a lot, here, but that's where you come in. Let me know what you think are the greatest (or worst) food trends of the decade. Share your Two Cents below! 

Share ! Post a comment