2009 Year in Review
Posted December 30th, 2009 by sean@bevx.com
As the year reaches its final hours we have stopped to consider the year in review. We put our minds together and have complied a bit of a scatter-shot list of the trends that have caught our eye.
To aid in this endeavor I have enlisted the help of author and BevX contributor Stacey Ballis, as well as one of our culinary go-to experts, Teresa Lombardi Terrell. Here are our some of the topics that stuck to the wall – so to speak…
2009 Trends – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!
Bacon! Of course bacon has seen the light of day before 2009 but in the past 12 months bacon has been turning up everywhere including the most unexpected places. While we love bacon (we really love bacon) it can go too far. Sadly, the downside of every trend is that the want-to-be-creative takes the concept to places where it should not go. As for bacon in cocktails, we have found that one in 10 attempts work and five of 10 are simply awful!
Comfort foods getting respect and clever updates have been a great trend. Teresa says, “Forgotten recipes have emerged from our parents and even grandparents best recipe box collections.” Stacey has pointed out that in this vein restaurants have upgraded “low end” foods like corn dogs and fried chicken taking them to new heights. Value considerations are simply a factor in these difficult economic times but we can’t ignore the physiological boost given by comfort foods.
In this vein, home entertaining has been on the rise. The astronomical growth in popularity of our Cocktail of the Week feature is proof positive that people are cocktailing at home. Keep it up!
Clever restaurants have responded to the economic reality and the trend of home entertaining by offering us fantastic prix-fixe deals that tempt us out on a Tuesday night.
Buying local has been a growing trend for both the home chef and the pro/restaurant chef. This promotes seasonal buying and seasonal menus. This has at least two positive side effects: value and flavor.
The return of the big and gasp-worthy cake. This is not just a Food Network thing.
Pasta in a bread bowl. Really? Who needs pasta served in a bread bowl? Not us.
Energy drinks in “cocktails” is a trend that seems to be crashing harder than a twenty-something at a pancake house at 3 a.m. Good riddance!
The continued abuse of the martini is low on our list. See our Martini feature.
A Quick Shot of the Year’s Best
Best Meal – Trattoria Stella, Traverse City MI. I could go on and on about the two meals I enjoyed at this great restaurant but I already have. See our Fave Spot review.
Best Wine – Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 1995 (magnum). This was a rare but magical moment of finding a mature wine at its optimal moment.
Best Spirit – Coeur de Lion 1939 Calvados. (see our review) While I can’t afford a bottle of this sublime elixir I savored every last sip of this wonderful Calvados made by one of the world’s greatest distillers.
Best Beer – Ayinger Weizen-Bock. (see our review) This was a hard choice as I have enjoyed a healthy handful of candidates for this mention but this great Weizen-Bock was simply perfection. Best of all, unlike the year’s best Wine and Spirit; this beverage is easily attainable, which makes it more special.
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As the year reaches its final hours we have stopped to consider the year in review. We put our minds together and have complied a bit of a scatter-shot list of the trends that have caught our eye.To aid in this endeavor I have enlisted the help of author and BevX contributor Stacey Ballis, as well as one of our culinary go-to experts, Teresa Lombardi Terrell. Here are our some of the topics that stuck to the wall – so to speak…
2009 Trends – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!
Bacon! Of course bacon has seen the light of day before 2009 but in the past 12 months bacon has been turning up everywhere including the most unexpected places. While we love bacon (we really love bacon) it can go too far. Sadly, the downside of every trend is that the want-to-be-creative takes the concept to places where it should not go. As for bacon in cocktails, we have found that one in 10 attempts work and five of 10 are simply awful!
Comfort foods getting respect and clever updates have been a great trend. Teresa says, “Forgotten recipes have emerged from our parents and even grandparents best recipe box collections.” Stacey has pointed out that in this vein restaurants have upgraded “low end” foods like corn dogs and fried chicken taking them to new heights. Value considerations are simply a factor in these difficult economic times but we can’t ignore the physiological boost given by comfort foods.
In this vein, home entertaining has been on the rise. The astronomical growth in popularity of our Cocktail of the Week feature is proof positive that people are cocktailing at home. Keep it up!
Clever restaurants have responded to the economic reality and the trend of home entertaining by offering us fantastic prix-fixe deals that tempt us out on a Tuesday night.
Buying local has been a growing trend for both the home chef and the pro/restaurant chef. This promotes seasonal buying and seasonal menus. This has at least two positive side effects: value and flavor.
The return of the big and gasp-worthy cake. This is not just a Food Network thing.
Pasta in a bread bowl. Really? Who needs pasta served in a bread bowl? Not us.
Energy drinks in “cocktails” is a trend that seems to be crashing harder than a twenty-something at a pancake house at 3 a.m. Good riddance!
The continued abuse of the martini is low on our list. See our Martini feature.
A Quick Shot of the Year’s Best
Best Meal – Trattoria Stella, Traverse City MI. I could go on and on about the two meals I enjoyed at this great restaurant but I already have. See our Fave Spot review.
Best Wine – Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 1995 (magnum). This was a rare but magical moment of finding a mature wine at its optimal moment.
Best Spirit – Coeur de Lion 1939 Calvados. (see our review) While I can’t afford a bottle of this sublime elixir I savored every last sip of this wonderful Calvados made by one of the world’s greatest distillers.
Best Beer – Ayinger Weizen-Bock. (see our review) This was a hard choice as I have enjoyed a healthy handful of candidates for this mention but this great Weizen-Bock was simply perfection. Best of all, unlike the year’s best Wine and Spirit; this beverage is easily attainable, which makes it more special.
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