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Created by well-respected chefs and home cooks alike, food trends have the potential to make a big impact on the culinary scene. In 2008, food blogger Bakerella invented the cake pop, now a commonplace item at Starbucks. In 2013, pastry chef Dominique Ansel invented the cronut, which is now available at most doughnut shops. But other food trends seem to fall off relatively quickly: The 2022 butter board didn’t really take off, and even the hype over this year’s flat croissant didn’t last too long.
Looking back on 2024, three major food trends shaped the Peninsula’s culinary scene: Dubai chocolate, nonalcoholic beverages and Asian French fusion.
Dubai chocolate
The trio of pistachio, chocolate and crispy kataifi (finely shredded phyllo dough) has swept the nation in what has become colloquially known as the “Dubai chocolate trend.” Created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, the Dubai chocolate bar popularized after Dubai-based food influencer Maria Vehera reviewed the chocolate bar on TikTok in December 2023. The video has over 6 million likes.
This year, the hype over the Dubai chocolate bar resulted in a flurry of baked goods that are Dubai chocolate-flavored, including croissants, cookies, brownies and even focaccia.
In June, LeVant Dessert jumped on the trend and introduced Menlo Park to its Dubai chocolate bars, crafted with housemade pistachio butter and Belgian chocolate. Owner Maya Fezzani saw the recipe on social media and realized she already had all the ingredients to make it, so she added it to her menu, which has featured Middle Eastern sweets like knafeh, booza, baklava and more since her grand opening in February. Find Dubai chocolate available in a milk chocolate bar, semisweet bar, a set of 12 bonbons and even in dessert spinoffs like Dubai chocolate cheesecake and Dubai chocolate cake cups.
Dubai chocolate has even infiltrated French pastry along the Peninsula. In September, Jade Wang introduced her own take on the trend at her pop-up bakery Tiny Croissanterie – a croissant made with activated charcoal, filled with butter-toasted kataifi and homemade pistachio spread (which includes pistachio praline and white chocolate), coated in a crispy chocolate shell and topped with more kataifi and pistachios.
While Tiny Croissanterie is pausing operations for the month of December for a kitchen relocation, the Dubai chocolate croissant will be back in January with an improved recipe, Wang said. Peninsula pickup locations include Burlingame’s Bigz Boba (which Wang also owns) and Sunnyvale.
Tiny Croissanterie wasn’t the only Peninsula producer of Dubai chocolate croissants this year. Since its inception in November, MO’s deli & cafe in Belmont has been selling croissants stuffed with kataifi and pistachio butter and topped with chocolate drizzle and chopped pistachios.
At Goodthing Coffee in Burlingame, owner and pastry chef Shuo Yang has been whipping up Dubai chocolate cookies – made from dark chocolate cookies filled with kataifi and pistachio butter and topped with ganache and crumbled pistachios – since the coffee shop’s opening in October.
Go south to Los Altos and find pistachio knafeh brownies made by siblings Naiel and Punhal Chaudry at pop-up Lá Jawab Treats. Their take on the trend is a brownie topped with kataifi and pistachio cream, drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with chopped pistachios.
In November, GK Pastry introduced its pistachio Dubai chocolate focaccia, made with GK’s signature sourdough focaccia stuffed with milk chocolate and pistachio filling, topped with pistachios and drizzled with milk and dark chocolate. Founded in a commercial kitchen in Menlo Park in 2023, the family-run business now has brick-and-mortar shops in Palo Alto and Mountain View, with a third opening soon in Los Altos.
Nonalcoholic beverages
It seems as if staying sober is the new getting drunk. Nonalcoholic drink consumption is estimated to increase by a third by 2026, according to the International Wine and Spirit Research’s Drinks Market Analysis, and a 2023 survey by Casinos.us found that 67% of Americans are actively reducing their alcohol consumption.
In February, nonalcoholic bar Golden Sol opened in Pacifica, offering nonalcoholic elixirs and kava beverages. The bar, owned by Becca Guzzetta and her daughters Krizia Ferreria-Arteche, Sasha Arteche and Raquel Payne, aims to “provide a place to come meet like-minded people and build connections that will last a lifetime,” said Ferreria-Arteche.
