What do we all anticipate eagerly once Thanksgiving is over? No, the answer’s not Black Friday, the return of peppermint lattes, or the trimming of the tree: it’s the National Restaurant Association’s annual “What’s Hot” survey of nearly 1,300 leading chefs, predicting the hot trends in food for 2014.

Released in early December each year, this survey asks chefs to weigh in on more than 200 popular food trends, including specific foods like dark greens or artisan cheeses, cooking methods such as pickling, fermenting or smoking, and even delivery methods, such as foraging and food trucks. This year the chefs reviewed a list of 258 items, then rated each one as a “Hot Trend,” “Yesterday’s News,” or a “Perennial Favorite.” Those getting top votes (209 items, this year) made the list.

Since chefs are important opinion leaders in the food world, we always jump on this survey as soon as it’s published to see what’s happening with attitudes toward whole grains. Drumroll, please: here are some of the top 50 trends potentially involving whole grains and their ranking:

4. Healthful kids’ meals
5. Gluten-free cuisine
7. Children’s nutrition
8. Non-wheat noodles/pasta (such as quinoa, rice, buckwheat)
12. Whole grain items in kids’ meals
13. Health/Nutrition
15. Ancient grains (e.g. kamut, spelt, amaranth)
22. Non-wheat flour (including millet, barley, rice)
24. Quinoa
29. Ethnic flour (including teff)
31. Black/forbidden rice
49. Red rice

What do the rankings mean? They’re based on how many chefs rated the item as a “Hot Trend.” Hot trends are all well and good, but frankly we think “Perennial Favorite” is an even more to-be-desired designation. Perennial means forever, after all — and we think that whole grains are here to stay, not just this year’s flash in the pan.

Apparently the chefs agree. When you combine both favorable columns – Hot Trend and Perennial Favorite – you’ll see that a huge majority of chefs are very positive about whole grains. A few trends move way up when “Hot” and “Perennial” are combined. Here’s the percent of chefs giving thumbs up:

85% — Whole grains in kids’ meals
81% — Non-wheat noodles/pasta
79% — Ancient grains
79% — Whole grain bread and rolls
78% — Quinoa
75% — Oatmeal
72% — Black/Forbidden rice
72% — Red rice
71% — Ethnic flour
61% — Brown/wild rice

Last thing to look at: How do trends compare to the last few years? While it’s all well and good to look at what’s in with the in crowd this year, it’s even more informative to see which whole grain trends have real staying power. Here are nine trends that have made the chart in three years running, listing the combined “Hot” and “Perennial” percents for each: 

As you can see, they’ve all stayed fairly steady, changing only a few percentage points up and down. And even quinoa, so popular for the last several years, isn’t finished peaking yet!

So head on down to your favorite restaurant and see what the chef there is dishing up for whole grains. Or, if you happen upon a restaurant not yet offering whole grain options, show them this survey and encourage them to catch up with the rest of the world!

You can download the full 2014 NRA “What’s Hot” Chefs’ Survey here. (Cynthia)