Bites and Sips: Menu Shape-Shifters

Shape-Shifters I: Pasta

Credit: Doe Donuts + Ice Cream

Doe Donuts’ seasonal Spaghetti & Garlic Bread Donut presents a new dimension to the typically sweet carrier, with pasta tucked into a savory donut.

Americans really, really love pasta: The National Pasta Association reports that we eat about 20 pounds per capita per year, with a whopping 86 percent of us eating it once a week or more. Its popularity makes pasta ripe for riffing, and its combination with other kitchen classics makes for some engaging mash-ups.

For many diners, spaghetti is synonymous with pasta, and the familiar favorite stars in fun dishes like Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom’s long-running Spaghetti Pie, in which spaghetti is tossed in Alfredo sauce, Parmesan, mozzarella and Romano cheeses. After baking, it’s combined with more cheese and topped with a choice of marinara or Alfredo. Houston’s Better Luck Tomorrow features elevated comfort food like the Spaghetti Sandwich, an occasional brunch item that puts a square of the pasta, sauce and gooey burrata cheese between slices of thick-cut Texas toast. And in Portland, Ore., Doe Donuts + Ice Cream warms up winters with an annual Spaghetti & Garlic Bread Donut special that encases the title ingredient in a fluffy donut sprinkled with housemade garlic-butter breadcrumbs.

Macaroni and cheese has been having a long moment on menus, and operators are leveraging its popularity, as with the Molokai Mac Wrap at Hawaiian Bros Island Grill. It folds sweet-and-spicy Molokai chicken, classic macaroni salad and white rice into a large, soft tortilla. In the Midwest, Toppers Pizza marries the Old World with the New in the spicy Buffalo Chicken Mac ‘N Cheese Pizza, while in Miami, World Famous Egg Rolls puts chicken, collard greens and mac and cheese in the Soul Food Egg Roll.

The ingredients in carbonara sauce—eggs, cheese, cream and pancetta or bacon—make it a natural fit for breakfast or brunch menus. OEB Breakfast Co., a Canadian import doing business in California and Arizona, offers Gnocchi Breakfast Carbonara with brown-butter hollandaise, while Eating House Miami has featured a brunch special of Carbonara Eggs Benedict finished with a dollop of black truffle. And the Dallas outpost of Eataly, the international chain of Italian marketplaces, grabbed the attention of Texas State Fairgoers with Deep Fried Carbonara. In the limited-time special, pasta was formed into disks with guanciale, pecorino Romano and egg yolks, then deep-fried for an indulgent, handheld munchable appropriate for any time of day.

Shape-Shifters II: Soda

Credit: Taco Bell | Whataburger

Gen Z’s affinity for carbonated sodas has sparked multiple collaborations, including Taco Bell’s Mtn Dew Baja Blast Gelato and Whataburger’s Dr Pepper Blackberry Shake.

The carbonated-soft-drink (CSD) category remains hotly contested, as mega brands jockey for position with the coveted Gen Z demographic that comprises 70 million consumers between the ages of 13 to 28. An emerging economic powerhouse, the cohort is a prime target for soft-drink marketers looking to build contemporary purchasing habits into long-term brand loyalty.

This constitutes a significant challenge, as CSDs are literally awash with competitive options like energy and functional beverages, flavored carbonated waters and the seemingly inexhaustible supply of creative coffees and teas. In fact, researchers at IBIS World report that per capita consumption of CSDs has been in a slow but steady decline, contracting at an annualized rate of 0.5 percent from 2020 to 2025, and this decline is forecast to continue.

It is worth noting, however, that within the conventional soft drink hierarchy, Dr Pepper has emerged as the CSD of choice for Gen Z. Rubix Foods’ NEXT Flavor Report surveyed more than 45,000 Gen Z respondents via social media, and Dr Pepper rose to the top as their favorite. The report notes smartly that Gen Z “eats with their feed first” and credits social media for a significant brand boost.

Savvy limited-service operators stepped up to address this preference with sweet, slurpy summertime specials. Whataburger’s Dr Pepper Blackberry Shake represented the latest in an ongoing collaboration between the two Texas originals in a vanilla shake spun with Dr Pepper and blackberry flavor, while Smalls Sliders’ Dr Pepper Swirl Shake combined ripples of the soft drink in a vanilla ice cream base. In a variation on the theme, the Dr Pepper Frost at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers blended the beverage into vanilla frozen custard and topped the treat with whipped cream.

Mountain Dew, another Gen Z-approved quaff, has been in the spotlight at Taco Bell. Last winter, the chain announced a pair of celebratory limited-time specials cooked up to salute the brands’ two-decade-long partnership. Lime-forward Mtn Dew Baja Blast Gelato finally made its much-anticipated menu debut in September, while the Mtn Dew Baja Blast Pie is reportedly set to drop in November.

Shape-Shifters III: Ingredients

Credit: Crown Block

In Dallas, upscale steakhouse Crown Block took inspiration from the Texas State Fair in multiple limited-time offerings, including a Caviar Funnel Cake.

Operators are pulling out all the stops with ingredient innovation as they seek to generate buzz and drive traffic by playing on patron expectations.

An excellent example is the recent sweet-and-savory mash-up from Smoothie King, in which the Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smoothie featured the familiar condiment in an unfamiliar application. Making its debut in August in selected markets, it blended açai sorbet, apple juice, strawberries and raspberries with Heinz Simply Ketchup. The result was said to be a “sweet and fruity smoothie with a bright, tangy ketchup finish.”

Operators continue to take the hi-lo road to lure diners. In Dallas, Michelin-recommended Crown Block’s upgraded take on standards proved that state fair foods need not be restricted to the midway. To celebrate the Texas State Fair, an annual, early-autumn orgy of food-and-beverage excess, the restaurant stepped up with Texas-Style Iberico Ribs, Wagyu Beef Hot Dogs and Caviar Funnel Cake. The latter, dubbed The Fair Affair, finished the deep-fried staple with crème fraîche and caviar.

Regarding caviar, The New York Times recently asked its food writers, “What would you like to see less of?” One said simply, “Caviar. Make it stop.” Big Apple opinions notwithstanding, we’ve yet to reach peak caviar; for most consumers, it represents the apex of indulgence.

In a beverage-related ingredient swap, Jeppson’s Malört, a bitter, wormwood-based digestif, is an icon, controversy magnet and rite of passage that for many locals has defined the Chicago bar experience. The brand’s website cheekily advises, “Do not enjoy. Responsibly.,” and is accompanied by pictures of wincing imbibers. When lauded New York ice cream maker Van Leeuwen opened its first Chicago location, it offered limited-time, Malört-flavored scoops. Press reports suggest it was appropriately cringe inducing.

And in other beverage news, Dry Wit, a Minneapolis-based nonalcoholic winemaker, nods to the Nordic with its “spunky and effervescent” Pippi blend. Made with an unconventional infusion of white pine needles and branches blended with verjus, rice vinegar and salt, it sounds an appropriately North-Woodsy option to warm the long Minnesota winters.