A Taste of the Future : California’s Culinary Trend Setters Answer the New Year’s Question: What’s Next?

Paul Bocuse, celebrity French chef, was sitting at Max au Triangle restaurant in Beverly Hills wiping his plate squeaky clean with a piece of French bread, the way cops do in French films. The last dribbles of sauce happened to be Joachim B. Splichal’s superbly delicate beurre blanc with truffles. The contradiction of styles was entertaining: Bocuse was saying nouvelle cuisine was dead while sopping up the sauce that is nouvelle cuisine’s signature. Traditional cooking--”that’s the new trend,” he said. “First there was the epoch of the rutabaga,” Bocuse continued, “then the epoch of the vegetable puree, next the kiwi and now is the epoch of bones. Bones are extremely important to traditional cooking. They add flavor, you know.”

Perhaps he’s right about traditional cooking taking over. Bones haven’t quite made it to the West Coast but undoubtedly will arrive, as other things have. Remember raspberry vinegar?

So what’s next? What’s the next big food trend on the West Coast? The question was put to some of the experts. You may not agree with any of the answers, but neither was there any agreement among those we asked. And they are some of the top chefs and restaurateurs in California (many of whom you’ll spot in the group pictured on the previous pages). Michael Roberts, Trumps, West Hollywood (American)

” My guess is that Vietnamese food will be big but short-lived. Oriental food is a favorite, and the grazing phenomenon, which will last for a long time, has already hit. Vietnamese is an extension of grazing--ordering a little of a lot of things.” Patrick Terrail, (owner of the now-closed Ma Maison), West Hollywood (French)

“If I knew what it was, I would change my profession to soothsayer and make a million. I hope it will be quality dining. I think people will tire of noisy restaurants and coffee shops that pass for elegant dining. They’ll go back to traditional dining.” John Sedlar, St. Estephe, Manhattan Beach (American Southwest-French)

“Mexican will be big. Anything to do with Latin American food will probably do very well. But keep an eye on Mexico City cooking, which integrates French and Mexican cuisines. Homogenization of cuisines is not a negative. It’s a positive.” Evan Kleiman, Angeli, West Hollywood (Italian)

“Simplicity. We’ve seen that in Los Angeles restaurants that are offering good quality at lower prices. It’s definitely happening in Italian ones, and pretty soon we’ll see it among the French.” Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, Border Grill/City Restaurant, West Hollywood (Mexican)

“We don’t know what the next trend will be. We only know what we’re doing. We cook what we like to eat ourselves--ethnic dishes with strong, bold flavors. “ Bernard Jacoupy, Bernard’s, Biltmore Hotel, downtown Los Angeles (French)

“Within two or three years we will start looking for intimate seven-to 14-table restaurants where the specialty of the chef is the thing. Style of food will be more authentic. Cuisines will reaffirm themselves.” Michael McCarty, Michael’s, Santa Monica (French - California)

“Today, the No. 1 concern is health--cutting back on food and alcohol. In San Francisco there is a thing called ‘small plates.’ A dozen items, six bites each. If you need seven or eight you’re a glutton.” Ken Frank, La Toque, West Hollywood (American-French)

“I’m not sure. Everybody’s talking about breakfast, but I think they’re talking about breakfast because they’re talking about breakfast, if you know what I mean. Me? I’m not talking about breakfast.” Piero Selvaggio, Primi / Valentino, West Los Angeles (Italian)

“I’m doing it. I believe offering a variety of many little portions and exciting tastes will be the trend.” Roy Yamaguchi, 385 North, West Hollywood (Japanese - French - American)

“It’s sad to say, but the next big trend will be whatever people make money on. Cajun came on very strong. It’s good food, but people were doing it because they would make money on it. The trend is toward a party atmosphere where the food is good at reasonable prices.” Patrick Jamon, Les Anges, Santa Monica (French)

“Diet. I believe that in six months to a year, we will have some very good-looking diet foods.” Laurent Quenioux, Seventh Street Bistro, downtown Los Angeles (French)

“In France you get good food at reasonable prices at any ordinary cafe or bistro. I think good food will be everywhere here, too.” Sandi Tang, Tommy Tang’s Siamese Cafe, West Hollywood (Thai)

