At a new eatery in Greenwich Village, you can get your “all-natural” and “local” chicken topped with pretzels and salted caramel, or a Buffalo-style sauce made from aged balsamic vinegar and maple syrup.
The chicken is prepared three ways: baked, fried or “naked.”
And we’re not talking just any old piece of chicken. Rather, Sticky’s Finger Joint is devoted exclusively to “gourmet” renditions of that childhood cafeteria favorite — the chicken finger.
The gourmet trend has been going on for more than a decade, but surely this is the final act, a sign the trend has jumped the shark, since every food option has seemingly been exhausted.
If chicken fingers aren’t your thing, there’s a brand-new East Village water cafe called Molecule specializing in “hyper-filtered, perfectly pure, eco-conscious” H2O. Love sandwiches? Empire Mayonnaise Co., which opened in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, this spring, sells $6 jars of mayo — and nothing else — in flavors such as lime-pickle and preserved lemon.
“There are certain things that make me roll my eyes: fancy grilled-cheese sandwiches or food trucks serving PB&J,” says Zach Brooks, founder of the popular food blog midtownlunch.com.
“My line is, ‘Can I make something at home that you’re selling me for five times as much?’ Certain things you can’t improve on. That’s why they’re classics.”
So what kind of reaction does the $19.50 grilled cheese with brie and truffles at Flatiron bistro Artisanal elicit within the darkest part of your heart? How about Handsome Dan’s Stand, a recently opened bespoke sno-cone shop (shoppe?) in Williamsburg serving flavors like Earl Grey cream, thyme and rose-pomegranate?
“When you look at the big picture of food trends, the bigger trend is wanting familiarity in foods,” says Mitchell Davis, vice president at the James Beard Foundation.
“Coming out of a movement of science and gastronomy, where nothing was ever as it appeared, it’s a natural reaction to want to do something with a hamburger or food that’s recognizable.”
But this effort to revamp recognizable items is now frequently taken to an absurd degree — and the backlash has begun. Brooklyn’s Empire Mayonnaise Co., for one, has been heaped with a shocking amount of scorn online and in the media.
“Hellman’s [sic] not good enough for you?” wrote one angry commenter on food blog Grub Street. “Support the city, support the borough you continue to destroy with this ridiculousness, stop with the overpriced gimmicks already.”
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