4 rising restaurant bread trends4 rising restaurant bread trends

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Despite a growing number of gluten-averse diners, bread remains a staple of the American diet.

But bread is undergoing a transformation, especially in sandwiches. Once perceived mainly as the carrier of whatever else lunch might hold, bread is now the focal point of many new items.

Wendy’s has been a poster child of bread experimentation, moving from whole-grain flatbread to pretzels to brioche to ciabatta with its limited-time offers in the past year.

McDonald’s has introduced a whole-grain English muffin, Subway offered a jalapeño Cheddar roll as an LTO, Jack in the Box tested a Fajita Ranch Melt on sourdough in some markets, Au Bon Pain introduced a higher-protein sprouted grain roll, and many other chains have expanded or tweaked their bread selections to entice their customers with messages of healthfulness, heartiness or luxury.

Here is a look at the trendiest breads on the restaurant landscape.

Pretzels: The bread of the year

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Pretzels are the fastest-growing type of bread on menus, according to Datassential’s MenuTrend database of chains and independent restaurants. They’re on 29 percent more menus now than they were a year ago, especially as sandwich carriers.

With origins dating as far back as ancient Rome, this salt-speckled bread is traditionally made by dipping the raw dough in a lye bath, which causes the starch on the outside to seize and brown faster while protecting the interior and keeping it softer and moister. The result is a hearty bread that’s agreeably chewy without being dry.

Wendy's premium bread program has included a pretzel bun.

Pretzels were the focus of Wendy’s very successful Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger and the Pretzel Pub Chicken sandwich that followed it. Both sandwiches also were made with cheese sauce and honey mustard, reflecting pretzels’ dual role in American culture as a carrier of cheese and mustard.

Sonic last summer introduced two pretzel dogs reflecting that as well: a Cheezy Bacon Pretzel Dog, topped with cheese; and an Original Pretzel Dog, topped with mustard.

Sonic brought both of those back this winter as LTOs through February and added a Chili Cheese Pretzel Dog as well.

The current pretzel trend at chain restaurants goes back to at least 2009, when Blimpie introduced pretzel bread. It has remained an option for franchisees ever since, but was heavily marketed starting last April with the chain’s “Let’s Talk Turkey” campaign and remained on menu boards afterwards.

Pretzels have been burger carriers at chains since at least 2011, when Red Robin Gourmet Burgers introduced an Oktoberfest Bürger in September of that year. Since then it has been the bread for corned beef sliders at TGI Fridays, the cornerstone of Cousins Subs “twisted subs,” and the rolls for Gordon Biersch’s Baby Brats, a fall LTO.

Looking ahead, the future of the pretzel looks bright as it intersects with two other emerging trends. It has appeared in such salty desserts as Krispy Kreme’s Caramel Chocolate Pretzel doughnut, introduced last June. It also has been incorporated into the growing number of hybrid pastries following on the heels of the Cronut at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City. Companion bakery in St. Louis last year introduced a pretzel croissant.

Ciabatta: Premium cues

Fourteen percent of chain restaurant menus include ciabatta. Photo: Thinkstock

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This Italian bread, with its thin, often crunchy crust and soft white interior, is now on 14 percent of chain restaurant menus but just 6 percent of menus at independent restaurants, according to menu research firm Food Genius.

So while restaurants such as laV Restaurant & Wine Bar, which opened in Austin, Texas, in March, uses toasted ciabatta as the bun for a lamb burger with harissa, watercress and pickled onion, ciabatta is even more common at chains such as Sonic, which has used a whole-grain version for its premium chicken sandwiches since November 2012.

Jack in the Box used ciabatta for a chicken sandwich as far back as 2007, and Long John Silver’s began serving batter-dipped fish and chicken on a ciabatta roll last September.

Often a marker for premium items, such as the Horseradish Roast Beef & Cheddar sandwich with caramelized onions at McAlister’s Deli, ciabatta is a “great platform for pressed or grilled sandwiches,” said David Groll, that chain’s corporate executive chef.

Red Robin used ciabatta last year when it introduced the first burger in its new “Red Robin’s Finest” line of hand-formed, half-pound Black Angus burgers. The Finest Smoke & Pepper Signature Burger, flavored with alderwood smoked sea salt and made with black-peppered bacon, extra sharp Cheddar and barbecue sauce, was developed by fine-dining chef Laurent Tourondel.

