Everybody Loves Trend Stories, So Here's Mine For 2024

From doughnuts to pasta and college sports, things that are bubbling on the horizon

Thank you for subscribing to CulinaryWoman! This is the last issue of 2023. I’m especially grateful to our paid subscribers, who let me bring you my takes on what is happening in the always turbulent food world. I’m hoping you’ll continue to find CulinaryWoman a must read in the new year.

Everybody loves trend stories, so here are a few things I’ve detected for the year ahead.

Franchises will go where they haven’t gone before

In all the years I’ve lived in Ann Arbor, I haven’t known it to be a town where franchises took space. We had the major fast food companies, and Starbucks, but this is also a place that’s fiercely loyal to our local coffee companies and restaurants run by townfolk.

In the past year, however, I saw Ann Arbor’s franchise population swell. We got a branch of Mochinut, which was named the fastest growing franchise on Restaurant Business’ Future 50 list. We have multiple boba tea shops, from Quickly to Ding Tea, Palgong Tea and Moge Tee. We recently got Total Wine and an outlet of Kimchi Box, which has locations across the Detroit area.

What attracts franchises to a market? The logical answer is that they are aiming to expand their reach. They also go to places where they will have immediate brand recognition (Mochinut was overwhelmed with customers during its days in business). And, they sense an opportunity to make money.

Franchises’ arrival isn’t always welcomed. I see lots of complaints online whenever Chick-Fil-A decides to build a new store (that might be for politics as well as the traffic james that its stores create). Some people fear that franchises are the only ones who can afford to pay higher rents that might deter someone locally based from opening up.

But franchises can be a compliment to a local community. One reason why Trader Joe came to Ann Arbor was that so many people from our zip codes were shopping at Trader Joe stores elsewhere. I don’t think I’ve ever gone into our local store when it wasn’t busy, so they made the right bet.

Looking for value

Speaking of busy, I was truly surprised when Margaret Petersen and I dined at Olive Garden earlier this fall. We were doing research for my story in The Takeout. I was prepared to eye roll the endless salad bowl and turn up my nose at the pasta dishes.

Instead, it all tasted decent, and the restaurant had patrons stretching in age from babies to seniors. Some of the diners looked to be college age, the prime audience for Tik Toks featuring Olive Garden’s cheese grater and other dishes that have gone viral.

Olive Garden’s recent revenue numbers reflect its popularity. The chain, which is part of the big Darden Restaurants Group, passed the $5 billion mark on a 12-month running basis for the first time in its history.

Darden credited the return of OG’s Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion at the same prices it charged in 2022. That’s too much food for me, but if you’re in a family group or are dining out with your roommates, it gets you sit-down restaurant service for a reasonable amount. In all, Olive Garden’s same store revenue rose 4.1 percent during the late summer quarter.

That’s a sign that as menu prices rise, people will look for places they can afford, and a signal that it’s smart to offer some dishes within reach.

Athletes’ endorsements can drive dining business

Ann Arbor is right in the heart of NIL country, meaning name, image and likeness. In 2021, the NCAA agreed that athletes could make money through endorsements. Our Michigan players are among those promoting products, appearing on behalf of local businesses, helping local non-profits as running back Blake Corum does, and even joining high profile athletes like Tom Brady in his numerous ventures.

Placer.ai reports that multiple restaurants have jumped on the opportunity to partner with student athletes, some of whom have millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters have all signed college athletes to various brand deals.

Thus far, the NIL deals have focused on star athletes, but you can watch for more regular players to get these types of endorsements moving forward. And it isn’t just big male sport athletes, either: Placer.ai reports that Sweetgreen’s visitors tended to have the largest share of women’s soccer followers.

I know that there’s grumbling among college sports fans that NIL is turning amateur athletes into professional. I often hear people around Ann Arbor questioning why students who are receiving full scholarships and other perks are able to make money on top of what they get from Michigan.

I’ve always been pro-NIL earnings. For one thing, schools have leveraged athletes’ NIL for generations, without any profit going to the students. For another, my non-athlete students on full scholarships are able to earn money from side gigs. An enterprising group of young people put on regular seated pop up dinners here that are always oversubscribed.

You might argue that the best athletes will go on to professional contracts. But there’s a reason why the NFL is nicknamed “not for long.” The average player only lasts 3.3 years, according to the NFL Players Association. If an athlete can earn money at their youthful peak, more power to them. And if, like Blake, they are donating their NIL money to local non-profits, then they do good. too.

