Savoury millefeuilles are taking over menus, with restaurants like Planque offering a chanterelle and radicchio millefeuille with comte sauce. These elegant savouries are described as fancy deconstructed vol-au-vents with modern gastronomic flair.
New Ingredients and Techniques
Misugaru, a roasted Korean multi-grain powder made from toasted rice, barley, millet, and sesame seeds, adds a nutty, malty creaminess to baking and can also be enjoyed as a drink. Pickled ketchups are the essential condiment for discerning barbecues this summer, with options like smacked cucumber ketchup at The Mulwray in Soho, pickled onion ketchup from Epicuriosity, kimchi ketchup from Chimac, and gherkin relish from Halen Mon.
Pizza and Brasserie Trends
Chicago tavern-style pizza is gaining popularity, featuring a super-thin, square-cut base with toppings such as Italian sausage, Chicago-style sweet tomato sauce, pepperoni, and pickles. It's available at Short Road Pizza in east London on Tuesdays only. Brasserie boozers are blurring the line between raucous pubs and Gallic brasseries, exemplified by the newly opened The Wellington in Margate, where the french onion soup with beef short rib is a must-try.
British Charcuterie and Kitchen Tools
British charcuterie is reaching new flavourful heights, with offerings like pink peppercorn and cider salami from The Real Cure in Dorset, wild venison chorizo from Wass Farm in Yorkshire, and port-steeped beef bresaola from Somerset Charcuterie. Tamagoyaki pans, square Japanese rolled-omelette pans, are the new kitchen must-have, with the non-stick version from Sous Chef being a popular choice.
Barbecue and Wine Destinations
Afghan Texan barbecue from Cue Point, founded by Mursal Saiq and Joshua Moroney, is opening its first bricks and mortar restaurant in White City, London, featuring live-fire chicken korma, oak-smoked lamb shank, and Kabuli pilau. Alentejo, Portugal, is the summer's must-visit European wine region, known for its historic vineyards, ancient fortresses, bold spicy reds made from grapes like Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, and Trincadeira, and rustic aromatic cuisine.
Cocktails and Game Meats
Cortisol cocktails, concoctions of coconut water, citrus juice, sea salt, and magnesium, are said to help lower stress, though unproven by science. Rabbit and hare are celebrated for their delicious gamey flavour, high protein, low fat, and climate-friendly profile. Try rabbit rillettes and carrot confiture at Lapin, or rabbit with girolles, lardo, parsley, and garlic at Quo Vadis, both in London.
Nostalgic Treats and Fiction
Penny licks, the nostalgic 19th-century ice-cream icon, are being reinvented by Sally Abé at her new restaurant Teal, priced at just £1 with proceeds donated to Hackney Food Bank. Food fiction is trending, with writers like Felicity Cloake and Olly Smith moving into fiction, culinary themes dominating novels, and continued popularity of Butter by Asako Yuzuki.
What's Stale
Caviar overload is starting to look gauche, appearing on everything from pizza crusts to crisps; trout roe is a tastier and more sustainable alternative. Pale blush rosé wines are out, replaced by chilled reds like low-tannin French Beaujolais or Austrian Zweigelt, or dry, robust dark ruby rosé such as Gentle Folk Wine's Rainbow Juice. Instagram flash-on food photography in dim-lit dining rooms is cringeworthy, with lobby mirror selfies being cooler. Oat milk is criticized for unsustainable production and glucose spikes; homemade buckwheat milk is recommended as a delicious, protein- and fibre-packed alternative. Cherry everything is last summer; 2026 is about blackberry hybrids like marionberries, tayberries, and loganberries in trifles, sorbets, salad dressings, and cocktails. New York cookies imitating Levain style are getting ever larger and sicklier; crunchy biscuits, crispy thin cookies, and classic Walker's shortbread are back. Scrambled eggs have a new TikTok style called 'frambled': sizzle butter, crack whole eggs, slowly cook the white, then mix through the yolk. Snacking dinners are out; hearty mains with wholesome veg, satisfying carbs, and flavourful sauces are back. QR code menus are being replaced by artfully illustrated menus and chalkboards. Posh canned olives are replaced by caperberries on gildas, and Sweet Dill Pickle Chips from Pickle Project are the new IT drinks snack. Chocolate erasure sees many retro bars not containing enough chocolate to be called chocolate; craft chocolatiers like Khourys, Makers London, or Chocolatia by Chloe Oswald are recommended, along with artisanal chocolate tours with Jennifer Earle.
