We read this weekend’s Globe Magazine with great interest, since there’s nothing we love more than wild speculation about the future. As you might imagine, we were particularly drawn to Alison Arnett’s piece about Hub dining in 2017. While we agree with many of her suggestions (Fort Point and the Seaport will become huge, Harrison Avenue is totally the new Washington Street, Filipino cuisine is on its way in), we thought of a few more trends that seem to be forthcoming.
Local Menus: Bostonians, like their counterparts in the rest of the nation, have recently begun clamoring for more local foodstuffs (see: the increasing demand for farmers’ markets). We suspect it won’t be long before we start seeing menus in Boston that resemble ones we’ve observed in New York with the source of each ingredient listed like an appendix on the bottom of the menu.
Untraditional Restaurant Rows: We agree with those Arnett mentioned, but we think there are even more restaurant rows waiting to spring up. Look for the South End-esque clusters of restaurants that have been developing in untraditional neighborhoods, such as Roslindale Square, West Roxbury’s Center Street, Dorchester’s Lower Mills, and Somerville’s Union Square) to become dining destinations.
Mega-Chefs: We’ve already discussed the empire-building aspirations of Ken Oringer, Barbara Lynch, and Frank McClelland. We suspect that over the next several years, chefs that have a success with one restaurant will have increasing opportunities to build their own empires. Our bets for Boston’s Next Top Chefs? Felino Samson of Pops and Copia’s Anthony Caturano.
What do you think? What and where will we be eating in 2017?
Magazine [Boston Globe]
Dining (Way) Out [Boston Globe]
Pops [Official Site]
Copia [Official Site]
[Photo: Animation Art Gallery]
