Epicurean experts from some of the world’s most exciting drinking and dining destinations share their pulse on the ingredients and techniques that’ll be cooking up a storm and raising the bar in 2026
Kimpton’s hotly anticipated annual Culinary + Cocktail Trend Forecast returns this year to unveil the unique dining styles, bold ingredients and expert techniques set to shape the global hospitality scene in 2026. From heritage and third-culture cuisine to fruity milk alternatives, Kimpton’s global chef and bartending community are setting trends that will define food and beverages in the year ahead.
This annual forecast underscores Kimpton’s culinary creativity and playful approach to food and drink, brought to life at more than 100 restaurants and bars across its 83 properties worldwide. Paving the way for creative hospitality, Kimpton hotels, restaurants and bars embody masterfully crafted techniques and robust dining experiences that continue to shape the food and beverage landscape across the globe.
Guests of Kimpton hotels, restaurants and bars around the world will have the opportunity to experience new flavors that bring these trends to life all year long. This year’s Kimpton Culinary + Cocktail Trends are:
On the Plate: The Culinary Concepts Coming to Pass
Charcoal Gets Fired Up
Driven by a desire to reconnect with authentic flavours and culinary craftsmanship, charcoal will experience a renaissance both as an ingredient and as a medium for cooking. Whether it’s protein or veggies, guests can expect to specifically experience Binchotan, a Japanese white charcoal prized for its minimal smoke and odour. Expect to see menu items like charred cauliflower satay with lemon cream at select properties in the coming months.
Pancakes Get a Passport
As global cuisines become more accessible, international pancake variations like Moroccan Msemen, Korean Hotteok and Vietnamese Bánh Xèo will serve as a versatile base for creative flavour pairings. These globally inspired pancake combinations will invite guests on a culinary journey that elevates the dish, like the paella-inspired martini with blinis and caviar on the side found on menu at Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento.
Heritage & Third-Culture Cuisine
In 2026, Heritage & Third-Culture Cuisine will come to the forefront of the food scene to celebrate multiple cultures all in one dish. Menu items will be unapologetic about traditional flavours and emphasize personal, lived experiences within one or multiple cultures. This style combines influences from the chef’s multicultural upbringing, creating unique dishes that defy traditional culinary boundaries. This upcoming trend can be found at Kimpton KAFD Riyadh where a terrine of local lamb is served with fresh mixed leaves and herbs alongside a lamb chamomile demi-glace, creating a refined interpretation of local Saudi ingredient and European techniques.
Citrus Gets Zesty
Varieties and unique hybrids of citrus like Calamansi, Hallabong and Sumo will appear on food and drink menus, offering a fresh alternative to their more common citrus cousins. These vibrant, flavourful fruits bring unexpected tartness, sweetness, and aroma, inspiring chefs and mixologists to experiment with imaginative pairings and presentations like yuzu-infused cocktails and Calamansi–miso dressings for seafood or salads.
Entrée-Inspired Dips
The era of Girl Dinner is gone and in its place step in ‘Snacky Suppers’ with more consumers skipping a larger traditional main course in favour of smaller plates. This will see the in-between eating aesthetic evolve as entrée-inspired dips are reimagining classic dishes like gumbo and cacio e pepe to create bite-sized noshes of beloved classic meals.
In the Glass: The Cocktail Trends Raising the Bar
Botanicals Swap Out Sugar
As consumers embrace fresh, natural ingredients, unexpected sweetness will be on the menu in the coming year. Commonly added sugar will give way to fruit and botanicals like rose, elderflower, and cherry that impart flavour and sweetness naturally. Cocktails like “Souq of Byblos” use rose to sweeten a combination of gin, grapefruit, lemon, bitters and cardamom at Ladyhawk at Kimpton La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood.
