From Trendy to Forgotten: American Foods That Lost Their Spotlight

Summary:

• Food trends come and go quickly, shaping the culinary landscape with fleeting fads and flavors.

• From cupcake boutiques to over-the-top milkshakes, popular foods of the past have faded into obscurity.

• The rise and fall of gourmet sliders, kale overload, and other once-popular dishes reflect the ever-changing tastes of consumers.

Food trends move fast. The next, a dish is on the menus and social feeds. The second one, it silently slips off restaurant boards and vanishes off dinner parties. The American cuisine has never ceased to be influenced by the waves of passion, some of them being just tasty, others just dramatic, and all of them brief. Below is an overview of foods that were popular previously and then lost their popularity.

Cupcake Boutiques

 

 

At the beginning of the 2010s, cupcake-only bakeries were ubiquitous. Due to the emergence of such shops as Sprinkles Cupcakes, gourmet cupcakes became a symbol of status in desserts. Embargoed mounds of frosting and high price tags characterized the craze until the consumers changed their focus to less sugary more artisanal goodies.

Frozen Yogurt Bars

 

Self-serve chains of frozen yoghurt grew on a high rate, and toppings bars transformed dessert to an experience. The boom was driven by such brands as Pinkberry. However, rivalry, saturation and changing health lifestyles dampened the enthusiasm.

Bacon Everything

 

 

One day bacon was to be found in almost anything, cupcakes, milkshakes, cocktails. The bacon overload which was being largely popular at the time soon gave place to more moderate flavour fashions.

Kale Overload

 

Kale was the symbol of clean eating. Salads, smoothies, chips — everywhere. Although it remained a respected nutritionally, its cultural buzz died away as people adopted wider and more diverse super foods.

Gourmet Sliders

 

Mini burgers have ruled the gastropub menus over years. Their small size of bite was playful and high end. Diners eventually reverted to full-sized and quality-focused burgers instead of novelty portions.

Ramen Burger Craze

 

The hybrid food trend gave birth to viral food inventions such as ramen bun burger. It made headlines and long queues but its novelty value did not last long as soon as the social media buzz subsided.

Over-the-Top Milkshakes

 

Endless piles of milkshakes with cookies, candy bars, and whole cakes used to dominate Instagram feeds. The sightseeing stimulated demand, but customers slowly turned to less complicated desserts.

Quinoa as a Catch-All Grain

 

Quinoa was quickly becoming a healthy substitution of rice and pasta. But with time, it became a typical pantry product, instead of a menu feature. Other old grains started to take a place in the limelight.

Fondue Comeback Attempts

 

Fondue was revived fondly by chains such as The Melting Pot. It never achieved the mainstream dining popularity of previous decades whilst still existing.

Moments of Molecular Gastronomy

 

There was a period of time when foams, edible spheres, and liquid nitrogen theatrics appealed to diners. Bars and restaurants that were influenced by such champions like Ferran Adria stretched the limits of cooking. Yet to most in the audience daily comfort was finally preferred over experimental spectacle.