“Is there anything left? Off the top of my head, Indonesian will be big. It’s already starting in New York and San Francisco.” Celestino Drago, Celestino Ristorante, Beverly Hills (Italian)

“Restaurants are trying to use everything in the market to make things more exciting. They’re looking for original ideas. Los Angeles will probably be the most exciting place in the world for dining.” Claudio Marchesan, Prego, Beverly Hills (Italian)

“The next big idea will be something between Prego and Primi. The food will be very fresh, with emphasis on ingredients instead of the chemistry of cooking. It will be beautiful, cooked in kitchens that people can see.” Joachim B. Splichal, Max au Triangle, Beverly Hills (French)

“American cuisine, American cuisine, American cuisine. It’s so powerful it will be the big movement for the next five years.

“I think I will concentrate more on spa cuisine. Health is a very important thing right now.” Mauro Vicente, Rex Il Ristorante, downtown Los Angeles (Italian)

“We’re entering the olive oil era. People have discovered a Southern (Italian) tradition, which everyone thought was heavier but which is lighter than Northern cooking.” Emelio Nunez, La Scala, Beverly Hills (Continental)

“Middle Eastern will probably be emphasized more, due to the influx of immigrants from the Middle East.” Patrick Healy, Colette, Beverly Pavilion Hotel, Beverly Hills (French)

“Pastries. There is an influx of pastry chefs with the freedom to create their own desserts.” Robert Brody, Chambrette, Sheraton Harbor Island West, San Diego (American)

“People are beginning to want more value for their dollar. They’re returning to beef and steaks combined with lighter sauces.” Cindy Black, former executive chef, Shepherd’s, Sheraton Harbor Island East, San Diego (American)

“Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but perhaps we will get back to dining out for the sake of dining out.” Elka Gilmore, Camelions, Santa Monica (American)

“Wholesome, pristine, simple, good cooking, emphasizing the essential flavor of an ingredient instead of the complex flavors you get in French cooking.” Peter Morton, Morton’s, West Hollywood (American)

“When I opened Morton’s six years ago, I thought French food was passe, and good, clean American food was where it’s at. I haven’t changed my belief.” Kurt Niklas, Bistro Gardens, Beverly Hills (Continental)

“I really have no prediction to make. The public is hard to predict.” Jimmy Murphy, Jimmy’s, Beverly Hills (Continental)

“The more people travel the more variety we’ll see. Fresh products are what people will be looking for.” John Ash, John Ash & Co., Santa Rosa (American)

“Much more delving into interpreted ethnic cooking in America--black American cooking, Mediterranean food not yet discovered--the more robust and simpler foods. Concurrently, there is a growing trend toward truly inventive, healthy food. There seems to be an emerging vegetarianism of a new order--light, easy to digest, a greater consciousness about using fats and salt.” Wolfgang Puck, Spago, West Hollywood (Continental)

“Ethnic, American, healthy and spicy. Americans had never eaten spicy foods until they started eating at Vietnamese and Thai restaurants. There will be more and more of that kind of food.” James Nassikas, Fournou’s Ovens, Stanford Court, San Francisco (Continental)

“There is a great trend toward the personal restaurant that is less traditional, less formal and more intimate. There seems to be a great human need to relate to a personality (chef) with a style of his or her own.” Bradley Ogden, Campton Place, San Francisco (American)

“We’re getting back to basic, good- tasting food. People are getting tired of so-called creative cooking, tired of being experimented on. Don’t get me wrong. I think we are going through an important period of experimentation, but there has to be skill and basic knowledge there as well as creativity.” Claude Segal, Bistango, Beverly Hills (French)

“Restaurants will be smaller and more creative. Food will be imaginative. Nouvelle cooking had attached too much importance to looks. Taste should come first.” Bob Spivak, The Grill, Beverly Hills (American)

“People talk fish and eat meat. We’re selling more meat than ever. Sauces are on their way out, and good wholesome food is in.” Udo Nechutnys, Miramonte, St. Helena (French)

“People are more health-conscious these days, so they want good food but lighter cooking. We will always have French cooking and California cooking, but everyone will have his or her own style.”