What’s in Vogue for 2025

Crepes, no music, Japanese cafés, boozy desserts, branded produce, and more.

To kick off 2025, I’m writing to you with a Magic 8 Ball beside my laptop. This is not a data-driven report. It’s a roundup of predictions for what, how, and where I think people will be eating and drinking this year in Los Angeles and beyond. Some of these are foods and behaviors that I would like to see proliferate more than I am sure of their trendiness. That’s what makes this exercise fun. Think of it as something between a trend forecast and an in/out list.

This time last year, I was hoping we had reached peak Caesar. But the craze only intensified, as I reported in my 2024 restaurant trends recap for Bon Appétit. I also predicted that we would embrace wet martinis, pubs, colostrum, frisée, muffins, and the end of natural wine as we’d come to know it. I’d argue I was right about all those things (click the links for proof), although some more than others. Frisée was not the lettuce of the year, but its parent species of greens, chicories, are certainly all the rage. Our yearslong obsession with natural wine and the subsequent growth in cool wine bars has evolved into something more sophisticated and nuanced (more below). And regarding muffins, see Café Tropical’s blueberry muffin (get it split and grilled), Sasha Piligian’s gingerbread muffin, and the Baker’s Bench pumpkin muffin. Sadly, cupcakes did not come back, nor did dessert carts. Alas.

In 2025, here’s what I’m somewhat sure will happen, what I’m dreaming will take hold, or, at the least, what I plan to do more of. Let me know what you think in the comments. :)

Homestyle Japanese food
Everyone I know is obsessed with Japanese food. We’re forever searching for the perfect mid-range sushi joint, ideally in our neighborhood, and we love an izakaya. Luckily, Los Angeles has an excellent Japanese food scene, particularly down south in Gardena and Torrance. In 2025, I want to see more homestyle Japanese cafés and restaurants. Places like Daichan in Studio City, with its quirky, comforting vibe and wholesome menu of udon, katsu curry, inari, and poki bowls. The arrival of Café 2001, the backside sister restaurant to Yess, is a promising development. They’re serving egg salad and relish on milk bread, curry pumpkin salad, house terrine, and an array of fruit tarts.

Long live Daichan (since 1992).