{"id":25797,"date":"2017-06-30T10:06:43","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T14:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-gordon-food-service-canada.pantheonsite.io\/ideas\/a-resurgence-of-retro-food-ideas-for-restaurants\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T13:55:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:55:24","slug":"a-resurgence-of-retro-food-ideas-for-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/a-resurgence-of-retro-food-ideas-for-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"A Resurgence of Retro Food Ideas for Restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><\/h2>\n<p>Retro foods that go back a generation or more are hot on today\u2019s menus. Chalk it up to nostalgia, a shaky economy, or maybe just enthusiasm for Mad Men.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhatever the reason, retro foods that go back a generation or more are trending on today\u2019s menus. Creative operators are ramping-up flavors and employing different ingredients to put a new spin on old-fashioned comfort foods.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re seeing the resurgence of foods that were popular when baby boomers were young, and also in old-style Southern regional cuisine. Restaurants like Big Jones in Chicago are positioning old Southern dishes as \u2018artisanal retro,\u2019 and listing their history on the menu.<\/p>\n<p>Tapping into this trend makes good business sense in terms of customer satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. Retro foods fit in with the trend of casualization and consumer demand for shareable, less formal dishes that are, largely, made from less-costly ingredients but provide layers of flavor. Moreover, many of these dishes are items that consumers can\u2019t\u2014or can\u2019t easily\u2014prepare at home.<\/p>\n<h2>Retro Foods From the Past<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fried chicken.&nbsp;<\/strong>Nothing can match the taste and texture of fried-to-order chicken prepared the old-fashioned way. Traditional pieces are popular, but boneless pieces provide an easier eating experience. On the menu: Bane\u2019s Fried Chicken with Braised Greens and a Biscuit\u2014Roberta\u2019s, New York.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meatballs<\/strong>. Entire restaurant concepts are now based on meatballs. Make sure they\u2019re nice and light in texture. &nbsp;People don\u2019t want heavy, clunky meatballs. They do want a high-quality, interesting sauce. There\u2019s a lot more innovation in cream sauces and broth-based sauces. On the menu: Naked Chicken Meatballs in Parmesan-Cream Sauce\u2014 The Meatball Shop, New York.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sausage<\/strong>. Make your own or procure a high-quality sausage and make a plate out of that. Popular choices include: European bockwurst, kielbasa, and bratwurst; Spanish or Mexican chorizo; Middle-Eastern merguez; and Irish bangers. On the menu: Housemade Grilled Sausages (Smoked Chorizo, Andouille, and Curried Pork), Potatoes, Mustard\u2014Acre, Chicago.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Macaroni and cheese.<\/strong> Use cheese blends that go beyond cheddar and offer add-ins such as kale, pancetta, crawfish, or sourdough breadcrumbs. Change up the pasta with non-traditional varieties such as orecchiette, cavatappi, or ziti. On the menu: Multiple-Choice Mac N Cheese with Burnt-End Brisket, Caramelized Onion, and Roasted Jalape\u00f1os\u2014Public House, Chicago.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pimiento cheese.<\/strong> This is a huge retro dish, combine cheddar and cream cheeses in a food processor, add diced roasted red peppers and serve it as a burger topping or a sharing plate with pita triangles or grilled bread. On the menu: Pimiento Cheeseburger with Fried Pickles, Pimiento Cheese, Bacon, and Red Onion on a Parker House Bun\u2014Tipsy Parson, New York.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deviled eggs.<\/strong> Create unique flavor profiles with relish or roasted &nbsp;vegetables, crumbled chorizo, diced roasted red peppers, or start with pickled eggs. Maybe top a traditional filling with crispy, crumbled bacon, smoked fish, or scallions. On the menu: Deviled Eggs with Hot Sauce and Powdered Bacon\u2014 The Bedford, Chicago.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Southern beans and greens.<\/strong> &nbsp;Flavor collards, mustard or turnip greens, and even braised black kale with a bit of ham or smoked ham hock, slow-cook them and serve with fried chicken, or a pork dish. &nbsp;On the menu: Porchetta Plate with Beans and Cooking Greens\u2014Porchetta, New York.