Eat The Trend

What's for dinner in 2010?

by Felicia D' Ambrosio

Fried chicken. Fatso New Yorkers lived a Southern-fried dream last year, with smart renditions of greasy bird springing up all over. It's time for trickle-down. The Thursday fried chicken lunch at Mémé (2201 Spruce St.) has set the bar for newbies like Joey Chmiko's popular double-fried offering with German potato salad at Resurrection Ale House (2425 Grays Ferry Ave.). More options, please!

Ramen. Philly's long been drowning in quality pho — now it's time for some properly porky ramen. Chef Michael Schulson agrees — his luminescent new restaurant Sampan (124 S. 13th St.) has a $12 version with scallions, BBQ pork and egg that scratches the itch.

Italian. Strangely enough, pizza and pasta are once again starchy kings in the red-sauce capital of the United States. The Italian Market will get a much-needed evening destination when Di Bruno Brothers' wine bar opens in the former Pronto space (920 S. Ninth St.). Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran are working on a Medi restaurant, Barbuzzo (110 S. 13th St.), next to Zavino (112 S. 13th St.), a pizza-and-wine formula. Marc Vetri's Roman trattoria, Amis (13th and Waverly streets), opens Jan. 14, and Manayunk's getting Agiato (4359 Main St.) from former Sovalo chef/owner Joseph Scarpone.

Bottle shops. Beer freaks went mad for more than 1,000 brews sold by the bottle, in mix-a-sixes and growlers, when Hawthornes (738 S. 11th St.) opened in the former Bella Vista Beverage space. Since more is always better when it comes to beer, a similarly warm welcome is expected for the Bottle Shop (1941 E. Passyunk Ave.), a 1,200-square-foot spot stocking craft brews, on target for late February/early March. John Longacre, owner of South Philly Taproom, is still waiting on the liquor license for the beery half of Brew/Ultimo Coffee (1900 S. 15th St.).

Other Oracular Pronouncements. We're officially at cupcake saturation, and designer whoopie pies just fail to excite. Burger mania will veer away from standard cows to tasty little lambs. Gojuchang Korean chili paste will edge out sriracha as the (literally) hottest condiment of the moment. (Try whipping up a gojuchang mayo for your lamb burger.) Demand for gluten-free menus and recipes will come to the fore. Don't be surprised if you see a gluten-free cooking show make it to TV this year.

(felicia.dambrosio@citypaper.net)