Chaos Cooking Is Taking Over The Dining Room As Restaurants Unleash Ambitious Culinary Concoctions From Big Mac Pizzas To Masala Mac & Cheese

Fusion cuisine has been around in restaurants for years.
But now restaurants and TikTok are calling the culinary mash-ups "culinary chaos."
TGI Friday's ambitious treats range from Big Mac pizza to curry fajitas.

In the pre-internet days, fusion cuisine was a mix of classic international dishes. It was an elaborate mixture of epicurean culture.

Today, culinary trends have taken over for the sensation-hungry masses. Independent restaurants and chains offer ambitious and incredible culinary delights, from Big Mac pizza in Washington DC to fajita curry at TGI Fridays. Restaurant blog Eater Chaos defines Cooking as "part neo-fusion, part middle finger" and "a bold new dining style" that is changing the face of restaurants.

The Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant owned by Alex Watanabe and Marcelo Baez, which opened this month in Lower Manhattan, sells biriya ramen, al pastor sushi rolls, sashimi tostadas and teriyaki shrimp tacos. Nacheaux Restaurant in Portland serves Mexican and Southern dishes such as Cajun beef nachos, red beans and dirty rice. Pizza Palace in Los Angeles serves tandoori spaghetti and masala noodles.

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FRIjitas, available at TGI Fridays this summer, are introduced as an updated version of fajitas inspired by world heritage. The chain sold three options: tandoori chicken sticks, dynamite shrimp and Tex-Mex whiskey frosting.

"Sales of Tandoori Frigitas are outpacing same-menu sales," said Brandon Coleman, director of marketing for TGI Fridays. "We believe there is plenty of room for continued innovation on the Friday menu, adding new universal flavors to more familiar and accessible menu options."

Some dishes are an innovative play that recreates the taste of fast food with gourmet ingredients.

For example, Boogie and Peel Harambe in Washington DC sells a $22 cake called the Loved Big Mac. It's made with ground beef, special sauce, American cheese, shredded iceberg, diced onion and homemade pickle chips.

Chaos Cooking comes to Instagram and TikTok in a variety of ways, including baked bean pizza, zucchini fettuccine, and vegan mint cookies. Sometimes the cooking style is just messy. The Washington Post defines messy cooking as "a flagrant violation of conventional wisdom about how to cook and what tastes or looks good, both fun and sane." The question was asked in the article.

Either way, as restaurants become more social, social media is expected to support messy dining.

"In 2023, restaurants that didn't have an Instagram account will have one. Restaurants that never considered TikTok will download it to find out what it's all about," according to a 2023 restaurant trends report by food tech startup BentoBox.

Other culinary trends born from viral social media posts have become restaurant staples, including avocado toast, espresso drinks with latte art, and freeshakes (milkshakes mixed with other desserts like cake or donuts).