Yahoo Food's Predictions for 2015
Happy birthday, world! Photo: Joy Wilson
We’ve been spending the last week looking back at the top trends, cookbooks, and people of 2014. But hey! It’s 2015 now! Happy new year. It’s time to look forward, so here are our food predictions for this next year.
One of Iliana Regan’s beautiful dishes
1. Chicago will be the culinary hot spot. The James Beard Awards, the Oscars of the food world, will take place in Chicago instead of New York in 2015. Imagine the Academy Awards moving out of Los Angeles? Nope. This is a big recognition of the creativity coming out of that city, from the leader of the scene Grant Achatz to intriguing talent like Iliana Regan of Elizabeth.
Gordon Ramsay and the MasterChef Junior crew
2. Gordon Ramsay will continue to dominate the airwaves, thanks to the charming MasterChef Junior on the Fox Network. The last season of the show just ended and season three will debut January 6. The softer side of Gordon Ramsay does exist, and America seems to like it.
Mary Berry
3. Our next reality TV obsession? Mary Berry. The 79-year-old star of The Great British Baking Show, finally airing on PBS after five hit seasons in the U.K., is a household name in England. Let’s see how fast it takes this country to fall in love.
Coffee flour
4. Coffee flour will be the hot new ingredient. This is a nutrient-rich substance made from the discarded cherries that surround coffee beans. And no, it doesn’t taste like coffee. Look for a commercial roll-out in 2015. Chef Jason Wilson in Seattle is already experimenting with it.
5. Gluten-free everything will not go away. Sorry.
Michelle Tam’s paleo cookbook
6. Neither will paleo. Especially since the cost of beef isn’t expected to skyrocket the way it did in 2014. A quick look at Amazon’s cookbook section shows how popular paleo cooking continues to be, thanks to folks like Nom Nom Paleo’s Michelle Tam and Practical Paleo’s Diane Sanfilippo.
7. Vegetarian restaurants will be all the rage. One of New York’s most anticipated openings of 2015 is Dirt Candy, the 2.0 version. The tiny hotspot proved to be too tiny, so chef and owner Amanda Cohen is in the process of moving to a bigger space. Culinary king Jean-Georges Vongerichten plans to open a vegan restaurant in New York City, perhaps as early as this spring.
8. Tipping will disappear from some restaurants. Speaking of Dirt Candy, Cohen announced that she will abolish tipping in favor of an across-the-board administrative charge. Several other restaurants already include a service charge in lieu of a gratuity and others will no doubt climb aboard the no-tip train.
9. The tip jar, however, is not going anywhere. Baristas everywhere would revolt.
Mimi Thorisson
10. You’ll see a lot more from food bloggers. Thug Kitchen's debut cookbook was a phenomenon, Mimi Thorisson of Manger captivated everyone with her French charm, Joy the Baker released her second solid cookbook, and everyone knows how we feel about Molly Yeh. Look for 2015 to be super bloggy.
A look back at 2014:
