February 2024

Hello, Leap Year. Let’s get into the February trends.??

• Restaurants are increasingly transparent with their margins and business pains, particularly through harsh weather, like when Portland restaurants came together to ask for government relief.??
• Fashion, meet food. Dior has partnered with Michelin-Starred Chef Anne-Sophie for a restaurant in Osaka.??
• Never again with the QR codes. Menus across America are having a renaissance – from “smaller, big, bigger” language to plenty of room for zero-proof drinks.??
• Go big or go home. Magnums are your dinner party’s BFF.??
• Off-centered, served on an egg pedestal, or topped with a lattice, restaurant plating continues to take creative form.??

• From lychee punch to addicting garlicky bok choy – Lunar New Year menus are trending.??
• Can tart cherry juice, magnesium + prebiotic soda give you the best sleep ever? The sleepy girl mocktail is here.??

• Following a Boeing plane door falling off, users are becoming savvier to select their plane, not just their flight path.??
• Good news for those who still want to minimize their time in-air: supersonic flying speeds aren’t as futuristic as they sound.???
• From A-frames to cabins floating on a lake, Airbnb unveiled its most-liked properties on Instagram.?

• Prepare for an adventure: back-country skiing is booming in the Northeast.??
• Time for a train ride that’ll have you popping champagne. Veuve Clicquot, to be exact.??

• Goomars get the spotlight – mob wife aesthetic is decidedly in.?
• The Oscars will never be Kenough. Fans, media, and celebs alike are outraged at Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s Barbie snub.?

• Saltburn might have been snubbed at the Oscars – but “Murder on the Dancefloor” is trending across social and there’s no shortage of Jacob Elordi bathwater cocktail recipes.??
• Apparently “polywork” is the new side hustle. Sigh.?
• White Lotus returns – and this time to Thailand. Four Seasons Hotel Koh Samui and other hotels will get the Lotus limelight.??

• Pink, ruffles and bows galore – coquette styles continue to take consumers by storm.??
• You brought a (robot) baby to this show?! Schiaparelli dominated Paris Fashion Week headlines with its creepy-cute accessory.

• Prints and matching sets took Sundance by storm with Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart and more opting for matchy-matchy looks.??
• Move over, quiet luxury. It’s time for “bookshelf wealth.”?
• Pat McGrath’s porcelain skin at the Maison Margiela show broke the beauty internet.??

• BeReal launched RealPeople (for celebs) and RealBrands (well...for brands) in hopes to lure people to the app.??
• Receipts. Screenshots. Timeline. Everything. Real Housewives of Salt Lake City soundbites have taken TikTok by storm.??
• Picture this: an influencer applies lip gloss while dishing the tea – talking everything BUT the lip gloss. Et voila, her audience is commenting “what’s the gloss?” and “lip gloss link please” - influencer product placement is here to stay. ?

• Didn’t mean to post that? You can now cancel IG stories as they upload. PHEW.??
• Tell us something we don’t know – the 2023 numbers are in, proving that influencer marketing is an absolute necessity for restaurant brands.??