In this post;
- Thank YOU
- Food Trends for 2022
- January 2022 Events Calendar
Thank YOU for your support during 2021
Despite the ongoing pandemic, supply chain issues, food cost hikes and staffing shortages, Café YOU had a very successful year and that’s because YOU, of our amazing, wonderful, loyal customers. It is because of your ongoing support that we continue to be a successful small business.
During 2021 we sold 7,190 slices of avocado toast, we made more than 16,000 coffees and served over 25,000 tables/customers. We appreciate your business very, very much.
We wish you all a Happy New Year and promise to work hard to provide you with more 5 star dining experiences in 2022.
2022 Food Trends
At Café YOU we are constantly looking ahead and looking at what we can do to continuously improve. Our goal is to always be at the leading edge of the SWFL food scene.
So, every year we look at what the food trend predictions are for the coming year.
Most of the 2022 food trends are being driven by people’s growing concern for their personal health and that of the planet. The pandemic and climate are making people revaluate what and how they eat. Sustainable practices and reducing food waste and food shortages are also all driving forces behind the emerging food trends for 2022. Here is what people are talking about;
Barley Milk
Barley milk is the newest plant-based dairy alternative. Barley requires far less water than almond milk, while having a greater yield than oats, and being overall much easier to grow. It also tastes and froths more like regular milk. The only down side is that it’s still pretty expensive at the moment. Take Two Foods is the only brand currently available and we could only find it online at more than double the cost of Oat Milk. We have ordered a case to test here at Café YOU. If it’s as good as people say, we will start offering Barley Milk within the next 3 months.
There is another reason Barley Milk is such an interesting option. It’s made from upcycled barley!
Upcycling
Upcycling is the use of by-products or surplus ingredients that might otherwise have been wasted and this will be a big 2022 food trend. For example, Take Two Foods turns spent barley from the manufacturing of beer into barley milk and BiaSol flour is made with spent grains from local breweries. The take out boxes we use at Café YOU are made from sugarcane bagasse. This is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane stalks to extract their juice. The boxes are entirely compostable to reduce Café YOU’s environmental waste impact. You can expect this upcycling food trend to penetrate other industries too.
Less Meat, More Veggies
This trend started a few years ago and will continue into 2022. Livestock farming is hugely detrimental to the environment and accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also one of the leading causes of deforestation, biodiversity loss, water pollution and much more. It takes 13 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. Check out all the scary fact here;
0.37171200_1556529315_factsheet.pdf (downtoearth.org.in)
This is driving many people to eat less meat and even cut meat completely from their diet, eating more sustainably sourced veggies instead. At Café YOU we have been ahead of this trend since we opened in December 2015, with a substantial part of our menu being meatless. We are also the only restaurant, that we know of, that offers vegan fine dining in SWFL. Which leads us into the next 2022 food trend.
Gourmet Veggies
With the ongoing rise of veganism and vegetarianism, restaurants are going to have to start offering a lot more gourmet vegetable dishes. Not plant-based meat alternatives or meat substitute products but creative dishes made with an array of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, cereals and legumes. Café YOU is well ahead of this trend. During 2022 we will continue to offer you beautiful dishes that celebrate their plant-based ingredients and don’t pretend to be anything but veggies.
Check out our events calendar for information about our vegan events and book early, these dinners often sell out months ahead. Even if you eat meat, you will not believe how good veggies can taste till you have experienced one of Café YOU’s vegan fine dining extravaganzas.
Lab to Fork
The world’s first lab-grown burger was served up in 2013 at a cost of USD$280,400. Now, chicken breasts can be lab-grown for less than USD$4 and they are reportedly more tender and juicier than the real thing. In 2020, Singapore became the first country to allow the sale of lab-grown or cultured meat to the public when it permitted US company Eat Just to sell its laboratory-grown chicken in a local restaurant. The lab-grown food trend will continue to grow in 2022 especially now that it is becoming scalable and more affordable. However, it won’t be limited to meat. We are already seeing an emergence of different kinds of lab-made food. For instance, dairy products, gelatine, breast milk, honey and coffee. and many more. With big-name investors like Bill Gates and Richard Branson, expect to see the term ‘lab-to-fork’ a lot more in the next 12 months.
We will definitely be considering lab food as an addition to our menu here at Café YOU when it’s approved for use in the USA and when its financially viable to do so.
Singapore becomes first country to approve lab-grown meat – CNN
Less Choice is More
In 2022 you will see restaurant menus being simplified and cut down. There will be less choice, more tasting and pre-fix menus and more 3-5 course set menus. There are two main reasons for this;
The first reason is the supply chain challenges, staffing crisis, and higher cost of food. These will push independent restaurants to cut down and simplify their menus. It will force chefs to be more innovative with ingredients already on hand and/or locally sourced.
The second reason is that customers are making a million decisions a day between work, home, etc. When they come to a restaurant, they want the chef and restaurant staff to make the decision easy for them. They want to know that they will be taken care of.
At Café YOU our evening fine dining menus are already pre-fix / pre-set. We will definitely be looking at how we can simplify our daytime menu as well. Watch this space!
Check out these sites for more 2022 food trends.
Top five food trends for 2022 – FoodBev Media
4 Food Trends Coming In 2022 That You Should Know About (msn.com)
34 Chefs Around The Country Make Food Predictions For 2022 (forbes.com)
January 2022 Events Calendar
| SAT JAN 8 ● 7 PM Middle Eastern Wine Dinner | Ethnic cuisine paired with regional wines. Click HERE for the Menu |
| TUE JAN 11 ● 6:30 PM Taco Tuesday | Taco ’bout a reason to have a margarita! Don’t burrito round the bush! Join us for this Mexcellent feast of traditional & vegan tacos. Click HERE for Taco Tuesday Menu |
| THU JAN 20 ● 9:30 –11:30 AM ● 1:30 –3:30 PM High Tea | Treat yourself to elegant bite-size finger food & tea in the spirit of British tradition. Grab your big hats, tiaras, boas, pretty dresses and your BFFs. Reg $20. V/GF $25. Add Bottomless Mimosas $15 Click HERE for the High Tea Menu |
| SAT JAN 22 ● 7PM Vegan Chef’s Tasting Dinner | A six-course, all vegan culinary extravaganza with optional wine pairings. Click HERE for Menu |
| FRI JAN 28 ● ALL DAY Pavlova Day | Treat yourself to some Pavlova, an absolutely delicious Gluten Free Australian desert consisting of a meringue base with a crispy crust and soft marshmellowy center, generously topped w/ whipped cream & fresh fruit. Heavenly Pavlova |
Café YOU 