As the complete and utter garbage fire that is 2023 comes to an end, I feel compelled to highlight the trends and oddities in the food world that I hope to never see again. Here’s to a brighter and more delicious 2024.
Wetting madly
People chew the word “wet” with their mouths open, scraping a blackboard with their nails. Any number of things can make someone cringe, shrink, close their eyes, and cover their ears. This year, for me, was the crazy mate.
I watched countless videos of people dipping their chicken tenders, burritos, and sandwiches in salsa and/or ranch cups that were too small and too full of sauce. I grimaced as the sauces overflowed and spilled onto tables and laps all over the country. In the most offensive cases, the glasses were completely overturned. At the risk of sounding like someone three times my age, or possibly my parents, I find the mess and unnecessary waste of condiments completely insane.
Calling every cheesecake ‘Basque cheesecake’
It is In fact Basque cheesecake or just a cheesecake?
(Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times)
A Basque cheesecake is a specific style of cheesecake from that region of Spain. It’s a crustless cheesecake baked at a high temperature that leaves the top burnt and the middle loose. If the cheesecake does not have a custard-like texture in the middle, the top is not burnt or at least a deep brown color, and if it has some type of crust beyond the cheesecake itself that It browns into a sort of natural crust, just call it cheesecake.
girls dinner
You may have seen the girls’ dinner party trend on TikTok. The sound of a woman saying, “This is my lunch, I call this girl dinner” plays over a video of a plate filled with small leftover dairy products, popcorn, and pasta salad.
In another video, the same audio plays while a woman prepares some strawberries, string cheese and two hard-boiled eggs. Boxed macaroni and cheese in a wine glass garnished with dinosaur nuggets. A bag of microwave popcorn. Moldy instant ramen noodles. A lot of cigarettes and a pink drink in a glass. A single piece of Swiss cheese. These are all “girl dinners” on TikTok.
Users seem to associate randomly prepared food combinations with what a girl eats for dinner. There should never be absolute rules when it comes to dining. But why does the term “girls’ dinner” imply that girls are not capable of doing more than mixing random ingredients that may or may not be edible? And in some cases, like with a single piece of cheese, there is an aspect of diet culture that could potentially perpetuate unhealthy eating habits.
Unless we start calling “girls dinner” a gender-neutral dinner, I can eat whatever I want, let’s end it.
Pasjoli chef Dave Beran posted a video in response to the review, saying the TikToker waited 20 minutes before taking a bite of the Canard à la Rouennais à la Presse, seen above.
(Allison Zaucha / For the Los Angeles Times)
Can you trust a food review on TikTok? There are more than 38 billion videos with the hashtag #foodreview, used by foodies in their cars, rich kids in fancy restaurants, Disneyland fans eating in the park, and just about everything in between. Some are incredibly useful and entertaining. Some are egregious and unethical abuses of a user’s influence and followers.
Earlier this year, a TikTok personality who goes by @mister.lewis posted a video of his review of Pasjoli restaurant in Santa Monica on the app. It has more than 12 million visits. In the video, he orders the most expensive bottle of wine and appears to order a $3,500 bottle of Chateau Margaux 2000.
Dramatically swirl some red wine into the glass. “This is what? Like a $1,000 glass,” she says.
Next, ask for the most expensive item on the menu. Film chef Dave Beran preparing canard à la Rouennaise à la presse. He takes a few bites of the duck and its various accessories, makes a few faces, and then says he’ll go to his car to give an honest review.
He reveals that he doesn’t normally like ducks and gives the duck a rating of 5 out of 10. “Was this duck worth $200? Hell no.”
He then appears to give a piece of leftover duck to his dog.
The only problem? Well, there are many. But first, according to Beran, who posted a response to Lewis’ video on an Instagram story, Lewis never ordered or tried the Chateau Margaux 2000. He canceled the bottle after videotaping himself ordering it and instead ordered a 26-ounce glass of wine. Dollars. Beran goes on to say that Lewis actually had the lowest check average of the night. The chef also claims that Lewis let the food sit for “a good 20 minutes” before taking a bite.
There’s no telling how many of the millions of people who watched the video will let it influence how they feel about the restaurant. Videos like this are irresponsible, unethical and potentially harmful to the companies they stand out for and the livelihoods of their employees. If you’re going to post a review of something, be transparent and, at the very least, be respectful.
Meat-flavored fake ‘meat’
Counterfeit meat is rife with controversy. Should it be like this? taste as meat, or should it taste like real foods with names I can pronounce?
(Eddie Guy / For The Times)
In reality, the proliferation of fake meat is not a trend, but a growing multi-billion dollar industry. And I understand the sentiment behind this. Get people to eat less animal protein by serving them something that imitates meat. But the question remains: how far must imitation go before it becomes a problem? My plant-based burger shouldn’t need to “bleed.” It’s terrifying that as a society we can’t accept plants that don’t look or taste like meat.
If the taste and texture of a burger made with soy protein concentrate and methylcellulose encourages you to eat less meat and therefore reduce your carbon footprint, great. I just want my burger to be made with ingredients I can pronounce, whether it’s beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, salmon or mushrooms, black beans and barley.
Krispy Kreme Crush Challenge
Don’t break your donuts.
(Chuck Burton/Associated Press)
It’s exactly what it seems. People order a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, stack six, eight or all 12 at a time, then smash them into one large donut. Then they try to put the now 12-in-one donut in their mouths and finish it in one sitting. My jaw hurts just looking.
“I’m going to show you how to efficiently eat six donuts at once,” one woman says before proceeding to smash six donuts and eat them in a video.
Because?
Krispy Kreme donuts are magical because you can heat them up when the hot light is on and because the delicate glaze on the original is like a sheet of glass that cracks and then melts. And because the dough is soft and spongy. When you smash it, you ruin the magic. Don’t ruin the magic.
The male-dominated power list
Everyone loves a good list, right? And why not recognize who is who in the restaurant world? The handful of hospitality power lists published this year seemed to primarily recognize the achievements of men, and only recognize women who are romantically or financially attached to a man. These lists also largely ignored women of color and the many women in Los Angeles and across the country advancing in the industry both locally and nationally.
Where was the recognition for the women who run Respect Her, an organization that secures funding and resources for women-led businesses? I want to read a list that recognizes where the industry is really headed. I want lists that spark conversation and move toward a more equitable future for everyone. And I’m sorry, but you can’t have a list like that while erasing half the general population.
Everything with truffle flavor
Truffles on a chicken dish with potatoes and broccoli.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
I appreciate a waterfall of shaved truffle falling onto my plate of pasta.
Real truffles are hard to come by, expensive and have a short shelf life. Its value is indisputable, and if you want to do something more luxurious, by all means, shave a truffle on top. Even that time I had truffles in my cheesecake made sense at the time. But the “truffle flavor” with truffle oil is another story. That fake, spicy, earthy fragrance permeates everything it touches. Truffle oil drizzled on anything is that monster on the hill slowly tottering towards my favorite food.
Get truffle oil out of your minds in 2024, people.
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Tomorrow, my list of food trends I hope to see more of in 2024.
