We blinked and somehow it’s June.

Yes, we are officially halfway through 2017 and just think of how much we have already crammed into it and, more importantly, crammed into our mouths. In just six months so many food trends have bubbled to the surface, some thankfully for the short haul and some that have the potential to go the distance for the rest of the year — and beyond!

Here are six trends that we’ve certainly spent the last six months ooh-ing, ahh-ing and wondering about.

• Zero waste recipes - We’re seeing more and more chefs challenge our perceptions of waste. Hyper creative cuisine masters like Davin Waite from Oceanside’s Wrench & Rodent and The Whet Noodle are using every possible part of food items in their dishes to help minimize what ends up in landfills, from fish bladders, fish sperm and bone marrow, to most recently banana peels, which if you didn’t know, are heavenly bathed in truffle oil and served as nigiri sushi or lightly fried for tacos. New Chinese opening Village North also reminds us to reconsider our definition of waste with dishes like spiced pig ears, lung and testicle on their mainstream menu. While deemed adventurous in America, these flavor-packed typical Chinese dishes help reveal the potential behind the ‘bits’ we too often toss aside.

• Low ABV cocktails - or ‘shim’ cocktails as they are also known thanks to US-based author and cocktail blogger, Dinah Sanders, who coined the term. These are cocktails with no more than 14ml of strong spirits - ideal for those who are perhaps more health conscious, or just more desirous to try a variety of different flavor profiles in one night without being knocked to the floor.

• Coffee IN food - We don’t mean coffee as an ingredient, we mean coffee actually served in food instead of mugs. Earlier this month it was coffee served inside ice-cream cones, but now ‘Avolattes’ are the new hot thing. Yep, that’s people drinking lattes out of hollowed avocados. Initially a tongue in cheek idea by a small coffee shop in Melbourne, Australia, this food trend has blown up on Instagram.

• Fantasy vs Goth - Speaking of Instagram, who could have missed the 2017 color explosions that were bubblegum pink unicorn drinks, swirling sea green mermaid toast and even marbled gemstone toast. This sugar laden rainbow era of Insta-food inspired quite a rebellion from the pastel color haters - cue the entrance of black charcoal ice-cream, charcoalattes and most recently, black ‘goth’ pizza.

• American hybrid food - Hot dogs with Japanese and Mexican accoutrements like guacamole, tempura crunchies and miso pork chili were huge at Coachella this year and we’re continuing to see a rise in popularity for the love children of traditional American and foreign cuisine. Hive’s American-Korean menu is a great example of this cross over - if you haven’t been to this new 20,000 sq ft entertainment hub on Convoy Street yet, we’d highly recommend it for their Korean style wings alone.

• Vegan Options - It’s that time of year where restaurants are announcing their new summer menus. Not only are we seeing a wealth of mainstream GF options on menus, we are also seeing an increased number of plant based vegan dishes in the mainstream spotlight too. Recommended vegan dishes from us include The Whet Noodle’s slurpingly good bowl of vegan ramen and sweet chilli tofu, as well as the beet burger, sans turmeric goat cheese aioli and vegan option ‘From the Garden’ entree at Masters Kitchen & Cocktail- a perfect marriage of mashed local avocado, heirloom tomatoes, forbidden rice, edamame beans and a charred orange glaze. Oh and don’t forget the selection of fresh, seasonal salads and the vegan nachos at The Red Door in Mission Hills! The nachos come with a vegan cashew 'cheese' sauce, need we say any more? Yum!

So that’s six months down. We’re looking forward to seeing what the next six months bring.