I was recently reading one of the many restaurant industry trade publications I subscribe to, a favorite this time of year because I love to see what they all think will be hot trends for 2012.  One of the first trends listed for 2012 in Restaurant Business is “Southern Comfort.”  As a southerner, born and raised, this of course makes me happy.  From an early age, a few of my favorites were buttermilk biscuits, grits, banana pudding and my great grandmother’s chicken and dumplings… A dish that I still haven’t perfected after roughly 40 tries.

Restaurant Business discusses chefs “tapping into Southern dishes and reinterpreting them with modern twists.”  To me, there is no better chef doing this than Hugh Acheson.  I recently purchased (pre-ordered it 2 months early to be exact) his new cookbook “A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen.”  Now, I am sure you know that his restaurants are phenomenal, my favorites being Five and Ten and Empire State South, but to be able to bring his spin on southern cooking to my home has been amazing.  You would have thought it was Christmas day when it arrived on October 18.  I couldn’t wait to crack it open and begin making a mess in my kitchen! There is a bevy of traditional southern recipes with a twist as well as sure to be instant classics including Boiled Peanut Hummus, Fried Chicken with Stewed Pickled Green Tomatoes, Lemon Chess Pie with Blackberry Compote and the most amazing “Not Your Momma’s” Brussel Sprouts!

Other trends to keep an eye out for in 2012 are a comeback of the potato, whether it be frites, chips or the fully loaded Poutine; old world cuisine like Belgian, Hungarian, Austrian and German and small indulgences that are easier on the wallet and on the hips including scaled down portions and bite size desserts.   Plant-based foods are expected to make a surge and as RB puts it “may actually fill up half the plate.” The publication also states that pork will continue to be a trend, but look for lamb and goat “to join the meaty mix.”

By, Christy Olliff