Texture Takes Over
Crispy, crunchy, foamy, fizzy, silky – texture will take over in 2026. Whether it’s a matcha with creamy foam and a crunchy topping or gummy boba in a silky-smooth latte, across the kitchen and bar, chefs and bartenders will experiment with ingredients that add textural complexity and juxtaposition across the palate, transforming every bite and sip into a multisensory experience.
Going Bananas for Banana Milk
Move over oat milk. Popular in Korea, this milk alternative, often paired with coffee and espresso, will gain broad appeal globally in the coming months. With a natural sweetness and smooth, silky texture, banana milk can be paired with other sweet flavors like whipped cream, cinnamon, caramel and chocolate for a perfect morning pick me up, available on request at select Kimpton properties worldwide.
Cultivating Coffee Cultivars
What’s brewing on the coffee scene? Specialty beans, terroir flavours, climate-resilient types, co-fermented and seasonal blends will drive bold, unique coffee trends in 2026. Coffee connoisseurs will rejoice as new varietals of beans like Columbian Gesha, Ethiopian Hambela, Ethiopian Uraga Heo, Papau New Guinea Volcanic Robusta and Lijang Yunnan Bam gain traction at Kimpton properties around the world.
The Newest Spritz: The Garibaldi
The Garibaldi is going to unseat the Aperol Spritz as the new favourite aperitivo cocktail. Low ABV but high in refreshing flavour, menus will feature variations using combinations of unique citrus and Italian aperitifs. Simply delicious, the mixture of bittersweet Campari will the acidity of orange juice balances on the palate for a refreshing happy hour, available at select Kimpton properties worldwide.
Layered Drinks
Taking “eating with your eyes first” to the next level, blended beverages will be replaced with drinks featuring distinct layers of flavuor that you can see and taste creating a feast for the eyes and tastebuds. From cocktails to coffee beverages, layered beverages will bring together delicious taste pairings to indulge in.
Garden to Glass: Plants
With the popularity of herbal and earthy drink flavors on the rise, plants including aloe, chayote, eucalyptus, and pepperberry will appear in more cocktails as the latest evolution of the industry’s garden to glass movement. Garden to glass offers guests the opportunity to taste the freshest seasonal, locally sourced ingredients possible like in the Alianthus – a cocktail that balances the unique flavour profile of black pepper, ginger and lemon grass that’s featured at Kimpton Da An – Taipei in Taiwan.
Cocktails Get Techy
Bars will transition from smoke to aromatic machines and adapt innovative processes, including switching and sous-pression that rely on deep-freezing to alter or release flavor. Watch this trend come to life in the cocktails “Berry Opera,” which uses lacto-fermentation to create a homemade berry vinegar that pairs with peach, raspberry and hibiscus tea; and “Almost Famous,” which leverages molecular gastronomy spheres to blend fat washed whiskey with black truffle oil, curaçao, chocolate absinthe and orange bitter spheres for a savory delight. These intricate concoctions can be found on bar menus at Kimpton Qiantan Shanghai.
Wine: Asia-Pacific on the Rise, Bordeaux is Back, & Spanish Wine Cocktails Get Fizzy
Asia-Pacific wines and fizzy Spanish wine cocktails, like Kalimotxo, Tinto Verano, and Rebujito will grow in global popularity, while Bordeaux, side-lined for other popular grapes over the years, will enjoy a comeback on wine menus, including those of Kimpton Qiantan Shanghai. With that, wine cocktails are rising to the surface, with creative mixology bringing to life beverages like “Sakura Sake Spritz,” which mixes Sake, gin, Sakura, lime juice and Cava; and “Bordeaux Berry Fizz,” which features Bordeaux, white wine, blackberry liqueur, lemon juice and simple syrup.
At Kimpton, culinary and beverage innovation is at the forefront of what’s on the menu. Beginning today, guests and locals alike can experience variations of these trends at restaurants and bars across the globe. For more information on the 15 trends highlighted in the 2026 Kimpton Culinary + Cocktail Trends Forecast, visit: https://culinarytrends.kimptonhotels.com/culinaryandcocktailstrends