Luxury Is Back in Food and Redefining Trends in the Hospitality Industry
Photo Credit: Eataly, in New York City, where a lot of these retail food trends are bubbling up. Flickr / blese
Skift Take
There is smart money riding on a lot of these trends, as food and beverage trends generally permeate through the larger travel industry and beyond, into popular culture.
Luxury is back in food, and redefining trends in the hotel and restaurant business. Post-recession dining is definitely going all in for opulence -- costly tasting menus, chicken priced like steak, exotic custom spices, upscale food halls, spare-no-expense tabletops -- according to Baum+Whiteman, one of the largest food and restaurant consulting firms.
It has come out with its annual list of hospitality-meets-food trends for 2014, and they make for an informative and entertaining read:
Restaurants are back in retail stores: Thirty years ago, American department stores kicked out their restaurants, believing they were too messy and unproductive. But they are now making a comeback as retailers discover the magic of "dwell time" in their stores: The more time guests spend, the more money they'll spend. The restaurant in Tommy Bahama's New York flagship sells hamachi crudo, coffee-crusted ribeye with marrow butter, and fish tacos with Asian slaw. In Chicago, Saks is opening its
