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The Year in Food 2006

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Published on Monday, December 11, 2006, by The CHOW Editorial Team / Edit Post

More proof that it’s always possible to put dangerous ideas into attractive packages: Chef Homaro Cantu of Chicago’s Moto restaurant blazed new trails in the land of copyrighted food. Within the Cantu model, to borrow another cook’s recipe you’d need to get explicit permission and/or pay a licensing fee. No more “borrowing,” as in the Case of Robin Wickens Stealing Other Chefs’ Recipes, a tale that captivated eGullet this spring. First out of the gate on the corporate side of this new legal arms race? Surprise, surprise: McDonald’s.—James Norton

‘Tis the year to go steakhouse, especially if you are a celebrity chef. Jean-Georges Vongerichten paved the way with Prime in Las Vegas, and Laurent Tourondel followed with BLT Steak. Now everyone from Wolfgang Puck to Todd English has added a steakhouse to their restaurant empire. At press time, Michael Mina had just launched Stripsteak, and David Burke is due to join the wagon in early 2007. And no longer is a simple piece of sirloin sufficient. These days, a diner must know the difference between American and Japanese Kobe, grass fed versus corn fed, and the preferred age of the meat. Never mind the wine guide—it’s the beef manual that we need.—Ya-Roo Yang

Yum! Brands, which owns Pizza Hut and KFC, decided this year to do the business equivalent of shipping coal to Newcastle: It’s opening Chinese restaurants in China. Its new East Dawning chain is expanding slowly but ambitiously, and TV ads for the new restaurants are planned to run as soon as next year. The East Dawning difference, according to The Wall Street Journal: “Yum says its advantage comes from how it runs restaurants, including providing fast, friendly service and keeping the bathrooms clean.” That, and providing local favorites such as crispy pig ears and marinated egg served with seaweed.—James Norton

Hoping for a piece of Starbucks’ action, marketers pushed the chocolate-café concept hard. Part retail space hocking packaged bars and truffles, part lounge with hot drinks and comfy seats, the cafés target women in urban shopping corridors. This year saw Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge, a Mars, Inc.–owned shop with ten Chicago-area locations, open its first Las Vegas store, and Portland-based Moonstruck Chocolate Café open its eighth spot in San Francisco. Max Brenner, a “chocolate bar” based in Israel that serves an extensive menu of desserts alongside chocolate cocktails, opened its first American location in New York’s Union Square. Probably next on the retailers’ agendas: chocolate spas, featuring fudge body rubs and cocoa-powder facials.—Jason Horn

For a while, Americans just couldn’t get enough of the pleasure-palace mode of dining—those hangar-sized temples of Asian-fusion cuisine, replete with giant Buddha statues and Dali-esque bonsai trees. But in 2006, the backlash began. People are growing tired, it seems, of dining on $30 plates of toro tartar to the sound of pulsating electronica. In late 2005, New York’s Ninja was slammed by New York Times critic Frank Bruni in one of the most scathing reviews in recorded history. In fact, places such as Megu, Morimoto, and Buddakan are being denounced in publications from New York magazine to Gawker. Score one for the neighborhood sushi bar?—Emily Matchar

Responding to a national cry in 2006 for innovative ways to consume pork and heavily diluted maple syrup, McDonald’s has been hard at work creating a wave of new breakfast items. Moreover, a new kitchen configuration may mean that McBreakfast will soon be available all McDay long. The moves come in response to a booming year of growth fueled in part by customer enthusiasm for the restaurant’s morning offerings. The breakfast bonanza seems to have impressed investors, too—Motley Fool ran a commentary piece naming the company the best-bet blue-chip stock for 2007.—James Norton