Global food is no longer a niche interest for American diners. According to Datassential, 61% of consumers want to see more global foods and beverages at restaurants near them, while 58% expect to find at least some globally inspired items on most restaurant menus.
And consumers aren't necessarily viewing the blending of cuisines as a compromise — 67% say fusion is a creative expression and a natural evolution of food in America.
That's a lot of opportunity for restaurants. But it also raises a question I think operators should be asking. Which global food trends have real staying power, and which ones are simply generating attention?
When I look at emerging global flavors and global ingredients, I don't think the most unfamiliar or unusual ingredient necessarily has the best chance of becoming a lasting menu trend.
An ingredient can generate a lot of excitement, but that doesn't mean it's practical for a restaurant to build around:
- Can you source it consistently?
- Is it heavily seasonal?
- Is it prohibitively expensive?
- And can you use it across multiple dishes?
Those questions aren't nearly as exciting as talking about the next hot ingredient, but they ultimately determine whether a trend can work for an operator.
The same is true of international cuisines. The ones most likely to stick aren't necessarily the ones built around the most unfamiliar ingredients.
Great food has a few universal fundamentals — bold flavor, satisfying textures, familiar cooking techniques — and those connections can give diners a way into a cuisine they may not know well.
Familiarity Is the Bridge
If you want an unfamiliar global ingredient to reach a wider audience in the U.S., I think familiarity is the key.
That might sound counterintuitive. If we're talking about international food trends, shouldn't the point be to give consumers something they've never experienced?
Yes, but there's a difference between being adventurous and being inaccessible.
If you're catering to a crowd with a more adventurous palate, you can experiment more with unique flavor profiles and ingredients. But if you're trying to introduce those flavors to a broader audience, giving diners something familiar to hold onto can make all the difference.
Think about it from the consumer's perspective. Trying an unfamiliar ingredient can feel risky. Trying that same ingredient in a dish or format you already understand feels much less intimidating.
Imagine a restaurant adding harissa (a fiery and aromatic chili paste widely used across North Africa and the Middle East) to a familiar chicken sandwich, for example. A customer who might not order a traditional dish centered around harissa may be perfectly willing to try a chicken sandwich with a spicy, flavorful sauce they've never encountered before. The format feels familiar, even if the flavor isn't.
That’s why I think the most successful restaurant menu trends involving global cuisine won't necessarily be the ones that completely reinvent the menu. Instead, they're likely to find a natural intersection between something consumers already love and something they haven't tried yet.
Fusion Isn't a Bad Word
I know the word "fusion" can make some chefs shudder, but I think that really is the key.
Combine some adventurous flavor profiles with familiar dishes. There's a lot of room for creativity there.
A restaurant doesn't have to suddenly become a specialist in a cuisine from halfway around the world to introduce its customers to new flavors. You can start with:
- An ingredient
- A sauce
- A spice blend
- A cooking technique
The goal is to find a thoughtful way to incorporate a “new” ingredient into something the customer already understands.
Of course, there's a right and wrong way to do this. It would be blasphemy to take an interesting cuisine and strip away everything that makes it interesting just to make it comfortable.
It's much more about creating an entry point.
There's also a balance when it comes to educating the customer. Restaurants should absolutely tell diners what they're eating and where those flavors come from. But that education shouldn't make the customer feel stupid for not already knowing about a particular ingredient or cuisine.
The best way to introduce someone to a new food is to make them curious, not embarrassed that they haven't encountered it before.
Look Beyond What's Already Getting Attention
One of the things I find most interesting about global food trends is that the biggest opportunity isn't always where everyone is looking.
If I were advising a restaurant operator who wanted to get ahead of the next trend, I'd tell them to start watching West African cuisine.
African food, and especially West African cuisine, is underserved in much of the world. That's an opportunity in itself, but I also think the cuisine has many of the characteristics that can help a trend break through with American consumers.
At its core, West African cuisine is comfort food. The flavors are bold and flavorful. There's nothing timid about the food, but the underlying appeal — hearty, satisfying, deeply seasoned dishes — is something American diners already understand.
That combination is important.
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You have a cuisine that can introduce consumers to new flavors and ingredients while still delivering the fundamental experience they're looking for when they sit down for a meal. That's exactly the kind of intersection between familiarity and discovery that can help a cuisine move from something diners seek out occasionally to something restaurants can build into their menus.
And I think that's ultimately what you should be looking for as you navigate the next wave of global ingredients and cuisines.
Don't chase novelty for novelty's sake. Look for:
- Flavors that have a reason to resonate
- Ingredients that are practical to work with
- Cuisines that offer something genuinely different while still connecting to the foods people already love
The next big trend may not be the ingredient everyone is talking about today. It might be a cuisine that's been doing great food for generations and is simply waiting for more people to discover it.
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