In her January 5, 2016, Fresh & Local food column, Penny wrote about some of the food trends we thought we'd see strengthening in our area this year.
Do you remember early bowl pioneer "Jack and the Bean Bowl" back in 2009?
More Food in Bowls!
Bowls filled with ramen, vegetables, grains, noodles, and soups will grow in importance on restaurant, food truck, and take out menus. Part of this trend is due to our growing acceptance of authentic ethnic cuisines. The need for gluten-free (GF) menu items has restaurants offering the GF-safe ingredients from something like a burrito in a bowl rather than a wrap.
Here's one of our favorite bowls of Bun Thit Nuong from Pho Basil. (More on that dish here.)
In addition, many of these bowls contain warm, filling, comfort foods from the cultures where they originated and we quickly grow to love them for the same reason.
We were thrilled when we saw that the food minds over at the Globe agreed with us by publishing a simultaneous prediction!
Rumanian Pastrami from Sam LaGrassa's (More on this here.)
Good Deli Options
"What the Back Bay needs is a good deli," we hear this from neighbors all the time. We try to explain that the economics of rents in this neighborhood is probably going to prevent that from happening, but we do think we will have more great delicatessens popping up around the area.
And this new version of the old deli features high quality, often house-made meats, and prepared foods. This trend was started in Waltham by Moody's Delicatessen & Provisions. We are thrilled to learn that we will be able to sample their wares from shared space within the new Gordon's Boston store in Downtown Crossing.
While for us a deli sandwich is an occasional treat, we do have a few old favorites. Sam LaGrassa's is always on our list of recommendations for visitors. If we're in Coolidge Corner, we'll pick up sandwiches from Michael's Deli.
Tacos filled with lamb in barbacoa sauce from Tenoch Mexican Taqueria. (More photos here.)
Regional Mexican Food
A second national trend that seems to be slowly appearing in Boston is restaurants offering authentic, regional Mexican cuisines like our much loved Angela’s Cafe in East Boston and the small local Tenoch Mexican Taqueria restaurants and food cart.
In December, we learned that Angela's is opening a second location in Orient Heights much closer to transit. Getting there without a car has limited our visits to the original place.
What are you seeing in the world of local food that makes you smile? Add your thoughts in the comments below. Tweet them to @BostonZest or send us an email and we'll add your suggestions to this post as an update.
We have a few more trends to talk about and will link to that post when it is published.
What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2009-2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino
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