National Restaurant Association Reveals Chefs' Top Trends for 2010

Ian Froeb

Delicious? Yes. Trendy? No.

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The National Restaurant Association has released its annual survey (link PDF) asking chefs nationwide for the year's top trends. The top trend, with nearly 88% of respondents saying it's "hot," is locally grown produce. The #2 trend is locally sourced meat and seafood, and #3 is sustainability.

So I, staunch defender of all things local and sustainable, am rejoicing, right? Not really. I mean, it's good that restaurants are paying attention to these issues, but I'll be more impressed if, say, five years from now, restaurants continue to pay attention to these issues -- not because they're trendy, but because they're important.

In all, the survey ranks the hotness of 214 individual items. At the very bottom, with only 14% of respondents saying that it's "hot," is...crème brûlée. Unfortunately, for those of us -- namely, me -- who would like this dessert banished from menus, 54% of respondents said crème brûlée is a "perennial favorite."

Though the cupcake trend shows no signs of slowing down in St. Louis, cupcakes didn't fare  well on the survey. They ranked #191 on the survey, with only 25% of respondents saying they remain hot and 52% claiming they are "yesterday's news."