Tasting The
By Mimi Sheraton
Considering the fickleness of the American palate and the competition for food dollars, it is no wonder that 1986 saw so many trendy flashes in the pan, as well as on the plate. California and Southwest cuisines, so much in vogue last January, have already begun to pall. As the year ended, lip service was being paid to such buzz words as country, peasant, cuisine bourgeoise and even meat and potatoes. Meanwhile, freshness took on new meaning as lazy cooks opted for unfrozen, simmer-in-bag prepared dishes. And with rabbit the In meat of the year, the most worried of all perhaps is Bugs Bunny, who now faces a fate more dire than any conjured up by Elmer Fudd.
HOTTEST NEWS The bistro. The food world seems to concur that this traditional favorite is back in style, but there is little agreement about what the word means. To some it stands for eateries serving such traditional French fare as coq au vin, pot-au-feu and gigot. To others a bistro is merely a cafe with quick and simple food, much of it indistinguishable from California cuisine. Symbolic of the confusion is the representation in a new book, American Bistro, by Irena Chalmers and Friends (Contemporary; $35). Cited are Kansas City's high-style American Restaurant and the posh, pricey Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. Even included is the Ballroom in Manhattan, known for its Spanish tapas. Everything, it seems, is in a name.
DREARIEST WAVE OF THE FUTURE The domestically produced, vacuum-sealed bags that hold appetizers and main courses and are available at Bloomingdale's in New York City and have more recently been introduced at Marshall Field's in Chicago leave almost everything to be desired in flavor and texture. Based on tastings of a dozen or so choices (omelet creole, lobster bisque, ravioli with snails, poached salmon and pork with apricots), these generally expensive creations, with main courses from $2.25 for pasta to $12.90 for veal, are a cut above airline food.
MOST PROLIFIC AND IMAGINATIVE RESTAURANT DESIGNER Now that restaurants have become living theaters, it seems fitting that some of the most noteworthy are the creations of a would-be stage-set designer, Paris-born Sam Lopata. Taking New York City as his backdrop, Lopata, 45, has unveiled some half-dozen eateries in the past year alone, each in a distinctive style. Foremost among them are the reserved restoration of the haute cuisine Lutece; the playful deli-diner that is Lox Around the Clock; Casino Pascal, a barren redo of a plusher, earlier Lopata work; and Extra! Extra!, in the New York Daily News Building, a stylish cafe with a black-and-white newsprint theme and "spilled ink" glazed onto floor tiles. On the drawing board for next year: a face- lifting for that theater-district landmark, Sardi's.
COFFEE-TABLE FOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR If the recipes do not work, you can always eat the pages of the year's most beautiful, lavishly illustrated cookbook, Roger Verge's Entertaining in the French Style (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $45). The food photographs are as tantalizing as the table settings and the sun- dappled, impressionistic outdoor scenes in the south of France, where the author operates the three-star restaurant Moulin de Mougins.
MOST COMPLICATED RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION If you think you have trouble moving, consider this dilemma: dismantling the old restaurant in Paris' Eiffel Tower (a replacement was installed), numbering the 11,000 pieces, recording them on videotape, then packing and shipping them to New Orleans, there to be reassembled. Price tag for the transplanted Le Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel, which opened Dec. 12 on St. Charles Avenue: $3.3 million. Then consider what all that can do to the price of a lamb chop.
MEAT OF THE YEAR Whether they thought of it as a rodent or more lovingly as a cuddly bunny, Americans have generally had little taste for rabbit meat. No longer. Lean and less fattening than chicken, rabbit lends itself to a wide variety of preparations, hence its now standard appearance in many supermarket freezer cases and on menus of only moderately fashionable restaurants. Now if only there were a way to stuff the ears . . .
MOST DEPRESSING TASTE TEST Gathering ten trained tasters to do a blind sampling of foods meant to go with Korbel California champagne, the Palatex company came up with the following amazing results: fried fish sticks beat out caviar, Oreos were preferred to strawberries, taco filling to foie gras and Oriental pepper steak to escargots, while Kentucky Fried Chicken won over duck a l'orange.
MOST WELCOME NEW RESTAURANT CONCEPT Smaller prices for smaller portions has been the dream of delicate eaters for years. Now large and small portions at large and small prices are being offered by Woods on Madison Avenue in New ! York City, Gordon in Chicago and the Seventh Street Bistro in Los Angeles. Others plan to follow.
LOSS LEADER OF THE YEAR The last word on huevos rancheros has to be huevos Bridge Creek, served at a Berkeley restaurant for which the dish is named. Based on a paper-thin wheat tortilla with the required fried eggs, this elegant, succulent version has three sauces -- one fresh, made from scratch of Mexican tomatillos, another the classic tomato and onion salsa, and the third a chili-flavored pork carnitas -- all capped with a dome of melted Jack cheese. "It costs us $18 to make," says Chef-Owner John Hudspeth. Since $10.50 was the menu price, it is easy to see why Hudspeth dropped it from the menu for the new year.
MOST RIVETING QUESTION Faced with revised tax laws that cut deductions for business meals to 80%, restaurateurs are wondering if any dish is tempting enough to lure big spenders who show sudden loss of appetite.