Applebee’s recently introduced an Artisan Grilled Ciabatta sandwich. It’s made with artichoke spread, Swiss cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, tomatoes and smoked mayonnaise. Multigrain ciabatta is the carrier for a new vegetarian breakfast sandwich at Starbucks that also has spinach, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, melted aged Fontiago cheese and an egg.

And ciabatta is featured in Wendy’s current LTO premium burger. The Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger is made with a quarter-pound beef patty, aged Asiago cheese, thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, nine-leaf spring mix and two new premium components — rosemary garlic aïoli and oven-roasted tomatoes.

Whole grain and multi-grain: Signaling healthfulness

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The term “whole grain” appeared on 11 percent more menus in 2013 than in 2012, according to Datassential. It’s a cue for better-for-you items, as reflected in the fact that McDonald’s introduced an English muffin with 8 grams of whole grain as the carrier for the yolk-free Egg White Delight McMuffin that it rolled out last year.

Auntie Anne’s also added a whole-grain option last year. The Honey Whole Grain Pretzel was the chain’s first permanent addition since 2010 and it’s labeled with the Whole Grains Council stamp of approval for containing 67 grams or more of whole grains per serving.

Restaurants are tapping into healthful cues with multi-grain breads. Photo: Thinkstock

The “whole grain” message is often amplified with the use of multiple grains, such as the whole-wheat bagel that Bruegger’s Bagels added last spring as an LTO. The Five Grain Everything bagel was topped with sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, rye and wheat flakes.

Sometimes the multi-grain message stands on its own, such as with the grilled seven-grain bread that was the carrier for Eat ’n Park’s California Chicken Salad Sandwich LTO, which also featured celery, onion, grapes, mayonnaise, lemon juice and almonds.

Multigrain bread can also imply a certain heartiness, such as the seven-grain bread that La Madeleine started using last fall for its croque monsieur — a French ham and cheese sandwich.

Au Bon Pain is endeavoring to shakeup the whole-grain/multigrain landscape with the high-protein sprouted grain rolls that it introduced last fall. That bread not only has 7 grams of fiber per serving, but also 10 grams of protein.

Next on the horizon: Focaccia

Focaccia is starting to gain traction on menus. Photo: Thinkstock

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Many American food trends start in California, and Food Genius reports that focaccia now appears on 7 percent of sandwich items in the Pacific region, making it one of the top five bread types there.

This cousin of pizza dough is a popular bread for snacks in many parts of Italy, from Puglia in the deep south to Liguria near the French border. Sometimes it’s simply drizzled with olive oil, rosemary and salt, as it is at Cane Rosso, a three-unit chain in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Or it can be stuffed with cheese, which is how it’s served at five-unit Davanti Enoteca, with locations in San Diego and Chicago, where it also can be ordered with local honey.

It’s the signature bread of the 121-unit Così sandwich chain, and it’s an option for sandwiches at Manhattan Bagel.

At Lincoln Ristorante in New York City, where focaccia is part of the bread service, pastry chef Richard Capizza changes its toppings seasonally, with combinations such as sundried tomatoes and oregano, and rosemary and black pepper. It’s always brushed with lardo, or seasoned pork lard, along with sea salt and olive oil.

At 3 Way Café in Norfolk, Va., chef-owner Christopher Hill sometimes uses herbed focaccia for eggs benedict. He also dips it in a salt-and-rosemary egg wash to make savory French toast.

“I use focaccia because it’s light and simple, and best enhances the ‘Portuguese butter’ [made with lardo] that we serve with it,” said David Santos, chef of Louro, a Portuguese restaurant in New York City. “It is more of a platform for the spread than the main character. ... If we used a heartier bread, it wouldn’t be the same.”

Focaccia is also one of the signature items at Trecento Quindici Decano, a casual trattoria at the St. Regis hotel in Aspen, Colo., where it’s served as a 12-ounce circular loaf on a wooden cutting board for guests to cut and share family-style.

Oliver Ridgeway, chef of Grange Restaurant & Bar in Sacramento, Calif., said he likes the bread because it absorbs sauces while still keeping its crunch. He uses it to make the Italian bread salad panzanella as well as for the New Orleans-style muffuletta sandwich.

Olive Garden, as part of its menu overhaul, recently introduced a Smashed Chicken Meatball Sandwich, which is served with roasted bell peppers and mozzarella on a focaccia bun.

Given focaccia’s versatility and popularity on the West Coast, expect to see it on more chain menus soon.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary