Here are Chefs' & Times-Pic's Dining Predictions 2014

The Times-Pic turns their attention to all things 2014 this week, with chef-predicted trends and "culinary hopes" and a glimpse at the 2014 New Orleans food scene (including the return of Edible New Orleans) from Judy Walker. "Ask chefs what they expect to see in 2014, and the answers vary widely," Todd A. Price reports, but 3 out of 10 chefs hope to see more (and better) ethnic foods in New Orleans in the coming year. From gastropubs to local veggies, here now is the best of the chef predictions from The Times-Pic. Plus, Judy Walker on what to expect with SoFAB, cookbooks, and more.

Chefs' predictions for NOLA dining 2014:
James Cullen, upcoming Treo: "I'd like to see more chefs working with more new cuisines."
Michael Doyle, Maurepas Foods: "We've been getting so much better ethnic food in this town, and of course I'd love to see more of that. An awesome Indian restaurant in the city, that kind of stuff."
Kristen Essig, Ste. Marie: "I'd love to see a continued support of local, sustainable agriculture and fishing, in particular. I'd like to see more focus on cooking with whole grains and vegetables."
Tenney Flynn, GW Fins: "More breakfast places that I can walk to in the French Quarter" and "Fishermen who take better care of their catch getting better compensated for it."
Michael Gulotta, Mopho: "I'm excited about all the small, locally owned restaurants that are opening. We should make sure that we're focusing on more than just having our own little business, but giving back to the community and being responsible in hiring locals and working with local farms."
Adolfo Garcia, Ancora, La Boca, and more: "A trend that we see that's great is young chefs coming up, going on their own and going into neighborhoods that aren't as populated with restaurants."
Ryan Hughes, Purloo: "In 2014 in New Orleans, we'll see more getting away from New Orleans-style cuisine and getting more into Southern regionalism," and "I think we're going to see a lot more restaurants closing down in the next year. The piece of the pie is only so big. The bubble has got to burst."
Joseph Maynard, Criollo: "A strong showing of gastropubs."
Ryan Prewitt, Peche: "It would be interesting to see the high-end trained chefs really putting their talents behind different ethnic foods, particularly Mexican."
Joaquin Rodas, Bacchanal: "I'd like to see more restaurants that are just one thing. Not a New Orleans take on a French bistro or a New Orleans take on Japanese ramen. I'd like to see a traditional French bistro or ramen."

Judy Walker's Predictions for 2014's biggest food scene news (most of which are, well, essentially fact):
· New Whole Foods Market on Broad Street set to open February 4, including the 4,500 square foot Goldring Teaching Kitchen with free classes, spearheaded by Tulane along with Liberty's Kitchen and Whole Foods.
· SoFAB (Southern Food and Beverage Museum) will finally open early/late summer at its new location, 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, along with chef Ryan Hughes' restaurant Purloo.
· Urban garden with bees/chickens going in behind the already-open SoFAB Culinary Library and Archives at 1609 O.C. Haley Blvd.
· Potential New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute winning bid for Louisiana Artworks building
· Potential St. Roch Community Partners Inc.— including Cleaver & Co., St. James Cheese Co., Bellegarde Breads, Faubourg Wines and Redmellon Restoration and Development— winning bid for St. Roch Market
· Good Egg NOLA's huge delivery expansion
· "The single biggest trend of coffee is single-serve cups."
· More food shows coming to New Orleans, and more NOLA food scene people of national shows. First up: Buttermilk Drop Dwight Henry on a doughnut showdown competition on Food Network.
· Hot cookbooks: Donald Link's Down South, Poppy Tooker's Tujagues Cookbook, Marvin Allen's Magic in a Shaker: A Year of Spirited Libations, Kid chef Eliana's Cool Kids Cook, Ann Benoit's New Orleans Best Ethnic Restaurants, Suzanne Pfefferle's Vietnamese Cuisine in New Orleans and more.
· Renovation of Myrtle Banks/McDonough 38 school on O.C. Haley in Central City will include a fresh food market with Fall 2014 opening likely
·, Edible New Orleans returns under a new owner/publisher Stephanie Carter with the first issue to debut mid-April.

· SoFAB expansion, new Whole Foods, Donald Link cookbook and more on the 2014 New Orleans food scene [NOLA.com]
· 10 New Orleans chefs share their culinary hopes for the 2014 New Orleans restaurant scene [NOLA.com]
· All Eater Guides [-ENOLA-]