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Exotic super foods: You’ll start recognizing things like ashitoba, moringa, camu camu and lucuma, which are added to foods or drinks to boost their super-powers. Try Vitality Bowls or The Nectary for its Reishi Roast with chickory, mushrooms, dandelion roots, cinnamon bark, milk thistle and other goodies. (Photo courtesy of Vitality Bowls)
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Food from Lebanon, Syria and Turkey: Though officially this trend is being called “Food from the Stans,” calling out spots like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, we’ve found some stunning dishes along these lines at Pearl in Petaluma (pictured). For more kebab-style food, try Real Doner or Stockhome. (Heater Irwin)
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Kebab plate at Stockhome Restaurant in Petaluma. (Photo courtesy of newrevmedia.com)
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Low- or no-alcohol drinks: Getting hammered is out. Enjoying an apertif or mocktail is in. Try the “Euphoria,” with Seedlip (a distilled non-alcoholic “spirit”), goji and schisandra berry, lime and prickly pear hibiscus puree at Fern Bar in Sebastopol (pictured) or the “Delicate Flower”at Duke’s Spirited Cocktails in Healdsburg. (Heather Irwin)
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Non-alcoholic cocktails at Duke's Spirited Cocktails in Healdsburg: Delicate Flower, Green Business, Sipsong Indira Tea & Tonic, and Hibiscus Sorrel. (Photo courtesy of Duke's Spirited Cocktails)
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Jewish food: Bagels, schmear and lox, Reuben sandwiches, brisket and all the New York deli goodness. Grossman’s Deli will open in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square 2020, and bagels are having a moment at spots like The Bagel Mill in Petaluma. (Heather Irwin)
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Savory breakfast: Skip the sweet stuff and go for something tastier. Rice porridge like jok — available at Jam's Joy Bungalow in Sebastopol (pictured), Indian-spiced oatmeal, meaty breakfast bars and sipping broth are hot. (Heather Irwin)
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Plant proteins: We’ve all seen the explosion of alternative-meat products like the Impossible Burger go mainstream — find it in a variety of Sonoma County restaurants, including Acme Burger in Cotati (pictured). Expect to see a rollout of KFC’s vegan chicken, pigless bacon chips, vegan chorizo and more. (Heather Irwin)
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Super-sour drinks: Sour beers, kombucha and drinking vinegar are all the rage. Boochcraft hard ginger-lime is a winner, along with their grapefruit hibiscus. Barley and Bine Beer Cafe in Windsor is a fave for finding sour beers and ciders on tap. Add a bit of apple cider vinegar to hot tea and honey, or try the Macho Pisco at Bird and the Bottle in Santa Rosa with Pisco and blood orange drinking vinegar.
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Ayawaska sour and pisco sour at Ayawaska in Petaluma. (Heather Irwin)
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Super seltzers: Expect to see more gourmet flavors like hibiscus lemongrass or CBD-infused drinks like Recess’ blackberry chai or pomegranate hibiscus. (Photo courtesy of Recess)
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Bone broth everything: Filled with collagen, long-simmered bone broths are exploding in popularity thanks to keto diets. We love Nona Lim’s turmeric chicken and spicy ramen broths. They’re also great for fighting colds. Three Leaves Foods also usually has bone broth available frozen. (Photo courtesy of Nona Lim)
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Vegan dips and cheeses: With ingredients like cashews, tofu and beans, it’s easy to find a solid dairy-free alternative. Try Miyoko’s dippable Roadhouse Cheese. We also love things like vegan nacho cheese, vegan ranch and vegan mayo. Also great for snacking: hummus in every flavor, including chocolate. (Photo courtesy of Myoko)
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Super-sour flavors: Expect to see lots of pucker-worthy fruits showing up in drinks and foods including rhubarb, hibiscus, elderberry, blood orange, Meyer lemon, tamarind, sour plum, gooseberries, passionfruit, tart cherry and unripe mango. (Shutterstock)
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MSG gets a break: The much-maligned monosodium glutamate is making a comeback, sort of. Chefs are returning to it for certain dishes and brining, and seasoned salts that are high in glutamic acid are coming from Momofuku’s David Chang. (Photo courtesy of Crystal Han)
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Milk alternatives: Just about anything — from nuts to vegetables and fruit — can create an alternative milk product. Expect to see pea milk, quinoa, spelt and a rise of oat, flax, hemp and rice milk. The Sonoma County-based InHouse group launched New Barn Organics line of nut milks in 2018.
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Watermelon seed butter: Alternatives to nut butters are expanding, and one of the strangest is the emergence of roasted watermelon seed butter, which has lots of magnesium, iron, zinc and B vitamins. Whole Foods Market carries 88 Acres's seed butters, including watermelon. (Photo courtesy of 88 Acres)
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Cauliflower: This long-despised crucifer is now a culinary darling, showing up as a meat or carb alternative with things like vegan chicken wings at Cotati’s Wing Man or in pizza crusts or used instead of rice. (Heather Irwin)
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Nashville hot chicken: Hot and spicy, it’s a Tennessee fried chicken specialty. You can find it nearby at Le Col Rouge in Novato. (Shutterstock)