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Grits. <\/strong>Serve flavored with cheese or other ingredients as the base for protein dishes. The Italian version\u2014polenta\u2014 is also popular. Concentrate on the texture: use coarse or fine to achieve the desired effect. On the menu: Sausage &amp; Grits on a bed of escarole\u2014Milo and Olive, Santa Monica.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pretzels.<\/strong> The popularity of snack items and sharing plates has given rise to items such as pretzels with bright flavor, sometimes with crunch, sometimes with a soft and doughy. &nbsp;Rewarm commercially produced pretzels or prepare your own from simple pretzel dough recipes. On the menu: Warm, Soft Pretzel with Maldon Sea Salt, Smoked Gouda, and Cheddar Fondue\u2014The Monk\u2019s Kettle, San Francisco.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Corn dogs.<\/strong> \u201cThese are fair-style food, but people like them and they\u2019re very easy to prepare. &nbsp;Substitute flavored sausages, ground meats, or skewered crab cakes for hot dogs. On the menu: Stone-Ground Blue-Corn-Crab-Cake Corn Dogs\u2014 Stanton Social, New York.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Waffles.<\/strong> Waffles are finding their way into savory applications. Top waffles with fried chicken or pasta sauce, or even use them as sandwich carriers. On the menu: Waffle Sliders\u2014Bru\u2019s Wiffle, Santa Monica.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Getting Sweet On Retro Recipes for Desserts<\/h2>\n<p>Today\u2019s popular retro desserts are simple, loaded with flavor, and taste like something grandma made.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Crisps.<\/strong> Mix sliced or chopped fruit\u2014traditional apple, or other varieties\u2014with brown sugar and butter, cover with a streusel topping, and bake for about 10 minutes in a souffl\u00e9 dish or cast-iron pan. Serve made-to-order to reinforce your menu\u2019s freshness message. On the menu: Caramel-Apple Crisp\u2014Next Door By Josie, Los Angeles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bread pudding.<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gfs.com\/en\/food-service-distribution\/trending-now\/comfort-food\/american-southern\/chocolate-stout-bread-pudding?utm_source=retro-resurgence&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_term=bread-pudding&amp;utm_campaign=blog\"> <\/a>Any bread, croissant, or cake in an egg-and-milk (or cream) mixture makes a nice soft bread-based pudding that\u2019s easily prepared in advance and rewarmed. On the menu: Dark-Chocolate and Stout-Bread Pudding with Candied Pecans and Vanilla Ice Cream\u2014The Monk\u2019s Kettle, San Francisco.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fruit and\/or fruit-and-vegetable cakes.<\/strong> Think walnut or zucchini bread, not Christmas fruitcake. Hearty ingredients (e.g., dried fruits, brown sugar, oatmeal, and sometimes whole-wheat flour) produce dense, moist, and sweet cakes. Serve with some sort of sauce, icing, or ice cream. On the menu: Warm Date Cake with Ginger Gelato\u2014Gjelina, Los Angeles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cream puffs.<\/strong> Purchase pre-baked cream puffs or prepare this easy, economical dough in-house. Bake a batch every few days and store (covered with plastic) on a rack. Drizzle with sauce before serving. On the menu: Sanders Hot-Fudge Cream-Puff Sundae\u2014O\u2019Mara\u2019s Restaurant, Berkley, Michigan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Retro Foods are New Again and Again<\/h2>\n<p>As you put retro dishes on the menu, continue to seek inspiration from the past, find ways to make them fresh, and choose the ones that are a good fit for your clientele. When it comes to food, there\u2019s nothing new under the sun. Everything is a variation on a theme. In foodservice dining, dishes cycle in and cycle out, become fashionable, go out of style, and come back again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retro foods that go back a generation or more are hot on today\u2019s menus. Chalk it up to nostalgia, a shaky economy, or maybe just enthusiasm for Mad Men. &nbsp;&nbsp; Whatever the reason, retro foods that go back a generation or more are trending on today\u2019s menus. Creative operators are ramping-up flavors and employing different [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,68,69,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catering-small-business","category-culinary-ideas","category-running-your-business","category-healthcare"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Resurgence of Retro Food Ideas for Restaurants | Gordon Food Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/a-resurgence-of-retro-food-ideas-for-restaurants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Resurgence of Retro Food Ideas for Restaurants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Retro foods that go back a generation or more are hot on today\u2019s menus. 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