As snowfall thaws into rain, and ice scrapers give way to gardening shears, New Englanders are coming out of hibernation and embracing a fresh crop of food and wine trends.
This spring, while coffee companies such as Starbucks have cornered the market on fanciful matcha lattes, concerns about overconsuming green tea are causing a shift toward another variety of bold-colored beverages. Amy Traverso, senior food editor of Yankee Magazine, highlights a newfound obsession with lavender and tarot root, two flavors equal parts “purple” and “pretty,” and recommends unwinding with a day trip to a lavender farm this summer.
“You get out of the car in July during peak season, and you are just breathing — absorbing — lavender,” Traverso said. “You can buy fresh plants, you can make wreaths, you can make lavender lemonade.”
But lavender is far from the only taste putting Americans at ease. Traverso identifies nostalgia as the dominant theme of this year’s food trends, with a rise in political anxiety and food costs causing folks to return to simple ingredients like artisanal vinegars and cabbage.
However, some people are destressing by leaving ingredients behind altogether, and leaning on the convenience of food-delivery apps. While this allows those with busy schedules to forego the stress of cooking, Traverso highlights how apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash are dehumanizing the restaurant-going experience.
“I have tremendous empathy for the delivery people,” Traverso said. “They’re not usually getting tipped enough. It’s so messy… I can’t think that, in the balance, it’s a positive.”
According to Jonathan Alsop, founder of the Boston Wine School, another major sea change is occurring in the way people consume wine. While alcohol percentages have risen steadily in previous years, he says some drinkers are suddenly craving less buzz in their burgundy.
“If you’re used to drinking a 14% alcohol Aussie Shiraz, and you switch to an 8% alcohol Vinho Verde, you can drink the same amount of wine and cut your ethanol intake in half,” Alsop said.
For the alcohol-conscious, Alsop recommends a lower-alcohol white wine from New York-based Snowshell Vineyards, crafted by “Master of Wine” Nova Cadamatre. But for those looking to stay ultra-local, Cambridge wine bar Dear Annie is taking artisanal spirits to another level.
“It really is a place you can go and get wines that you are just not going to see anyplace else,” Alsop said. “[They’ve] got a couple of wines from winemakers in Vermont and Maine. They don’t have distributors and importers — they’re too small to do that.”
Also: A new blend of red and white wines is turning heads, and a Greek-prix fixe dining experience is set to open in Seaport. It’s all on this week’s food and wine roundtable!
Guests
- Amy Traverso, senior food editor at Yankee Magazine, co-host of GBH’s Weekends with Yankee and author of “The Apple Lover’s Cookbook.”
- Jonathon Alsop, founder and executive director of the Boston Wine School and author of “The Wine Lover’s Devotional.”
