Best food trends of 2010

Let's see more of this in 2011!

Here's a recap of some of Hot Dish's favorite food and dining trends from 2010:

5. The ongoing locavore and comfort food trends have converged to create a couple of new ones: canning and pie, which are, incidentally, both great ways to get through winter.

4. It might be lutefisk season right now, but Asian food is getting hotter in the Twin Cities: this year, Indian was the new Thai, and Szechuan was the new Cantonese.

3. While nose-to-tail eating and charcuterie are still extremely popular, there's new emphasis being placed on dry-aging steaks--in-house, as is the case at the Hanger Room, or with Compart pork.

2. The millennial consumer experience is all about convenience and flexibility, which means multi-use "total meal" concepts--equal part restaurant, deli, grocery shop, liquor store, continue to crop up, from suburban spots like Pairings to the chic new Surdyk's Flights in the airport.

1. The influx of new street food trucks was arguably the biggest change to come to downtown Minneapolis's dining scene all year, breathing new life into the idea of fast food with fresh, chef-driven fare. The continued boom of the gourmet-cheap-eats trend means better stadium food, too.

*Check out the Worst Food Trends of 2010.