Dining & Industry

The Flexitarian Shift

In restaurants, I can tell when a cultural shift is real because it shows up as a quiet change in how people order. Fewer steaks, more “let’s split the veg apps,” and a lot of questions that start with, “Is this plant-based, or at least lighter?” The packaged food world is seeing the same thing,...

Pairing Kombucha and Artisanal Soda with Fine Dining

There is a moment in every great meal when the drink stops being a side character. It leans in, lifts a bite, cleans up the edges, and suddenly the whole table feels like it is moving in sync. For years, in many Western tasting rooms, that role belonged almost exclusively to wine, cocktails, and...

Allergy-Friendly Certifications, Decoded

For most of my career, “we can accommodate allergies” lived in the same mental drawer as “we can do it faster.” Sometimes true, sometimes aspirational, always dependent on who is on the line that night. Then I developed a medically diagnosed gluten issue (not celiac disease), and the drawer got...

The Gluten-Free Pastry Boom

For a long time, gluten-free dessert often came with a familiar mood: apology. A crumbly cookie offered like a consolation prize. A brownie that tasted faintly of compromise. If you were the person asking questions, you learned to keep your voice light, to not make it a thing , to smile while...

Tipping vs. Fair Wage Pledges

I learned to read a dining room the way some people read a weather app. You can feel the pressure systems. The four-top that wants to camp. The bar guest who is deciding whether they are a two-drink night or a mocktail night. The server calculating, in real time, whether tonight’s tips will cover...

Plant-Based Fine Dining: 7 Michelin-Starred Vegan Trends

Fine dining used to treat vegan guests like a logistical problem: a last-minute “we can do a pasta” whispered into the kitchen, a sad plate of grilled vegetables, a server apologizing before you even asked a question. Now, at the highest levels, plant-based menus are becoming what they should be: a...

Spotting Real Hyper-Local Sourcing

Farm-to-table used to feel like a promise. Now it can feel like wallpaper. That is not a knock on farmers or chefs. It is a reality of a phrase that got popular, got vague, and then got flattened into a marketing shorthand. Meanwhile, something more specific is happening in serious dining rooms and...

Food Critics vs. TikTok Influencers: Who Drives Restaurant Trends Now?

On a busy Saturday night, you can feel the trend cycle in real time: a dining room full of people who booked because of a glowing review in a legacy paper, sitting next to a table that came for the exact same dish they saw pulled apart on TikTok at 1 a.m. The staff can usually tell, too. In much of...

The End of Tipping?

Every few months, it feels like diners get hit with a new receipt surprise. A 20 percent “service charge.” A “hospitality fee.” A line that says “no tipping” next to a higher-priced burger. If you have ever stared at a check like it is a logic puzzle, you are not alone. I came up in restaurants...

The Art of Solo Dining

Solo dining isn't a consolation prize. It's one of the clearest ways to experience a restaurant as it is, without negotiating where to sit, what to share, or whether the group wants one more round. You get the room, the rhythm, the details. And if you have dietary needs, a solo reservation can be...

AI Is Rewriting the Dinner Reservation

The other night, I watched a host stand do what used to take three people and a prayer on a Saturday: confirm a reservation, flag a birthday note, quote a wait time, and send a text when the table turned. No eye contact, no rummaging for a paper book, no “let me check with the manager.” Just a calm...

Omakase vs. Tasting Menus

There is a specific kind of anticipation that hits when you hand the steering wheel to a chef. No ordering anxiety, no decision fatigue, just a seat at the counter or a crisp linen table and the promise that someone with sharper knives than you will take it from here. But “chef’s choice” is not one...

Spotting Fake Farm-to-Table: 7 Greenwashing Signs

“Farm-to-table” used to mean something specific: a restaurant buying from nearby farms and producers, adjusting menus with the seasons, and paying enough to keep that supply chain alive. Now it can also mean a chalkboard font and a vague promise. I have spent a decade building beverage programs...

Front of House vs. Back of House

Every restaurant has two countries sharing one border. One side runs on guest emotion, eye contact, and timing that has to feel effortless. The other runs on heat, tickets, prep lists, and physics. Front of house and back of house want the same thing, a packed room with happy people. But they often...

How to Review a Restaurant Like a Pro

Most people think restaurant criticism is about having a perfect palate and a dramatic pen. In reality, the best reviews are built on something way less glamorous: consistency. A pro critic is basically a reliable witness with a fork, clocking what happened, how it felt, and what it cost, then...

Ghost Kitchens and the New Delivery Economy

A few years ago, “opening a restaurant” still meant the familiar holy trinity: a lease, a dining room, and a staff that could run both without falling apart. Now, plenty of brands skip the front door entirely. They rent kitchen space, build a menu engineered for travel, and meet you at your...

About Julianne Rossi

Welcome to Food & Drink , the corner of Sip & Scene where we talk about what’s in the glass, what’s on the plate, and what all of it says about us when the check hits the table. I’m Julianne Rossi , a former beverage director, hospitality lifer, and Chicago-based writer who still instinctively...