Our editor-in-chief Andrew Cotto looked back in How I Saw 2024 Through the Lens of Appetito, and below, we look ahead to what trends and ideas will shape Italian food and drink in 2025.
1) Will mortadella be a breakout star as an ingredient?
The Italian cured meat is typically thought of as a more exotic form of baloney, but we've been seeing it emerge from between the slices of bread to shine in new ways. Sliced thin and served with aged gouda and brown butter, it's a go-to appetizer at Inga's Bar in Brooklyn Heights. Top pastry chef Melissa Chou serves a mortadella scallion bao at her pop-ups in San Francisco's Chinatown. And the excellent Laurel Bakery in Brooklyn features mortadella on focaccia for lunch, but also employs it as an ingredient with pistachio pesto and Pecorino in a savory croissant-like danish.
2) Who will become the next Italian restaurant superpower?
Major Food Group started with a tiny storefront restaurant (the original Torrisi) less than two decades ago and now has made Carbone into a global juggernaut—even opening an intriguing wine bar offshoot, Carbone Vino, in Miami's Coconut Grove just before the end of 2024. Can anyone compete with MFG? A few names and hospitality brands to watch in 2025 include Evan Funke, Andrew Carmellini and NoHo Hospitality, and Tao Group, which opened the splashy Crane Club in Manhattan with chef Melissa Rodriguez in late '24, and which operates its coastal Italian concept Lavo in five global markets.
3) What will happen to the small, independent Italian restaurant?
In what is becoming a sad if familiar sight, we noticed a year-end Instagram post announcing the closure of yet another classic NYC Italian restaurant, Tommaso in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, after 55 years. Also closing on New Year's Eve was Piccolo Angelo in the West Village, after three decades. Independent restaurants are becoming more and more scarce, and while there are paths from pop-ups to brick-and-mortar locations for newcomers, we expect the challenging economics of hospitality to favor the bigger operators in the year ahead.
4) Will pizza omakase finally become a thing in the U.S.?
Admittedly, this is something of a personal crusade that started after I dined at the increasingly revered Confine in Milan, where a multi-course prix-fixe features pizza and its dough from appetizers to dessert. As I wrote last fall, Anthony Mangieri offers a semi-secret chef's choice/omakase at Una Pizza Napoletana in NYC's Lower East Side and Pizzeria Sei in Los Angeles has featured similar experiences. A few weeks ago, another downtown Manhattan pizzeria, Biga Bite, announced an 8-course pizza omakase menu that Time Out New York generally praised in a review recently. I expect more chefs to experiment with the pizza-forward format to differentiate amid all the pizza competition.
5) How will generational changes in alcohol consumption affect Italian wine and spirits?
Dry January isn't the only thing Italian winemakers and distillers need to worry about. Reports about the dangers of even moderate alcohol consumption threaten to sway public opinion, while the youngest generation of potential drinkers seems to be favoring no– or low-alcohol lifestyles.
6) Are there reasons for hope among Italian winemakers and distilleries?
The answer to this question depends on how you approach it. There are certainly concerns about incoming President-elect Donald Trump's calls for increased tariffs on imported goods. Climate change threatens Italy's wine regions. And yet, opportunities are emerging in the Italian drinks sector, with Mionetto introducing a promising alcohol-removed sparkling wine that mimics Prosecco, and Italian-inspired brands such as Ghia, Figlia, and St. Agrestis's Phony Negroni dominating the market for non-alcoholic adult drinks. Meanwhile, vermouths and bitters from Italy, naturally lower in ABV, are gaining popularity, with new distributors and importers betting big on these emerging categories.
7) Can gourmet dried pasta brands continue to win over the U.S. market?
Many mainstream supermarkets still have a pasta aisle dominated by Barilla, De Cecco, and Ronzoni (why?!). But at specialty markets and upscale grocers like Whole Foods and Eataly, Italian brands such as Pasta Rummo and Rustichella d'Abruzzo continue to earn shelf space, as home cooks realize that spending a couple of extra bucks on a higher-quality product makes a huge difference in flavor.
8) Is 2025 the year that Italian regional ingredients go mainstream?
If fennel pollen from southern Italy, balsamic vinegar from Modena, and Piedemontese hazelnuts aren't already in your pantry, add them to your shopping list right now. These and other Italian specialties are becoming must-haves for any self-respecting home or professional cook. (And Appetito will show you how to use 'em!)
9) Who will be the next Pasta Queen?
As we awaited the appearance of the next Stanley Tucci-eating-his-way-around-Italy series—announced a year ago and still MIA—the social media influencer Nadia Caterina Munno, better known as The Pasta Queen, emerged with an eponymous travelog/cooking series on Amazon Prime and a best-selling cookbook. Surely, TV executives and publishers are scouring their feeds for the next breakout Italian or Italian-American star.
10) What will be the next Italian travel hot spot?
Recently, I was intrigued to come across targeted ads advising me to book my next Italian adventure to the northern city of Brescia. Bari, Torino, Naples, and Trentino were It-destinations in the past year or so. Could Brescia be next?
This post is adapted from Appetito's weekly newsletter, which hits in-boxes every Friday. Sign up for free emails with our latest stories and recipes, plus Italian food and drink news from around the world.
