Old Trends and New Twists on Food Horizon

There was room for everything at the Western Restaurant Show, especially if it was sugar-free, fat-free, dairy-free, red meat-free, cholesterol-free and caffeine-free.

The largest regional show of its kind, it was held last weekend at the Moscone Center in San Francisco with 1,800 booths and 900 exhibiting companies. About 35,000 visitors noshed and sampled their way through three days.

Whether restaurateurs will adopt the sundry products on exhibit is yet to be seen. Most current trends were reinforced or re-engineered, and a handful of new products introduced.

No surprise, but coffee drinks, flavored teas and fruit-based smoothies continue to flood the market. Anything decaffeinated or dairy-free got the nod. One manufacturer of smoothies appealed to regional loyalty by naming the line after places (Palm Springs, Redondo Beach, Hollywood & Vine, Baja).

Smuckers launched Bagel Toppers, a fat-free, dairy-free fruit (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry) spread. And London Dry Gin flavored syrup may be turning up in your next gin fizz.

In the bar snack arena, chips from sweet potatoes are hot. So is roasted sweet corn, a testament to freeze-drying technology and the natural sweetness and fat-free nature of the ever-popular Super Sweet corn variety.

The push to offer alternatives to red meat accelerates with more varieties of veggieburgers, meatless sausage, quail (whole, split, pre-seasoned or natural) and new ways to market fish. The salmon industry is promoting a pre-shaped salmon burger, frozen and ready to cook. By offering a 3.2-ounce patty for grilling, pan-frying or poaching, restaurateurs won’t have to invest time in teaching cooks all about fish. “Even a teenage grill cook knows what to do with a burger,” quipped a fish salesman from Oregon.

Is that garnish really tree-fresh? One company hawks frozen mango and papaya halves: Such convenience fends off unstable prices of tropical fruits. Another firm offers processed lemon slices with the peel on. Shelf life? A frightening 30 days.

A couple of aisles away from the Callebaut chocolate samples, fried cheese-stuffed jalapen~o appetizers and a fruit-flavored ale from Colorado called Blue Moon was the California Dietetic Assn.’s booth where three dietitians offered body fat composition tests for free. Their eye-catching prop--a slab of dimpled, yellowish rubber--showed what five pounds of fat looks like. And it wasn’t pretty.

Meanwhile, over at the cookbook-signing booth, chefs-turned-authors took turns chatting up their latest efforts. Among the scribes-in-toques were John Ash, Joyce Goldstein, Bradley Ogden, Paul Prudhomme, Alice Waters and Hubert Keller.

Loyalists lined up to congratulate Chez Panisse founder Waters on her Berkeley restaurant’s silver anniversary. She and pastry chef Lindsey Shere signed the restaurant’s dessert cookbook, first published in 1985, and Waters’ new book on vegetables.

Hubert Keller, chef-owner of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, is enthused about his latest challenge. He’s just finished revamping the menu at Club XIX in the Lodge at Pebble Beach. The new menu reflects Keller’s biography: a bit of Alsace where he was born and trained and plenty of influences from the South of France, where he worked. Club XIX, unlike the golf club, is open to the public. Lunch and dinner will be served seven days a week.

Food and Cigars: Saddle Peak Lodge will showcase food, wine and Davidoff cigars on Tuesday. The six-course menu includes roast ostrich on country toast, sage chips with smoked trout rillettes, potato and pumpkin pancakes with cracked crab, confit of rabbit leg with baby frisee salad, seared Mallard duck breast with late-summer vegetables and chocolate truffles and sweets. Cocktails at 7 p.m.; dinner at 7:45 p.m. By reservation only, $95 per person. Information: (818) 222-3888.

Street Eats: Fly to Hanoi, Manila, Xian, Penang, Bangkok or Hong Kong without a passport. On Wednesday, from 6 p.m. to midnight, Typhoon restaurant at Santa Monica Airport re-creates the color, sounds and foods of Asia’s legendary night markets. Live music, folk dancing, eats and soft drinks are included in the $22.50 per person admission. (Children under 10 are free.) Tickets are limited and can be purchased through the restaurant. Information: (310) 390-6565.

BYOB: Need a corkscrew? There will be plenty to pass around at Boxer, 7615 Beverly Blvd., when owner Steven Arroyo opens a wine store, called Bicentennial 13, next door at the end of the month. Selections will be international and prices reasonable, he promises. The $5 corkage fee will be waived for Boxer customers who buy from the shop.

Ready to Rock: Hans Rockenwagner is biding his time. Plans to open a diner with gallery owner Tom Patchet in Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station art gallery and office complex are on hold.

But Rockenwagner is ready to roll. “The idea to do a diner was natural. Tom is a collector of Americana and has a great collection of dinnerware from the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s.” The Santa Monica chef says the diner will be in the spirit of Fog City Diner in San Francisco. The time is right. “There is a nostalgia in the food industry right now.”

In the meantime, Rockenwagner goes to Maui to participate in teaching cooking classes and cooking dinners for the Grand Chefs on Tour series at Kea Lani Hotel, Sept. 2-8.

Date Book: Art of the Palate ’96 will feature 50 fund-raising dinners throughout the city on Sept. 26 and 27. In support of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the theme dinners will be hosted by various personalities at unusual locales around the city. There are contribution levels at $150, $500 and $1,000 per person. Information: (213) 857-6516. . . . Great American Cookout is the theme for the 14th annual American Wine and Food Festival, when 30 well-known chefs will join 60 vintners for a cookout on Sept. 28 on the Universal Studios movie lot. Proceeds from the event, organized by the Wolfgang Puck Charitable Foundation, will go to Los Angeles chapters of Meals on Wheels. Tickets are $175 per person. Information: (310) 652-3706.

* Please send information for Restaurant Notes c/o Margaret Sheridan; telephone: (213) 237-7991; fax: (213) 237-7355.