Promising Restaurant Trends For 2012

Rieva Lesonsky of the site SmallBizTrendCast recently released ten food business trends to watch for in 2012. Here's hoping most of them come to fruition!

1. Artisanal Food: It's not new, but going strong and seems to be picking up steam - even trickling down to fast food and "artisanal" breads from Jack In The Box.

2. Ice Cream: The frozen treat shows no signs of slowing, and consulting firm Andrew Freeman & Co. predicts the next big thing will be "snow ice" - creamy like ice cream but more of a light and airy texture.

3. Potatoes: "Have it your way" potatoes may be a big trend. Possibilities include choosing your own ingredients to mix in with mashed potatoes, choosing cut and crispiness of your fries, and chips with custom dustings and dips.

4. Breakfast: Besides all day breakfast, restaurants may start to include traditional breakfast foods in their dinner menus, such as egg dishes or sandwiches made with waffles.

5. Juice: Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame recently bought premium juice maker Evolution Fresh. He plans to put it on the menu at Starbucks and launch some juice bars in 2012.

6. Scandinavian Sweets: The treats are becoming trendy in urban areas like New York and Los Angeles because of small sizes and natural ingredients. Stroop, a dark treacle syrup used in Dutch desserts, may really catch on.

7. Healthy Eating: Restaurants will likely keep increasing how much they cater to customers with food allergies or need a gluten free diet. Low sodium foods may become more prevalent.

8. Appetizers: The cost conscious like them because they're less expensive. The health conscious like them because of smaller portions. Social people like them because they're made to share. Chefs like them because they can experiment with ingredients.

9. Mediterranean Food: A growing interest in eating healthy, vegetarian ethnic foods lines up well for Greek, Spanish and Middle Eastern cuisine.

10. Twists On Favorites: Consumers on a budget may not want to branch out and try new things, but that doesn't mean they won't want some flair in their favorites. Chefs will likely continue to experiment with exotic ingredients in familiar foods (like wasabi ice cream).