Bon Appetit

I eat at restaurants as many as three to four times a week, so often that I’m observing and experiencing trends in real time. In May I was at Vespertine in Culver City, California, shortly after it reopened from a four-year pandemic closure, gushing over its stunningly beautiful salad course. The dish was a wild onion custard, studded with crunchy pea pods and topped with an explosion of lupine and wisteria blossoms, with sprigs of lemon thyme. The dish was so modern and refreshing I would have been satisfied if the meal ended there. I kept thinking about that salad and then began to see pansies and nasturtium blossoms sprouting on salads and garnishing sea bass. Flowers add flavor, color, and dimension while being regeneratively farmed and good for the environment. As more…

BACK TO THE FUTURE Jell-O for dessert? Saltines from scratch? Shrimp cocktail? I’ve had all three this year at neighborhood restaurants and predict that more aunts and grannies will influence chefs to bring these old-school dishes back to the table. CHAAT MASALA Our test kitchen editors Chris Morocco and Shilpa Uskokovich agree that the Indian street snack blend is the next go-to spice for grilling and sautéing. You can order it from our partners at Burlap & Barrel. DOUGHNUT / CROISSANT CONTINUUM Parisian cafés are filling up with American-style doughnuts. In the US, lamination techniques are on the rise. With pastry trends fueled by TikTok, we expect croissant variations to add layers of everything from cream filling to cookie dough.…

TEST KITCHEN TIPS, RECIPES, and RECOMMENDATIONS RESTAURANTS, TRAVEL, and FOOD FOR THOUGHT DINNER IS SERVED: RESTAURANT REMIX Elevate your weeknights with dinners inspired by our favorite meals out, like a quick-and-easy pastrami-seasoned salmon or a punchy piccata made with yuzu. Trend Report PASTRAMI SALMON WITH FENNEL SLAW Diner and deli foods are getting a glow-up, with fancified versions of comfort dishes popping up on menus across the country. In this recipe, salmon is given the pastrami treatment with a sugar-and-spice blend that creates a smoky crust reminiscent of the cured meat, balanced well against a crunchy fennel slaw. RECIPE BY KENDRA VACULIN 4 SERVINGS 1 large fennel bulb, fronds reserved1 small red onion3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, divided1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt,…

Brooklyn Peltz Beckham has determined his current life path will be charted by his palate. The now 25-year-old first-born child of soccer icon David Beckham and designer-entrepreneur Victoria Beckham embraced the kitchen during the pandemic, evolving from self-proclaimed “foodie” to packaged goods entrepreneur with a soft spot for the hot sauces we all love—Frank’s RedHot, Cholula, and even Truff. Peltz Beckham first flirted with making hot sauce two and a half years ago with his wife. “We were drunk in the kitchen together, and when you make hot sauce, it really kind of stinks up your whole house, and it was burning our eyes,” he says. “We were having just such a laugh with it.” He recently launched Cloud23, a condiment line named after the jersey number his father sported while playing…

BON APPÉTIT 56 WHY WE LOVE IT The best part of Claire Saffitz’s legendary No-Fail Roast Chicken is cleanup duty. Sure, there are plenty of other accolades. The recipe yields decadent results with only six ingredients, and it is so simple that even a neophyte such as myself can pull it off (BA’s test kitchen editors weren’t kidding when they dubbed it “No-Fail”). And, yes, the aromas are so intoxicating that you might face competition over the usually thankless task of carving (how else do you get to surreptitiously consume a quarter of the chicken at its juiciest?). But nothing matches the cleanup: the post-dinner joy of an empty kitchen, a baking dish full of garlicky jus, and a hunk of bread as your sponge. 4 SERVINGS 1 3½–4-lb. chicken Kosher salt, freshly ground…

Not to get all deep in this magazine devoted to cooking, but birth is a lot like death. They’re the twins bookending the human condition, transitional processes that are messy and inescapable and, at least in the United States, expensive. Also, newborns look like old people. Another commonality: It can be challenging to know how to support someone who is grieving a death or celebrating a birth unless you yourself have experienced it. When my father died I realized that, despite my good intentions, I had certainly been all thumbs in the past. I earnestly whispered “How are you?” and “Let me know what I can do” to bereaved friends instead of just showing up and sharing stories while cleaning the bathroom. I fielded a lot of “How are yous” when I…