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Appetites®
Krystyna Pease

Appetites: The local food trends of 2015, from thin burgers to skipped tips

Du Nord vodka and gin
Du Nord's L'etoile du Nord Vodka and Fitzgerald Gin can be tasted in the distillery's cocktail room. The rise of cocktail rooms is one of the top local food trends of 2015.
Jennifer Simonson | MPR News file

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As the year comes to a close, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, restaurant critic and writer for Minneapolis Saint Paul Magazine, reflects on the top local food trends of 2015.

1) Local Booze. This was the year that the cocktail rooms all opened, said Moskowitz Grumdahl. "As taprooms are to breweries — where you taste what they make there — cocktail rooms are to distilleries. You go taste what they make there."

While the big one was Tattersall in Northeast Minneapolis, there are half a dozen of them now in the metro area.

2) Thinner burgers. Out went super-thick steakhouse burgers and in came thinner burgers. "I don't even know what to call them," said Moskowitz Grumdahl. "You can call them a thin-pattied burger. I call them a 'thinny' burger."

The thinness allows them to get really charred on the grill. These flat burgers can be found at Saint Dinette in Saint Paul, Il Foro in Minneapolis, Nighthawks in South Minneapolis and Constantine at the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis, among others.

3) Italian Takeover. "You could not swing an Italian cat without hitting a new Italian restaurant this year," says Moskowitz Grumdahl. Minneapolis alone saw Il Foro, Monello, Cena, and Parella all opened in 2015.

4) Skipping Tipping. This trend Moskowitz Grumdahl sees continuing into 2016. Several restaurants recently opened that don't have any way to tip the staff: Co-op Creamery in Seward, Heirloom in Saint Paul, Upton 43 in Minneapolis and Domo Gatsro in Northeast Minneapolis.

The cost of service is just built into the price of the food and drink. So if you usually spend $8 on pancakes and leave a $2 tip, says Moskowitz Grumdahl, you'll now just pay $10 for the pancakes and not leave any tip. "I wouldn't be surprised if we lose tipping in general, but it might take 15 years."