We’ve already reviewed the year that’s passed and now we’re ready to think about the year that is (mostly) yet to come. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2008. Below, our predictions for five trends we expect to see this year.
•A Sushi Evolution: As Robert Nadeau wrote in his excellent review of Boston’s first branch of New York sushi chain Haru, “Now that we Bostonians have O Ya and the South End’s Oishii, Haru is not a New York–upscale sushi place to us.” Truly upscale high-end sushi has come to Boston and, while there will certainly always be plenty of demand for basic, no-frills sushi like Shino Express Sushi, we suspect that sushi restaurants with lots of pomp and circumstance but not much elegance (Haru and Sushi Teq, we’re looking at you) will need to step up their games.
•Locavore Saturation: Admittedly, Boston does not have the Greenmarket culture of New York, where local and seasonal food is absolutely de rigueur, but locavore was, after all, the word of the year. We strongly suspect that we’ll soon start to see a host of Boston restaurants make locavorism an explicit part of their menus in the manner of T.W. Food.
•Even More Small Plate Restaurants: Off the top of our head, we can name many Boston restaurants serving dishes in small portions, be they tapas or Small Plates. We suspect the number of such restaurants is going to grow exponentially, as small plates are great for sharing, friendly on the budget, and easy if you’re watching your weight.
•More BBQ: New York gained quite a few excellent barbecue restaurants in 2007. (We’ve been to Hill Country and it totally lives up to the hype. That moist brisket haunts us in our dreams.) We think it’s high time for this phenomenon to trickle down to the Hub. Redbones is great, but we want more!
•Burrito Saturation: We love burritos, but guys, enough is enough! Davis and Harvard Squares and all of Brookline are chockablock with burrito joints. We suspect that there are just too many for them all to succeed and as much as we basically like Chipotle, we hope the Boston-based chains win out.
What are your dining predictions for 2008?
