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Phantom Gourmet: Great 8 Food Trends

Phantom is always up on what's tasty and trendy. What's setting the food world on fire these days? These are the 8 Greatest food trends coming to a restaurant near you.

TOASTS
Saltie Girl, Boston's Back Bay

Kicking off the Great 8 are toasts. What use to be just a breakfast staple, is now a comforting treat served at any meal, with everything from avocado and fried egg to seafood packed versions like they serve at Saltie Girl in Back Bay. There is a garlic clam toast, or a crab toast with avocado, burrata, pistachios and, of course, crab.

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POPOVERS
Popovers on the Square, Epping & Portsmouth

Don't call it a comeback. Popovers have been here for years but always seemed so hard to find. Luckily, they are now available at places like Popovers on the Square in Epping and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Always served hot and steamy, these airy rolls can be ordered on their own, as a sandwich, and even as a sundae topped with ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauces, and whipped cream.

CAKE POPS
Cake Pops, Dorchester

Another food trend is a sweet bite sized snack on a stick – the cake pop. At a bakery named Cake Pops in Dorchester, you can find these sweets in 15 rotating flavors, and six standard ones, like Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Red Velvet, and Chocolate.

CUSTOM SALADS
sweetgreen, multiple locations

It seems like salads are everywhere these days, and you can have yours customized to exactly how you want it at sweetgreen. With locations across the country, sweetgreen is a lineup of farm fresh ingredients tossed and dressed exactly to your specifications. If you can't decide what you want, they also have a selection of composed salads, like the Kale Caesar topped with chicken and addictive parmesan crisps.

JAPANESE SMALL PLATES
Hojoko, Fenway

Small plates have been the rage for quite some time, but Japanese small plates really came into favor recently with izakayas like Hojoko in the Fenway, serving everything from buttermilk brined chicken wings and pot stickers stuffed with shrimp and pork, to juicy chicken thighs fired up on a Japanese robata grill and served on a stick.

GOURMET GRILLED CHEESE
Roxy's, Allston & Lynnfield

Another food trend that is here to stay is the gourmet grilled cheese. Roxy's in Allston and Lynnfield is a quick and casual spot where the open kitchen offers up a simple, craveable menu of grilled cheese sandwiches. No matter what you put on your grilled cheese, there's a whole lot of attention that goes in to making it.

COAL FIRED PIZZA
Angelo's, Quincy

Coal Fired Pizza has been lighting up the scene lately, and at Angelo's Coal Fired Pizza in Quincy they do it right. Cooked at a high temperature, very quickly, these pies are perfection, whether you order the simple yet satisfying Margherita, the surprisingly sweet Chicken Marsala pie, or The Godfather, topped with sausage, peppers and onions.

KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN
Crave Mad, Chinatown

Rounding out the great 8 is Korean Fried Chicken. These super crispy wings are twice fried, so they are crunchy on the outside and moist in the middle. At Crave Mad for Chicken in Boston's Chinatown, they are hand brushed with sauces like Buffalo, barbecue, spicy, and soy garlic. Since the process is long, making these wings takes a while, but after one bite, you won't mind the wait.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.

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