Can’t decide which of a particular menu category to order? Why not have them all?

A growing number of restaurants are providing such options, according to Yelp, which reports a 496% increase in egg flights, a 399% increase in wine flights (which have long been popular), and a 127% increase in pasta flights. Martini flights are up 162%.

A Martini used to be something very, very specific: A lot of gin with a little vermouth stirred with ice and served up in a conical glass with olives, or maybe a lemon twist. Now, pretty much only the glass remains in the description, and the most popular variation these days is the Espresso Martini.

Be that as it may, trend watchers from the National Restaurant Association to Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits to Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants put it on their 2025 trends lists. Is this part of the broader “nostalgia” trend that everyone’s talking about? Well, with ingredients like wasabi, olive oil, avocado, and pistachio being added to them, perhaps the Martini glass’s elegant visual appeal is more a factor. Or, as with so many trends, the perceived safety of a classic cocktail encourages people to try something new.

“Meat analogs,” corporate chefs’ term for the plant-based proteins by companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, made a bit of an impact before the pandemic, but consumer interest seemed to wane a few years before investors’ interest did. Dairy analogs, especially oat milk but also all the nut milks, coconut milk, and soy milk, seem to have quite a bit more staying power, though restaurant research firm Technomic sees growing interest in foods that aren’t analogs, but aren’t typical either. Examples are goat and ostrich meat, and Technomic reports that frog legs are trending at restaurant chains in China. I’ll go ahead and throw in rabbit for good measure, because it’s mild tasting, has strong roots in European cooking, and can be raised quite sustainably by small farmers with minimal land or capital.

As for milk alternatives, Technomic expects to see products that don’t come from cattle or plants but mammals such as buffalo and camel. 

Technomic also predicts sweet versions of normally savory snacks, such as dumplings filled with chocolate, which can indeed be had at dim sum chain Din Tai Fung, and loaded fries not topped with gravy and cheese curds but ice cream, chocolate sauce, and powdered sugar, which is now available at Friendly’s.

Oysters have become the poster child of the regenerative farming movement, which advocates for raising food in ways that don’t just leave the environment unharmed, but actually improve it, creating healthier waterways, more fertile soil, cleaner air — all while ideally sequestering carbon to slow down climate change.

Seafood generally has a much lower impact on the environment than food grown on land, and oysters actually remove impurities from the water where they grow while also providing nutritious food that’s high in protein. But other types of sea life do that, too, including other bivalves such as mussels and clams, and also seaweed, which is technically algae. Seaweed is widely enjoyed in much of Asia and parts of Europe and we have already seen plenty of seaweed snacks and salads in the U.S.

Additionally, oyster aquaculture continues to spread in domestically, with a new industry emerging in Texas. A training program is also underway to develop certified “oyster masters.”

How low-income consumers are likely to act in 2025 is anyone’s guess, but the wealthy will almost certainly continue to treat themselves, and increasingly they’re doing it with caviar. Classic, luxurious, and good for you unless you really need to watch your sodium, these bursting bubbles add visual appeal as well as pops of the sea to menu items. Over the past couple of years we have seen them in high-low presentations, such as caviar and potato cheese and egg rolls, as well as traditional caviar service with blinis and crème fraiche. There’s also plenty of salmon and trout roe out there, and less palatable but also less expensive and still visually appealing roe alternatives often made of seaweed.

This is an obvious one, and indeed a trend that doesn’t need to be predicted because it’s already becoming well entrenched on menus, but it’s worth paying attention to. Young people are drinking less, possibly because cannabis is even more widely available, and also possibly because many people who came of age during COVID-related lockdown just didn’t develop the habit of drinking in bars.

Restaurants and bars have responded with alacrity by offering well thought out and expertly crafted cocktails that don’t happen to contain alcohol, and they are charging substantial sums for them; I was at a pop-up that charged the same for its drinks whether they contained alcohol or not, and that’s actually reasonable considering the time and effort that goes into making them, and the cost of product that can equal or exceed liquor.

I don’t like the term “mocktail,” because no one’s being mocked and there’s no shame in not drinking, but terms like “spirit-free” or “zero-ABV” cocktails haven’t caught on and everyone understands what a mocktail is. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I pitch this every year or two because I would like to see it happen and I don’t understand why it hasn’t. No one needs a 16-ounce or 20-ounce milkshake, but many people would benefit from a 2–4-ounce afternoon pick-me-up and would happily pay a couple of bucks for it. Why not offer it as an incremental option, especially in the afternoon? Maybe test it operationally as a flight.