Where to Eat

11 Dining Trends We’re Tired Of

No more bowls.
No more bowls. Photo: Tomi Um

In our 2016 edition of “Where to Eat,” Adam Platt outlines your game plan for dining (and drinking) exceptionally well in the new year. Here, he looks back on all the annoying quirks, large and small, that drive your cranky critic to distraction.

Faux L.A. Restaurants
I love L.A., just like the next bedraggled New Yorker, but there’s only so much avocado toast one man can stand in the depths of winter.

The Great Bowl Craze
Another healthful California trend gone wild. Hold the kale (and açaí berries), please, and let’s bring back good old rice and noodles.

The Phrase “Housemade”
Which, in these fashionably artisanal times, is often secret code for “quite possibly not as good as it sounds.”

The Phrase “Fast Casual”
Does anyone actually know what the hell this insufferable buzzword really means?

Smoke
The theatrical pulling away of the smoked-filled glass dome was fun for a while. These days, it’s the gourmet equivalent of the old tableside flambée.

The Fried-Chicken-Sandwich Fetish
Like most of you, I love them, and like most of you, I’m really goddamned tired of hearing about them.

Limited-Edition Hysteria Foods
No, I don’t want one of those 20 Wagyu burgers served only at the bar, which will be gone by 6:30 p.m. Yes, I blame the internet.

Endlessly Proliferating Hipster Food Halls
Is that limp slice of Roberta’s pizza you just ingested from the “new food court” around the corner from the office as good as the real thing? I didn’t think so.

Matcha Powder
I like this esoteric Japanese ingredient as much as the next food snob. But how did it migrate to your local Starbucks?

Radishes
Sure, we love the radish, just not when it’s served on carved wood plates, with a delicate garnish of rock salt, before every damn restaurant meal.

The Word “Veggie”
Yes, I use it every day (and sometimes several times a minute), and, yes, I hate myself.

*This article appears in the December 28, 2015 issue of New York Magazine.

11 Dining Trends We’re Tired Of