Brand Extensions Thrive In Food

Tried a bustaurant yet? Full gourmet restaurants on a bus are hot destinations for niche dining. A Latin burger and taco truck finished among Miami’s top-38 restaurants on a recent Eater.com list of the best spots in a food-crazed town. Grilled cheese, ribs, cupcakes and dim sum are among the gourmet comfort eats heating up these buses and trucks. Even restaurant chains are getting in on the act. Subway, Sizzler and Johnny Rockets set mobile units rolling. Hotels known for haute cuisine are also jumping aboard. The Setai in South Beach launched  the first gourmet hotel Beach Trailer, serving signature Setai ceviche and Wagyu, alongside hot dogs, salmon burgers and sushi, all washed down with specialty drinks, wine or champagne. Fans of food trucks can easily find their prey via live tracking tools, such as RoadStoves and LA Street Food. Mobile apps Mobile Cravings and Mobi Munch use GPS for real time updates and location news feeds. Technology propels the food truck movement forward and creates more mobile cuisine opportunities for chefs, restaurateurs and foodies.

Cook and diet books have topped bestseller lists for years. More and more cable TV channels dramatize edgier fare and ethnic cuisines, with instant updates on the food world. And we can’t forget the influence and reach of qualified bloggers. Tapping into this power, we recently spearheaded a food bloggers camp at Grand Velas Riviera Maya resort. Three of the bloggers/seminar leaders alone reach a total of 5 million unique visitors per month and have 187,440 Twitter followers.

Even fashion has a big crush on cuisine. Skinny models have to eat sometimes, too. Barney’s New York featured today’s food icons – Anthony Bourdain, Paula Deen, Ina Garten – in its window displays this past Christmas. “Our customers want to eat at the new Batali place (Eataly), as much as they want the new Celine bag,” said creative director Simon Doonan. With recipes by fashionistas such as Isaac Mizrahi, Carolina Herrera and Derek Lam, the new American Fashion Cookbook is a chic objet. Featured are hors d’oeuvre, digestives and original illustrations by more than 100 top American designers. So popular is the home’s busiest and most important room that MoMA’s Counter Space exhibition celebrates and explores the 20th-century transformation of the kitchen.

In 2011, culinary travel trends will continue as food is used to beef up revenue streams. The economic squeeze is encouraging some small scale farms to embrace the locavore trend.  Meanwhile, agri-tourism, marrying farming and tourism, is becoming another way to earn a living. Likewise, Michelin, the famed tire company known for its hotel and restaurant guides, launched its new “experience” brand. Michelin Food & Travel offers more “cultural authenticity” for travelers, such as private kitchen demonstrations, wine tastings, truffle hunts, even behind-the-scenes access to Michelin-starred restaurants. In addition, magazine publishing giant Condé Nast created a new division, called Condé Nast Restaurants. These are cafes and restaurants around the world, aimed at strengthening the power of its brand. Fashion houses are following suit. Witness Ralph Lauren’s Ralph’s on the Left Bank in Paris for a taste of Americana, or Swarovski’s Café Kristall for some haute Austrian delights.

The latest attractions at hotels are farmers markets. Pioneered by Alain Ducasse at Paris’ Plaza Athenee, Market Day is a “celebration of sustainable food,” a delicious display of pick-of-the-season produce and provisions. Similarly, Andaz Wall Street, Boston’s Charles Hotel and Canyons Resort Park City, now put on markets celebrating local produce and purveyors.

For more trends to watch in 2011, please read latest Luxury Travel and Lifestyle Trends 2011 newsletter.