In the Year 2011...(Part One)

By aaroncynic in Miscellaneous on Dec 30, 2010 5:00PM

We've been giving you our best of 2010 lists all week. With 2011 just about to crest the horizon, we thought it would be fun to ask the staff to gaze into the office crystal ball, do a little divination and see what might be on the horizon for the next year. Stay tuned for part two later!

Anthony Todd: 2011 will be a year of continuing existing trends in food. Since the economy will likely continue to be down, you will see a few things - very few fine dining restaurants will open, and more fine dining chefs will work on opening lower-end places. Fishbar (the twin to DMK) will hit big, and Grahamwich and Xoco will continue to be popular - and new offerings like Todd English's food court will be very popular, as it gives people a chance to have interesting food at lower prices.

At the same time, as people are doing less fancy dining out, they have more money to spend on high-end home cooking. Farmers Markets and CSAs will continue to grow, and they will fit right in with all of the new butcher shops that are opening in the first half of 2011. Unfortunately, if numbers are any indication, hunger (at least among the long-term unemployed) will also continue to be a trend in 2011, a fact that we in the food world should all keep in mind.

Benjy Lipsman: Bears lose first playoff game, retain Lovie Smith and miss out on hiring Bill Cowher when he takes another job. The Bulls will beat Boston in conference semis before losing to Miami in Eastern Conference Finals. Finally, Doug Sohn, countering the trend of upscale chefs opening casual joints, announces Haut D, his new molecular gastronomic restaurant. Michelin gives it two stars before it even opens. And not one to eschew trends, he also fires up a food truck, that he has service those at the back of the Hot Doug's line.

Rob Christopher: There will be at least one major 3-D movie that flops at the box office, as movie audiences grow tired of paying $5-10 more to see something that doesn't even look good in 2-D. But, because the studios and home electronics manufacturers have invested so heavily in the process, 3-D will continue to be promoted ad naseum. Movie attendance will fall, just as it did in 2010; but overall revenue will hold steady, due to higher ticket prices. The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival will return to Grant Park, after an innovative Kickstarter fundraising drive. For the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, co-host James Franco will go shirtless--oh wait, that's just wishful thinking on my part.