Complements and contrasts at the 2013 NRA ShowComplements and contrasts at the 2013 NRA Show

Without a doubt, the annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago remains the industry’s best menu innovation incubator. The event, which was held May 18-21 and played host to more than 2,100 exhibitors and 62,500 attendees, is also a consistently good barometer of prevailing food and beverage trends. Some of the items generating the biggest buzz this year served to underscore the complex and sometimes contradictory expectations of restaurant patrons.

Local vs. imported. Ethnic foods remain a real growth opportunity, and exhibitors spanned the globe, offering Malaysian sauces, Jamaican condiments and Colombian salsa. Peru had a major presence as part of a government-sponsored initiative to promote the country’s culinary traditions, and while attractive food items were on offer, many attendees gravitated to pisco, the indigenous grape-based spirit. Its runaway popularity suggests that it may serve as the door opener to Peruvian foods and flavors in this country.

Yet amid all this food from faraway places, locally grown products are proving another major trend of the moment. To underscore the point that nothing is fresher than produce grown on-premise, a hydroponic garden was in full bloom at the show. Vendors offered the expertise and equipment for operators to cultivate their own herbs and microgreens.

Healthful vs. indulgent. New to the show and very much in tune with the times was the Alternative BiteStyle pavilion, featuring items compatible with special dietary needs, from vegan sausages to low-sodium sea salt to gluten-free tarts and macaroons. Similarly, the Healthier Kids Fare initiative highlighted products that focus on better nutrition for children.

In contrast, there was the usual abundance of deliciously decadent dishes. Notable for its sheer dessert audacity, however, must be one brand’s  super-premium caffeinated ice cream. One scoop contains 125 milligrams of caffeine, about equal to an energy drink, and the booth was doing turn-away business from show warriors looking for a tasty treat and a quick boost.

East vs. west. A wide range of American-grown products is always on display. The USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council shared a booth with the Northern Pulse Growers Association in a timely effort to promote consumption of pulses, which include dried peas, lentils and chickpeas, grown largely in the Northern Plains and Pacific Northwest. These nutritional powerhouses deserve greater play on menus, and visibility at the show is a good first step.

The strong presence of Asian products is not new, but emergence this year of essential Asian ingredients in convenience formats is both new and newsworthy. Culinary building blocks like Korean kimchi in a kit and Japanese dashi in a pouch require very little labor to reconstitute and represent a big step forward in their crossover to mass-market usage.

Mediterranean foods were also sizzling hot this year, bolstered by the success of Greek yogurt. Flatbreads were prominent, along with salads, snacks, olive oils and desserts from countries that rim the Mediterranean Sea.

Old vs. new. The newfound popularity of ancient grains was very much in evidence. There were purveyors of quinoa, amaranth and even freekeh, or roasted green wheat that dates back to biblical times. Elsewhere at the show, a thoroughly modern invention was also making waves. Attendees were introduced to technology that allowed them to inhale their vaporized cocktails of choice. It’s a calorie-free way to indulge since the liquor is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Now if they can just figure out how to vaporize the olives, lemon peels and other cocktail accoutrements.

Nancy Kruse, president of the Kruse Company, is a menu trends analyst based in Atlanta. As one of LinkedIn’s Top 100 Influencers in the U.S., she blogs regularly on food-related subjects on the LinkedIn website.