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Worst Food Trends of the Decade

From onion blossoms to overhyped chefs, these things need to go away

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 22, 2009 2:40 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Asked to name the decade's worst dining trends, chefs and other food experts couldn't shut up. There were too many (including "mache, water sommeliers, organ-meat entrees, unisex bathrooms, bacon tattoos on chefs, over-flaunted kitchen burns, chefs tables") for Christopher Borrelli to list them all, but he hits the top 10 in the Chicago Tribune:

  • Fried onion blossoms: Too sweaty, too greasy, too little onion, and too much fried stuff.
  • The $40 entree: When your neighborhood bistro has hit these heights, it's time to say enough is enough.

  • Communal tables: Why do restaurants assume we want to sit with strangers?
  • Obnoxious fast food: Really, KFC: A bacon and cheese sandwich using fried chicken as the bun? Is this some sort of joke? Not to mention Carl's Jr. and Hardee's burgers that top out at 1,420 calories.
  • Online reviews: Done in moderation, fine. But to review a restaurant on opening night is "crazy and wrong," says the owner of a food-centric bookstore.
  • Foam: For goodness' sake—"it's suds."
  • Media-whore chefs: "They cook, of course. They also sell shoes and star in reality shows. Sometimes they cook."
For the complete list, click the link.

The too-sweaty, too-greasy onion blossom is served like county fair food on porcelain.
The too-sweaty, too-greasy onion blossom is "served like county fair food on porcelain."   (Flickr)
The Hardee's Monster Thickburger has 1,420 calories. That's more than some people eat in a day.
The Hardee's Monster Thickburger has 1,420 calories. That's more than some people eat in a day.   (Getty Images)
Some Yelpers' knee-jerk reviews should really be curbed.
Some Yelpers' knee-jerk reviews should really be curbed.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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The Cheesecake Factory. The Kobe beef movement was stupid—it was never meant to be a burger! Sliders are stupid too. Sorry, I mean to say 'a trio of sliders' is stupid.
- David Chang on bad food trends

KFC's Double Down (bacon and cheese between fillets of fried chicken). A dare? A brazen red-state response to blue-state delicateness? The genius was to market them not as mere meals but extensions of your civil rights. - Christopher Borrelli

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
JoeQ
Oct 23, 2009 7:26 AM CDT
drawjunx. I guess you don't catch the food channel.
Jes
Oct 23, 2009 5:56 AM CDT
The problem isn't food chefs, it's the ABUNDANCE of them, like Cat said. Top Chef: Awesome. The Dean Brothers having twelve shows and Sandra Lee having a show centered around cake from a box? That's just over saturation and a failure.
WallyEFunk
Oct 23, 2009 3:49 AM CDT
Dang,Blooming onion I like them.

 
food • reality TV • Internet • fast food • restaurant criticism • restaurant • online review • KFC • dining • onions • Jay-ZTV • food trends • hamburger • women's issues • celebrity chef • Hardee's • Carl's Jr. • best of the decade

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