Last November Canadian cattle ranchers began feeding red wine to their herds, and the product has been met with thunderous applause from everyone from regular consumers to top Canadian chefs. Jandince Ravndahl started feeding her cows one liter of red wine a day, the equivalent of about one glass for humans. Ravndahl claims the cattle enjoy eating the red wine mixed into their feed, and that the resulting beef tastes more tender, almost like it’s self-marinated. Ravndahl’s grass-fed, wine-drunk beef is taking off among the culinary elite. And while red wine and grass-fed beef are two great tastes that undoubtedly taste great together, wine-fed beef threatens all the recent progress made in the sustainable meat movement.

There are some scientists who are working on uncovering potential benefits of wine-fed beef. One study hypothesizes that wine-drunk cows may lessen methane production, which could have some green benefits for our planet. Livestock produce about 18 percent of the world’s global greenhouse gas emissions, with one cow burping up 26 to 53 gallons of methane each day, according to Food Safety News. And another research team thinks the resveratrol in red wine might boost heart health in cows the same way it does in humans.

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Firstly, look at whether the trend actually makes sense for your restaurant. If you mostly attract steak lovers and you’re considering adding pheasant to the menu, it may not work so well. Restaurateurs need to stay true to their menu philosophy and provide the dishes their customers continually ask for.

Next, consider the cost. Sometimes introducing a new trend can require new equipment, kitchen modifications or even the addition of a new staff member, who is on top of the specialty (think sous-vide). As well, you must have space to store any newfangled equipment. So, the question to ask is: will the profits justify the expense and will your customers even care about this new cooking technique?

As well, it all comes back to location, location, location. Weigh up whether your establishment is really geographically suited to a new menu item. If it’s too unfamiliar, you may not even get an order for it.

When all else fails, research what the chefs you look up to are doing – read widely and surf the Internet. Seeing what respected chefs are doing can be a good guide to anticipating what today’s ever-sophisticated restaurant clientele are expecting next.

Finally, the main indicator, regarding whether a menu item will be a hit, is consumer demand. While it’s a chef’s responsibility to identify micro-trends and foresee what’s emerging, it will be the ringing of the cash register – or lack thereof – that will provide the ultimate test.

IN NEW YORK

Black garlic. Pitch-black cloves add a touch of the dark side to the sheep’s milk ricotta, fava beans and truffle oil crostini at the Smoke Jazz and Supper Club in Harlem. The garlic turns black courtesy of a fermentation process, is soft inside – and doesn’t have the unfortunate effect on one’s breath as traditional garlic! The darker variety has long been used in Asian cooking, despite the recent US buzz.

Black trumpet mushrooms. The inky-coloured fungi have been added to the lobster and sweetcorn bisque at the Oak Room at New York’s Plaza Hotel. Similar to chanterelles, the mushrooms come from specialty food purveyors.

Black walnuts.The Klee Brasserie in the Big Apple dresses its Muscovy duck paté with black walnuts. The darker nuts – said to be more nutty and mild than the usual ones – are also used in a walnut cake, with a cream cheese ganache.

Black chickpeas. These Italian legumes “pretty up” a double-cut, Colorado-grilled lamb chop dish at Delmonico’s Restaurant in lower Manhattan. Smaller than regular chickpeas, the black chickpeas have a slightly different taste, but are mostly about presentation.

AT HOME

Black garlic is also proving a hot ingredient in Oz, going on sale locally here in August last year. Movida Bar De Tapas in Melbourne has used the dark ingredient in a dish with charcoaled Berkshire pork fillet.

Black trumpet mushrooms have also been spied on the menu at the Sails on the Bay restaurant in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood – used in a sauté with a roast loin of lamb dish.

Reports indicate that more people are visiting restaurants more frequently but that the average transaction per time is lower. International food festival franchise Taste goes to Amsterdam on June 24, offering fixed-price menus from top restaurants in an attempt to play off this trend.
According to Visa, European spending rates are on an upward trend since the final quarter of 2009. The report indicates that European consumers are spending on meals out rather than stopping spending altogether; however the report finds that while restaurant attendance has increased sharply since 2009, the average transaction per visit has been of a lower value, a trend which is mirrored in the USA.As a result, lower-priced restaurants and menus are growing in popularity, and the annual series of Taste festivals aims to capture this trend. The festivals are a worldwide series of events celebrating fine dining to provide consumers with an opportunity to sample small portions of signature dishes in local restaurants for a low price. Visitors to the Taste festivals held throughout the world pay approximately 15 euros for a ticket and can then taste samples from different chefs for around 4 – 5 euros.This year the event has already taken place in Sydney, Cape Town, Edinburgh, Dublin and London. The next in the series of Taste festivals continues in Amsterdam June 24-27 in Amstel Park. Taste festivals are also being held in Birmingham July 16-18, Melbourne August 26-29, Milan September 23-26, Johannesburg September 30-October 3 and finally Auckland November 18-21 of this year.Restaurant weeks, which offer low-fixed price menus from renowned restaurants are becoming more frequent around the world; France held its first annual restaurant week from June 7-13 of this year and New York and Washington DC also held similar fixed-price events in 2010.In 2009 Taste festivals throughout the world attracted 270,000 visitors who sampled over 750,000 dishes.

Find out more about taste festivals in Australia visit www.tastefestivals.com.au