Summer Food Trends

There’s no denying that the last few weeks have been HOT and summer well and truly is here. People are increasingly paying closer awareness to ‘health foods’ and social media fanatics are as keen as ever to snap up and share the next biggest food hit. All in all, it boils down to eating trendy.

Kefir

With Kombucha having paved the way for educating people on the importance of bacteria for gut health and influencing consumption of fermented drinks, the next contender to hit the scene is Kefir. Kefir is a fermented milk drink with a plethora of reported benefits including improving gut health and improving digestion. Imagine a yoghurt drink, of a thinner consistency, tart and with a subtle fizz – this is kefir in a nutshell. It really is quite unusual and if you are hesitant about drinking kefir, perhaps ease yourself in with flavoured kefir such as passionfruit, cacao or peach. Not sure about drinking it? There is also kefir cultured yoghurt too.

Intriguing ice cream flavours

It is the time to be experimental! Put classics such as vanilla and chocolate in the backseat and sample more adventurous flavour combinations. Ice cream parlours and gelaterie alike are dreaming up new savoury and sweet combinations. There’s the lemongrass and yoghurt gelato from Gelupo, rosemary and orange zest from La Gelatiera and the strawberry, mint, basil and lemon balm from Chin Chin Ice cream.

Low or no alcohol

Another trend to notice this summer is the switch to non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic drinks. Beverage companies have hopped onto this bandwagon and are delivering to fill this demand. Chill with a ‘cocktail’ made from Seedlip’s distilled non-alcoholic spirits, low-alcohol beer from Small Beer Brew Co. or even non-alcoholic beer by Heineken. You can lead a better lifestyle and no longer feel like you are missing out by not reaching for that evening tipple.

Food halls

London truly has an abundance of fantastic food halls. Think restaurant-quality food at an affordable price and a single location that conveniently houses an array of traders. The intimate layout alongside a fun and buzzing vibe has overridden past connotations of food halls as being dark and boring. Some London favourites include Market halls, Dinerama and The Pergola. Market halls, currently have two locations – Fulham and Victoria – with bold plans to open a third on Oxford street. The Victoria location features 11 kitchens, 3 bars and a coffee shop. Diverse savoury offerings include the likes of Monty’s Deli with their nostalgic salt beef tower sandwich and Malaysian Tamil favourite – Gopal’s Corner, which will serve up their well-loved staple of lusciously flaky and buttery rotis and curries to dip said masterpiece. Not up for a meal? There’s coffee from Press and picture-perfect soft serve with Asian-inspired flavours and inventive toppings from Soft Serve society.

For the latest updates on food and drink, keep an eye out here.