By Katie Belflower
As we continue into 2025, operators across Canada are looking to adopt the most recent menu trends in foodservice. Restobiz and Technomic’s latest edition of Trend Watch focuses on three top trending menu items in Canada right now: whole animal cooking, Earl Grey cocktails, and soy sauce variations.
Whole animal cooking
As a shift from previous practices, many operators are menuing the entire animal instead of just serving portions of meat. This sustainable practice helps operators cut down on both food waste and costs. Whole animal cooking is often utilized with poultry, including chicken and duck.
Menu examples:
- Shokunin in Calgary, Alberta, served Duck with skin-on breast, knees, inner thigh, wing flap, rib, sweetbread, wings, kawa, heart, thigh, drumette, neck, shoulder blade, brined chicken meatball, skin-on thigh, wing tip, and oyster
- Rouge in Calgary, Alberta, menued The Whole Chicken Ravioli with roasted thigh and ricotta, chicken breast, mousseline, cured egg yolk, savoury chicken skin foam, sage chicken veloute and preserved red cabbage
Earl Grey cocktails
Independent operators are infusing Earl Grey into cocktails. The classic black tea is branching out beyond the nonalcoholic beverage space, with operators featuring the citrus-flavoured tea in adult beverages. Operators are often utilizing the bergamot-forward Earl Grey alongside other fruit flavours, such as lemon and passion fruit.
Menu examples:
- The Butternut Tree in Edmonton, Alberta, offered the London Fog cocktail with Earl Grey vodka, vanilla cordial, lemon, and egg white
- Proof in Calgary, Alberta, served the A Picnic Indoors cocktail with Earl Grey-infused Roe & Co Whiskey, jasmine umeshu, peach, passion fruit, and clarified whey
Soy sauce variations
Soy sauce variations, including clear soy sauce and white soy sauce, are showing up at independent operators. Clear soy sauce tastes similar to traditional soy sauce but is totally transparent, ideal for operators who don’t want to alter the appearance of their dish. White soy sauce has a light amber colour and is made with more wheat than soybeans, resulting in a sweeter and milder umami taste than traditional soy sauce. These variations represent a larger trend of independent operators increasingly featuring unique global sauces on menus.
Menu examples:
- Sara in Toronto menued Tuna Tartare with white soy, yuzu, black truffle, and potato chips
- 4296 in Calgary, Alberta, offered Scallop Crudo with sashimi grade Hokkaido scallop, red mango, cucumber, clear soy, togarashi paste, chile oil, yuzu, masago and tobiko arrare, and gold and black tobiko
Trend Watch is based on menu trends noted by Technomic.
Katie Belflower is Associate Editor for Technomic, a Chicago-based foodservice research and consulting firm. Technomic provides clients with the facts, insights and consulting support they need to enhance their business strategies, decisions and results. The company’s services include publications and digital products as well as proprietary studies and ongoing research on all aspects of the food industry, including menu trends.
