The start of a new year floods my feed with ‘trend posts’. I have to admit, I did those for years too. Recapping trends of the year gone by in December. Predicting trends for the year ahead in January. The food and travel writing world loves these. But after 15 years of picking ideas from the air, reinforcing them with research and data, and presenting them in a way that will never be measured at the end of the year, I now am wiser. I no longer believe in predicting what the year ahead will hold. Recapping trends is well and good but I love to see what the year ahead will unfold, as it does.

So, instead, here are my thoughts on what I hope will happen this year. The only difference between a Food Editor and the regular diner is the exposure. The number and variety of meals we try out throughout the year. It is a mission of sorts, an endless quest. And this first-hand research gives us a slightly more nuanced take on each dish, each restaurant and every supposed trend.

Thanks to all those millions of bites I have tried last year, here’s what I hope will be the direction dining will take in 2026.

Wishful Thinking: 5 Food Trends That I Hope Become a Reality in 2026

1. Return to Innocence

Much like the song 90s song by Enigma, I fervently hope that restaurants take a U-turn and come back down the path of honest flavours. Fluff, drama and an elevated ‘experience’ are so overrated. Chefs – please don’t hide behind the safety of these illusions and let your food do the talking. If I want a good pasta, let the sauce sing. Roll the pasta by hand and show me that you still remember the techniques you learnt in culinary school. Or even in your grandma’s kitchen. Everyone can use a siphon. But do you know how to lend depth to a sauce or a broth by slow cooking it with the right ingredients?

2. Food as a Healer

Talking of grandmas, the older generation knew a thing or two about harnessing the benefits of food ingredients. The pantry was their medicine cabinet and I bet they never heard of dietary supplements. After 15 years of working with some of the world’s top nutritionists, I believe that food has immeasurable healing power. Turmeric for its anti-inflammatory properties, honey ginger for a sore throat or ashwagandha to manage stress and improve sleep. If we study and harness the power of food ingredients to nurture our body, it would be both a sustainable and affordable way to remain healthy.

3. A Balanced Plate

Leave your plate alone. This entire protein obsession has got to stop. It was good fats one year, protein another. Lack of carbs a third and don’t even get me started on dairy. The truth is that a lot of the research you read has been sponsored by the industry that benefits most from it. In addition, you may find that the research is overturned every 10-15 years, without so much as a oops-sorry-about-that. Dairy was the enemy as fuelled by the margarine and vegetable oil industries, which now we know are the enemies themselves. Soy was seen as a shining beacon of hope until recent years where oncologists, including my own mother’s cancer doctor, warned people off it. The truth is that there is no universal truth (except some basic time-tested truths like smoking, alcohol, refined flours, and processed meats). If you want to break the cycle – balance your plate. I eat everything – just in small quantities. Choose healthier alternatives but don’t cut out any food group from your plate. It’s just not worth it.

4. The Casual Bistro

As mentioned before, the range of places and foods we try out as Food Writers helps us get more data points to back our opinions. And in my humble opinion, the world of fine dining needs a shake up. No one has the time to sit through a 20-course, three-hour meal. I am no longer excited by bite-sized portions placed in front of me on pebbles, beakers, bird nests…anything but simple crockery. You know what I do want? A meal that makes me lick my fingers. That makes me forget to take a picture and simply dive in. And increasingly, I have found such meals only in smaller casual bistros, or holes in the wall with queues that snake around the corner. I’m done chasing stars. Give me a delicious meal instead and you have my heart. And my Instagram post.

5. The Beverage Game

In recent times, I have often reached out for the glass of water, rather than wine. When my body speaks, I like to listen to it, and it’s currently telling me to prioritise sleep over the high of alcohol. But it is only when you look for alternatives that you realise how few and far in between they are. Restaurants have entire booklets for cocktail menus and wine lists, but non-alcoholic options are barely two or three. Oftentimes, these are mocktails filled with sugar and carbonated drinks, not the healthier option I would have hoped for. While I’m still wishing, here’s hoping that beverage programs give equal importance to sober options too. Gen Z and Millennials are increasingly choosing sobriety and the F&B industry needs to wake up to this fact, if not capitalise on it.

To me, then, 2026 isn’t about forecasting the next it ingredient or format, but about quiet recalibration. A collective unlearning of excess, noise and absolutism, and a return to why we fell in love with food in the first place. If the year ahead brings us simpler flavours, more intuitive eating, and restaurants that value sincerity over spectacle, I’ll consider it a good one. Trends will come and go regardless. What endures is food that nourishes, comforts and stays with you long after the last bite — and that is all I’m really hoping for.