Looking to buy nonalcoholic wines from the comfort of home? Kally, a nonalcoholic winery in Portola Valley, has been creating zero-proof wines since 2022. The company was founded by husband and wife Katie and Scott Mitic and specializes in nonalcoholic wines made from the juice of unripened grapes – a departure from other companies which often de-alcoholize through reverse osmosis or ferment the beverage.
And sit-down restaurants are also beginning to offer more nonalcoholic options. Take Swing Shift as an example: The San Mateo restaurant held its grand opening in June, offering cuisine from all over the world and a menu of mocktails and nonalcoholic beers. Nonalcoholic drinks include the mala margarita with Lyre’s agave blanco, sichuan peppercorn, nonalcoholic triple sec and lime juice, as well as the Bardstown bramble with Lyre’s American malt, blackberry, pomegranate, bitters and lemon.
Asian French fusion
Restaurants, bakeries and cafes specializing in Asian French cuisine have popped up all over the Bay Area this year.
Grilled tako “escargot” with roasted garlic herb butter, French country bread, bone marrow, red onion, bacon and marmalade at Gardenia in Los Gatos. Courtesy Gardenia. 
Almond flour pancakes with preserved lemon ricotta, calamansi Vermont organic maple syrup, macerated Monterey organic berries and beurre d’lsigny at Gardenia in Los Gatos. Courtesy Gardenia. 
Ora king salmon poke salad with sea beans, kukui nuts, Monterey Bay ogo, sweet onion, scallions, ginger tamari dressing and taro root chips at Gardenia in Los Gatos. Courtesy Gardenia. 
From left, about thyme cocktail (prosecco, thyme, grapefruit, sweet vermouth and sparkling water) and avocado toast with Brokaw avocado, miso tapenade, cashew cream, truffle honey, micro citrus, hemp seeds and country boule at Gardenia in Los Gatos. Courtesy Gardenia.
In Los Gatos, Gardenia is offering brunch items like lobster deviled eggs with wasabi flying fish roe and coconut mochi-stuffed pandan pain perdu, as well as dinner items like pan-roasted Baja striped bass with coconut lemongrass lobster Normandy sauce and miso fennel pollen-glazed sea scallops with local sweet corn ratatouille. The restaurant and cafe opened in a historic home over the summer.
From left, raspberry matcha, coconut iced latte, butterfly pea tea lemonade and grape shaken cold brew ($7.25-$7.99) at WhatCoffee & Bakery in Santa Clara. Courtesy WhatCoffee & Bakery. Photo by Stephen Wilson. 
Pistachio, raspberry, mango and regular croissants at WhatCoffee & Bakery in Santa Clara. Courtesy WhatCoffee & Bakery. Photo by Stephen Wilson. 
WhatCoffee & Bakery’s all-day food menu includes eggs Benedict toast with salmon and poached egg on brioche. Courtesy WhatCoffee & Bakery. Photo by Stephen Wilson.
French Asian cafe and bakery WhatCoffee held its grand opening in Santa Clara in October. WhatCoffee & Bakery roasts 1,000 pounds of coffee daily, makes all of its baked goods in house and offers brunch and lunch. Drinks skew more Asian-inspired, like grape-shaken cold brew and iced coconut matcha; pastries and food are more French, like croissants and eggs Benedict toast.
Also in October, pop-up ONKI Bakery began selling its Asian French pastries at the Redwood City Kiwanis Farmers Market. Created by Gahee Lee, ONKI Bakery now sells its pastries at The Village Hub in Woodside and offers pickup orders from its commercial kitchen in Menlo Park. Find Asian baked goods like milk bread and sio pan (crispy salt roll), as well as French goods like baguettes and ham and cheese croissants. Fusion items include black sesame chocolate croissants and matcha latte cookies.
And in San Mateo, Anton SV Pâtisserie is offering French crepe cakes in Asian flavors like Hokkaido milk, black sesame, matcha and hojicha. Created by Anthony Tam in 2016, the bakery opened its first brick and mortar in October and plans to open its second soon in Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center.
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