Utahns eat in and watch their food budgets

On my blog, Flavors, I recently listed Food & Wine magazine's 2009 trend predictions. And in last week's column I listed a roundup of what food editors across the country thought were the nation's top 10 food stories of the year.

A responding reader asked me to comment on any local trends. Here are a few that I've noticed:

1. Coming home for dinner. For the first time in years, the United States saw a slight dip in the number of restaurant meals served, and that was even before Wall Street's meltdown.

With so many large families in Utah, I'm sure that we are following this trend and eating more of our meals at home. More people are brown-bagging lunches, too.

I don't think we've gone back to a time when "eating out" was a rare, special occasion, but some people have stopped considering it a daily event,

The increased meals being served at home aren't necessarily "from scratch" cooking. Some meal-assembly businesses, such as My Girlfriend's Kitchen and Dinner A'Fare, have folded. But Dream Dinners, Dinner Market and other meals-to-go places are still around. Grocery stores are offering a bigger variety of heat-and-eat meals, too. Ironically, some of these options can cost just about as much as a moderately priced restaurant meal.

2. Quick-casual restaurants. A growing number of Utah-based chains include Cafe Rio, Costa Vida and Rumbi Island Grill. Others that fit the quick-casual category include Fazoli's, Noodles, Chipotle and Bajio. These fill the niche for folks who are downsizing their dining options but who don't want to settle for a burger and fries.

Ordering at a front counter means you usually get your meal faster than if you waited for tableside service. The check average runs higher than a fast-food restaurant, but there's usually no tip expected.

3. Sweet potato fries have caught on in Utah, showing up on menus everywhere, including the Arctic Circle, Acme Burger and MacCool's, to name a few. The quick-casual Sugar House restaurant, Au Naturale, offers a healthier baked version that tastes surprisingly decadent.

4. Whole grains. The LDS penchant for food storage has always meant a basement full of wheat. Now with harder economic times, people are more likely to bring it upstairs and use it.

While they're at it, they can look for their '90s-style bread machine, too. This dovetails nicely with the national promotion of whole grains for better health.