Technomic projects the top 10 food trends to take the nation by storm in 2015.

The restaurant industry is evolving faster than ever according to food research and consulting firm Technomic, based in Chicago. Technology, consumer and menu trends are all revolutionizing foodservice.

Technomic lays out 10 trends that its consultants and experts believe might be transformative in 2015. Predictions are based on Technomic research including consumer and operator surveys and site visits, backed up by data from its Digital Resource Library and vast MenuMonitor database.

1. Lights! Camera! Action!Dining is no longer just a personal experience, but a staged event that imparts bragging rights. Plating and lighting are increasingly designed with phone snapshots and social-media sharing in mind. Customers collaborate to put on the show; menus, marketing, even charitable efforts are crowdsourced.

Vegetarianism—and its many variations—is a way of life for a growing number of Americans. Students, thus, should learn to prepare vegetarian and vegan dishes that entice and excite even those customers who enjoy meat. To that end, Chef Zonka shares her first-week lesson plan in a vegetarian-cuisine course.

By Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE

Did you know that last month (October) was National Vegetarian Awareness Month? I have been working with vegetarians in meal planning and recipe development my entire career. When I was a chef instructor, my classes were nutritional cooking and vegetarian cuisine. In the vegetarian-cuisine class, we made different courses vegetarian and then worked with different ethnic cuisines that lent themselves to vegetarian cuisine. We would prepare foods for different types of vegetarians—from vegans to the most liberal vegetarians. Accompanying lectures would include the health benefits and cautions of vegetarian cuisines.

How often do Americans eat vegetarian meals? And how many adults in the United States are vegetarian? In 2012, the Baltimore-based Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on vegetarianism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics and world hunger, asked 2,030 random adults via a National Harris Poll about their vegetarian eating habits, if any.

World’s first business school for food innovation and entrepreneurship to offer first courses next spring.

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) announced plans on Nov. 8 to launch The Food Business School(FBS), its new center for executive and graduate education. The Food Business Schoolbroadens the CIA’s commitment to the future of food education and leadership with specialized programs for executives, recent graduates and mid-career explorers. The mission of the FBS is to enable and empower entrepreneurial leaders to design, deliver and lead transformative innovations that address the world’s most pressing food challenges—and its greatest business opportunities.

Registration for programs at The Food Business School will begin January 2015 with the first courses commencing next spring.

Chef John Zehnder’s newest cookbook includes the most-requested recipes from the most-frequented restaurant in the United States.

When John Zehnder, CEC, AAC, reads a recipe book, he is more interested in the story behind the recipe. In his third cookbook, Zehnder, executive chef and food & beverage director of Zehnder’s Restaurant in Frankenmuth, Mich., brings together the most-requested restaurant recipes with Zehnder family stories that include anecdotes about well-known guests including automotive leaders and other celebrities. Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth—A Collection of Zehnder's Most Iconic Recipes offers 30 recipes in a spiral bound, 63-page book.

“Today people who purchase recipe books want more than just a list of ingredients and directions,” Zehnder says. “After a great deal of research, we knew that the story behind the recipe captivates foodies and home cooks. We decided to incorporate little-known family and restaurant stories to set the stage for our iconic menu favorites.”

Dr. Mayo continues his discussion of tried-and-true and novel assessment ideas, as well as common methods whose usefulness in your program might be dated. This month he examines evaluating food preparation and dining-room service.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed oral presentations and class participation. This month, we will examine evaluating food preparation and dining-room service, and next month, this column will discuss the topic of assessment criteria and rubrics, building on ideas presented in my previous three articles (Assessment Methods I, II and III).

Evaluating Food Preparation
The most challenging and important aspect of evaluation in culinary classes involves assessing student performance in preparing food. There are so many aspects to this challenge, including knife skills, station set up, mise en place, food-safety habits, ingredient use, use of heat, basic cooking principles, consistency, creativity, palate development and plate presentation, as well as professionalism during the entire process.