http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/it_menu_mania_AbxhKJZXXpFFi1s88or8fO/1
- artisanal: “Not made by a big corporation, often refers to foods and beverages made in smaller quantities,” explain authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. Frequently connotes something of Brooklyn or Portland, Ore., origin, though some experts argue the term has been rendered meaningless.
- bespoke: “A hoity-toity term for handmade,” says ICC’s Candy Argondizza. Often refers to cocktails specifically tailored to a customer’s tastes. But as Time’s Josh Ozersky points out: “Just because extra care is taken doesn’t necessarily make it better. Unless the guy who’s making it is a great bartender, it could be the mixology equivalent of getting your hair cut at barber college.”
- black label: “Refers to a special blend of beef used when making hamburgers, which was popularized by Minetta Tavern’s black-label burger made with Pat LaFrieda meats — but Wendy’s has since jumped on the black-label bandwagon,” say Dornenburg and Page.
- biodynamic wine: “A step beyond organic [with] very specific guidelines,” note Dornenburg and Page. The winemaking process may involve lunar cycles and burying cow horns packed with dung. We’re actually not kidding.
- degustation menu: Synonymous with a tasting menu. “You’re putting yourself into the chef’s — and, if you desire, the sommelier’s — hands to determine the menu, with a possible choice of a certain number of courses,” explain Dornenburg and Page.
- foraging: “It conveys the idea of this noble savage wandering in the forest,” Ozersky says of the movement pioneered by chef René Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma restaurant. “It does have legitimacy in high-level restaurants. But if you’re eating in Brooklyn, the last thing you may want is something growing in the backyard.”
- grass-fed: “Refers to cattle fed only grass and not corn, which is not part of its natural diet — the beef tends to be leaner and more flavorful,” say Dornenburg and Page. But Ozersky, who finds totally grass-fed beef “leathery,” argues that “all cows eat some grass. It’s a question of whether it’s finished with corn and grain.”
- heirloom: No, not your grandmother’s pearls, but veggies bred for flavor, not appearance. “Their beauty is their imperfection,” notes Argondizza. “Heirloom and [in the case of animals] heritage practices preserve agricultural variety and protect biodiversity,” add Dornenburg and Page.
- house-made: “The new homemade,” say Dornenburg and Page. Ubiquitous, yes, but a meaningful, verifiable term. “It says there are craftsmen in the kitchen — that there’s a lot of care taken,” says Argondizza. The term often modifies nouns such as “charcuterie” and “burrata.”
- line-caught: “Suggests it’s caught by a fisherman, not dredged up by evil, unsustainable methods,” explains Ozersky.
- locally sourced: “Cooking with ingredients available locally — whether within 100 miles or another limited radius,” say Dornenburg and Page. But not everyone is completely sold: “I’d rather have fresh cauliflower from a good produce store like Dean & Deluca then cauliflower from some farm that’s a week old,” says Ozersky.
- market table: “This is the same as ‘farm-to-table.’ It means you’re buying directly from the farm and cutting out the middle man,” says Argondizza. “That’s a big statement.”
- wood-roasted: “It lets the public know, ‘We have a wood-burning oven. Our food is going to have a rustic, roasted flavor,’ ” says Argondizza. A more precise term than the more meaningless and marketing-driven “fire-roasted.”
