10. Someone, somewhere, is going to predict the trend of small plates, comfort food, farmer celebrities, food activisim, and both premium coffee and fancy tea.

9. Citizen reviewers are going to start writing with more authority and less snark as they begin to realize they can develop a following for their writing if they write with honesty, transparency and realism.

8. More and more chefs, thankfully, are going to realize that $50 a person isn't "everyday affordable," even if it's worth it. That said, the great fine-diners that dthat cost more than $50 will continue to do well because they stand out in the crowd.

7. Food & Wine is gonna pick a Chicago chef for their Rising Stars issue. No, I don't have insidery information, I have no idea whatsoever. This whole list is made-up stuff. I just know there's lots of great food in Chicago and they passed us over last year so we're due, right?

6. Food journalists are going to write more and more long-form pieces like this and this and are going to concentrate less and less on trying to get "the scoop."  Their influence and readership will rise with each thoughtfully written piece no part-time writer could begin to pen.

5. Freebie group media dinners are going to die completely, not because of disclosure issues — readers kinda don't care if a writer writing about asparagus dishes around town ate free asparagus — but because restaurants will realize they don't need to hold them in order to get news if they are newsworthy, which is a far more effective way to be newsy anyway. Follow?

4. Just as publicist gate-jumpers will continue to bypass traditional media to get the client's story out, journalists will begin to bypass publicists to get the straight dope from chefs rather than manufactured hooha. It is a good thing for everyone.

3. More restaurants will realize that their bottom line is in many ways beholden to technology — from entire marketing efforts to streamlining operations to enabling them to cut back on all those meetings.

2. More chefs are going to start — and work hard to maintain — good blogs, recognizing that it opens up a whole new world of being recognized for their talent and vision — it is the single best way for them to make sure they are "understood."

1. Promoting one's own restaurant will no longer be considered déclassé as more and more chefs realize they actually, really, need to make money to stay in business.