Even as some of the best and most inventive chefs in the world come to us every year for events like Cooking for Solutions and Pebble Beach Food & Wine, descending from major urban hubs like Vegas, Chicago and D.C., we are constantly served reminders that we lag behind the big cities on seductive taste trends.

We were about two years late to jump on the whole cupcake bandwagon (maybe that’s not so bad). We’re still struggling to assemble craft breweries and coordinate barter co-ops, both common with big city siblings. And it’s taken us years to just start merging with the gourmet food-truck trend.

The good news, though: The tasty trucks are finally here, as are a number of other movements to watch out for in 2011, as harvested with the help of Weekly food contributors Ulia Zettie, David Schmalz and Pat Tanimurhardja:

Root vegetables

Dishes like the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin over a maple-parsnip puree at Montrio, the roasted sunchoke at La Bicyclette, or the heirloom carrot, bordelaise jus and salsify purée with a braised Kobe beef cheek at Aubergine are quite different. But there is one thing they have in common: strong roots.

Part of the resurgence can likely be attributed to an increasing desire to eat seasonally, locally and sometimes, from the backyard: Root vegetables are easy to grow, can remain in the ground until ready to be eaten, and in cold climates, can be kept for months in a root cellar.

Marinus chef Cal Stamenov, who is currently serving diver scallops with a celery root puree, Bloomsdale spinach, chanterelle and buerre rouge, has his own ideas on the renewed interest. For one, he says, “People are wanting more vegetables.” That also translates to the sauce: “The puree acts as a sauce instead of a meat sauce… and other than the flavor itself, it’s nice to have another texture.”

To some, the recent root boom might seem overdue, but consider this: the Jain sect of Hinduism, with their charge to take no life, shun all root vegetables. No garlic or onion. But a few years back, an Indian farmer grafted a potato onto a grape vine, and during a monsoon it thrived and took root. Growing above ground on a vine, the hybrid has been dubbed the “Jain potato,” and is said to be as delicious as the original, as well as higher in protein.

While you won’t find Jain potato on local menus anytime soon, peruse for parsnip or parsley root. You’ll be happy you’re not a Jain. [DS]

Steamed buns

A mass-producing Chinese factory food outlet was stuffing marinated cardboard in their steamed buns not too long ago. That didn’t pan out so well – they got busted. Local restaurant industry insiders predict better things for the steamed bun and its infinite possibilities, soon. The Eastern treat can cradle everything in its cushiony, comforting confines – anticipate asparagus, local fish, sweet fava pastes and fresh berry reductions. In other words, almost everything, except cardboard. [MCA]

Stinging nettle

Kale is becoming as mainstream as spring mix. Originally a way for people to choke down vitamins, kale has developed into a genuine obsession: steamed, sauteed, dehydrated or baked, Lacinato, “dino,” green curly, red Russian and even spigariello kale, which is more closely related to broccoli than anything else.

The next kale-like suitors to the veggie throne is stinging nettle – the previously annoying weed has been feeling the love from many restaurants in S.F. on top of pizza with goat cheese and lemon zest, made into a nutty pesto or stuffed into raviolis. It can also star in root vegetable soup, or be steeped into a bright bluish green tea tonic containing stress reducing B vitamins.

Nettle also has a surp rising amount of protein, making it a good choice for vegetarians. If you forget to use it before it gets wilted, the benefits aren’t dead yet: You can put it in a jug with water and let it stew into a stinky concentrated fertilizer for your garden. [UZ]

Whoopie pies

The whoopie pie – dubbed “the next cupcake” by trendologists – is already everywhere in urban centers. But now it’s here, appearing starting this week at Carmel Roasting Company spots across the Peninsula thanks to a partnership with AquaTerra Culinary. The best might be the peanut butter pie, if it weren’t for the one with vanilla bean cake “buns,” maple cream filling between and crisp applewood bacon bits around the edges. [MCA]

Gourmet food trucks

Taco trucks are a local staple, but these are a different vehicle: The cuisines are eclectic, the menus varied, the concepts fun. You can chow down on classic Cuban (Babaloo) or slurp up bubble tea (Tea.Zing) on the go. Pig Wizard just drove a truck down from Portland and is working through permit pergatory to bring his sausages to the highway.

Babaloo’s Gladys Parada loves the freedom and flexibility of owning a food truck. And Parada, who once managed Citronelle in Carmel Valley Ranch, believes it’s an accelerating local trend.

“It’s going to be long lasting,” she says. “People are taking it seriously.”

We won’t be seeing a Monterey version of Seattle’s “Mobile Chowdown” or San Francisco’s “Off the Grid” anytime soon – though the Wizard (aka Jonathan Roberts) thinks Sand City is ready for a food truck court – but it’ll happen, even if it’s a year or two behind our big city neighbors to the north and south. [PT]