I have seen a majority of the the cupcake shops close up shop here in Los Angeles. I suspect that the self serve frozen yogurt locations like Menchies will start to follow suit next year.

The pizza joints where they make it fresh in front of you are popping up everywhere. It will be interesting to see how long they last. I do think 800 Degrees is far superior to the others. We shall see...

Cupcake shops always struck me as a losing proposition. The made in front of you pizza and serve your own yogurt on the other hand seem like winners to me as long as the market doesn't become over saturated. People like to feel in control of their food choices and these two experiences offer that feeling.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/stick...hop-1404770884

Agreed. French macaroons are better anyway

The everything bacon trend... I hope that doesn't end any time soon.

I wonder if they are still popular in the Middle East.

Incredibly noisy restaurants. Truffle oil.

Sweet potato fries, hopefully.

McDonald's Australia is testing these out certain regions. I'm hopefully going to try them this weekend.

They've been kicking around South Korean western style restaurants for a number of years. Koreans love Sweet Potato.

If cupcakes are going, can they please take brioche burger buns with them?

I don't mind Parisian* macaroons (which people insist on using the French word for, rather like with Italian ice cream), but suspect they will remain, albeit not at the obsessive levels we've seen in the last few years.

(* I used to live in a French town, one of the specialities of which was macaroons. These were nothing like the brightly covered mini-meringues so loved in the big city, but rather more substantial, much more almondy, but less sweet affairs, that I always preferred. So, to me, French macaroons have a much wider meaning...)

I hope that gourmet burgers start hitting the exit button soon. I love a good burger, but it seems to me that the price keeps on escalating without any discernible increase in quality. It's still a burger and, agreed, for Heaven's sake, let's lose the brioche buns.

"Gourmet" cupcakes are always disappointing to me -- they look great but are ultimately just unremarkable yellow/chocolate cake buried under an inch or two of tooth-achingly sweet frosting. And the prices are absurd; usually $4 or more per cupcake.

Agree with all of the above, which makes you wonder how they got that popular in the first place.

I would add to the list of fads that I wish would die out; designer gluten free products (and those that consume them for no clear medical reason), which I hope have peaked and are on a downward trajectory.

Had dinner in Munich last week with 3 otherwise sane old University friends and they have all developed an "intolerance" after functioning perfectly well for 30+ years. A german beer garden was, in retrospect, a bad choice of venue.

I think Bubble Tea has also had its day. Most of the places that have sprung up are dire + and it's one of those foodstuffs that just doesn't seem to work outside of its geographical context.

The idea of boba pearls and bits in tea freaked me out for years and I never got around to trying it. My then four year old developed a liking for the stuff and I finally got around to giving it a go. Am now a convert and will even cook the tapioca pearls at home.

Turns out lots of children and young adults are becoming big fans and I don't think they will just suddenly grow out of it. Revelation for me is that you can add fermented "nata de coco" jelly bits or basil seeds into a wide range of drinks and my liquid-phobe daughter magically gulps huge quantities down. Neither Philippine "nata de coco" nor basil seeds are particularly fattening nor bad for you, quite the opposite.
Bubble tea has been a huge hit in Germany and is rapidly gaining in popularity in Britain. I understand it is very popular in Canada, particularly as those who are too young to drink alcohol can hang around in bubble tea bars until the small hours of the morning.

Am sure the current boom will implode, but that's just the market's way of pruning out the low quality suppliers as customers become more aware and more demanding. I don't think it's anywhere close to being "on the way out" yet.

You know things will have gotten completely out of control if you see a "Gluten-frei Breze" on the speisekarte...

I hope truffle oil goes the way of clear pepsi

Here's three I hope will stick around.

Pretzel Buns - any burger or sandwich seems improved with one of these.

Chicken Salad - we had a restaurant open nearby that serves 16 versions of chicken salad. I like that, although I don't need to see 4 competitors open up on the same block.

Lactose free foods - bravo to Breyers for bringing out at least a couple flavors of lactose free ice cream. I wish the Lactaid yogurt and cottage cheese had caught on and stuck here.