Martha Stewart’s Christmas and Tom Cruise’s Coconut Cake

Eater took a long look at Martha Stewart’s Christmas, the book she published in 1988. If you get in the way back machine, Martha wasn’t quite the icon that she is today, but her influence on hospitality was growing. Martha Stewart Christmas was her eighth book, and it sold extremely well, netting 300,000 sales in hardcover at a time when lifestyle books typically did one-tenth that many copies.

Her interview with the Boston Globe summed up her philosophy in a nutshell. “Presentation is important,” she said during her 1988 book tour. “You can’t just throw pasta on a plate and slop some sauce over it. You place pasta on a plate. You spoon sauce gently over the middle of it. Food should be a feast for the eye. Guests don’t come to your home just because they’re hungry. They come for the sociability. When you present food carefully, the preparation becomes a fete rather than a chore.”

I hadn’t realized until I read the article how Martha touched a nerve back then in many readers and viewers. There’s some pointed criticism of her in it. I have actually been a Martha fan for a long time.

I subscribed to her magazine the moment it appeared on newsstands (I have a box with carefully preserved copies) and kept reading for years. I was glad that Martha did her prison time (or “unfortunate incarceration” as the phrase went on Designing Women) and that she was able to revive her brand.

She’s much more relaxed these days, maybe due to Snopp Dogg’s influence or because she is a grandmother. Her Instagram (@) marthastewart48 is well worth following.

The pandemic robbed us for a time of the ability to entertain the Martha way, and maybe it’s best to shake off that pursuit of perfection, but it’s interesting to read back on a time when Martha ruled.

Tom Cruise is somewhat of a male Martha: he has a dedicated fan base as well as many detractors. I’m ambivalent about him personally, although we had a blast watching Top Gun Maverick last year. Regardless, everybody in Hollywood wants to be on his cake list.

Each holiday season, Tom Cruise sends selected celebrity friends a white chocolate coconut Bundt cake from Doan’s Bakery in Hollywood. He apparently was not the first famous person to discover the cake; Diane Keaton gave one to her co-star Katie Holmes when they co-starred in Mad Money in 2008. It’s entirely possible Katie shared it with him.

I first heard about the cake on the Graham Norton Show — Tom apparently flew Graham’s over on his private jet — and People Magazine keeps a running list of everybody who has talked about the cake.

The cake sends its recipients into rapture but you don’t have to know Tom Cruise to get one. It’s available for $125.95 on Goldbelly. If you order or receive one, please let us know what you think.

Some Delicious Podcast Listening For The Holidays

The first season of Michele Norris’ podcast, Your Mama’s Kitchen, has been a smashing success. She recently posted two episodes that are perfect for your holiday listening.

One features Jon Batiste, who paints a fantastic picture of his home life growing up in Kenner, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans. There is lots of gumbo talk in this episode, and you have to applaud his mother for running what was a joyful but hectic household.

The other highlights Samin Nosrat, whose cookbook and streaming series, Salt Fat Acid Heat, launched her into culinary stardom. She is happily at work on her long-awaited next book, which is bound to be an instant best-seller.

I hope you’ll also make time to watch American Symphony, the documentary that focuses on Jon and his wife

Suleika Jaouad

who is also here on Substack. I highly recommend that you subscribe to her newsletter, too.

In Case You Are Overwhelmed With Goodies

I took a look at my kitchen counter recently and was taken aback at the accumulated goodies. Granted, some will be served to guests but I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t finish it all by New Year’s. You might find yourself in the same boat.

Fear not: I wrote an article for The Takeout on how to safely store all those great treats. It was fascinating to learn that hard candy can last up to five years, and chocolate is fine for a year if it’s kept in a cool place. But if it’s fragile, you have a perfect excuse to nosh until it’s gone.

I was delighted to be included in the Christmas memory episode of Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast (and to be called a friend of the show). You can hear what it was like for me as a little girl going Christmas shopping with my mother. Listen for a Marshall Field’s shout out. My memory starts at about 14 minutes in. And I do hope you’ll subscribe to Rosebud, too.

That’s it for 2023! I will be back with you on Jan. 7 with lots of fun and informative features. Thank you so much for your support this year for me and my book. I’ve loved meeting my readers and I hope I’ll see more of you in 2024. Happy New Year!

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