Appetizers: What's right -- and not so right - about four food trends

Appetizers

Restaurants | Reviews | Macias on Wine | Dunne's Wine Picks | Food & Wine | Restaurant Inspections

February 15, 2011

What's right -- and not so right - about four food trends

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

What are some of the good and bad points when it comes to dining trends? Here are a few, as veteran restaurant consultant Jerry Prendergast sees them. He's the founder and president of Prendergast & Associates in Los Angeles (www.restaurantproducer.com).

Food trucks
Pro: "They offer unusual foods and variety," he says.
Con: "They take away business from brick-and-mortar restaurants" that are more financially vested in their locations.

Pop-up restaurants
Pro: Opening a temporary "restaurant" in a home or rented space "offers exciting food in changing environments from a variety of chefs."
Con: "The 'guest chef' has no investment or risk in offering his food by using the premises of another."

Food blogs
Pro: "They give access to so many more writers to 'review' new establishments of all types."
Con: "They let anyone - qualified or not - rant about places with or without reason. There is no sense of responsibility to the reader or to the community."

Comfort foods from the past
Pro: "The market for classic foods (pizza, cupcakes, burgers) and cooking seems to go on forever" and many of the restaurant are devoted to quality.
Con: Too much "jumping on the bandwagon" and a lack of "innovation with new, challenging food trends - but risk adversity is still the norm."

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying