Growing up with Star Trek and knowing that men could walk on the moon, I thought that, by the year 2000, we would all be living in space. We would zoom through the galaxy in our own personal spaceships, wearing Lycra one-pieces with cellphones built in, and eat pills instead food. Meals would no long exist. Restaurants would be extinct. But now it is 2000 and here we are, still eating three square meals a day and piling into restaurants for business and pleasure. Changes are occurring, but so far, there's no substitute for good food and wine, served up in style.
Maybe one day eating out will be a hightech ingest experience, the whole food pyramid squeezed into one tablet, and another one to give you a bottle-of-champagne high. In the meantime . . . here's my A to Z of predictions for eating out in 2000 - and a few wishes too.
A is for Atmosphere. Get it right and your restaurant will thrive. It is not enough to produce good food because there's just too much competition. In fact, it is difficult to get a really bad meal these days. So the restaurants that will do best this year, and every year, will be those with great ambience. Where people can feel welcome, relaxed, and sure of being looked after.
B is for Breakfast, Brunch and Busy. As people get even busier at work they have less time for long lunches. Places where you have a good, leisurely breakfast will do well. Breakfast is far more satisfying than lunch or dinner, and it costs less. Expect to see more laptops with the orange juice.
C is for Coffee. In the beginning there was Bewley's. Now there are coffee houses everywhere and the best of them offer either a range of blends or stick to one good Italian coffee. People are starting to get picky about coffee. They have their favourites. Mine is Illy Espresso and a Kenyan blend from Java Republic, a new Irish blending house. Coffee shops - chains of them - are springing up all over so you need never be too far from a double latte. Open a coffee shop today, another tomorrow and maybe soon Starbucks will snap you up for millions.
D is for Decor. Some restaurants get away with sawdust on the floor, gingham tablecloths and candles in bottles, but start-up restaurants are going to get bigger and glitzier, as investors put serious money behind up and coming chefs. We'll see more flashy purpose-built relentlessly themed restaurants.
E is for Expensive. Eating out will cost more this year, as restaurateurs face rising staff costs, and bigger overheads.
F is for Fast Food. It has to get better, and Norman Hewson has shown the way with his Nude cafe on Suffolk Street, a funky place where you can get home-made soup, fresh vegetables and meat in a wrap and healthy fruit drinks straight from the squeezer or blender. Judging by the queues throughout the day, people want fresh, healthy food to go, and they don't mind paying a premium price for it.
G is for those Gas-lit heaters that are popping up outside restaurants everywhere. Eating al fresco isn't a problem when you're sitting under one of toasty warm items, so the more the merrier.
H is for HO. It's not gold dust so why is it so hard to get a glass of it in so many restaurants. And I mean tap water. Our glasses should be refilled American-style, that is regularly, so that you don't always have to be thinking "Still or Sparkling".
I is for Italian. Most towns now have a trattoria of sorts, but not all are run by Italians. Italian cooking Irish-style tends to be a bit heavy-handed, with cream featuring a lot. We get served plenty of pasta, but after that, the menus are limited and boring.
J is for Juice bars. Expect to see one coming to a corner near you. They should be clean and busy so that your juice really is freshly squeezed. Orange is still the favourite, but people will become more adventurous with different fruits and vegetables.
K is for Kitchens. Open kitchens may be a cliche but the "cook's table" at Peacock Alley, bang in front of the kitchen, is still one of the best in town.
L is, sadly, for Low Fat. Menus should have more options for those who don't want to eat 2,000 calories at one sitting. Don't be afraid to ask for less sauce and no butter. Certain good restaurants, such as Locks, will do you a Nutron diet lunch or dinner without making a fuss about it.
M is for Mash. Get used to it because it's here to stay. Chefs like it because it's easy to serve and you can dress it up with pesto or sun dried tomato paste. We like it because it's warm and comforting and, hopefully, a bit smoother than we can manage at home.
N is for Noodles. We want more of them and it looks as though we're going to get them. With Mao and Wagamama almost always full there's room for a few more trendy noodle houses in the capital.
O is for Organic Food, and let's hope that more of it makes its way to restaurant tables this year.
P is for Proposing and since it's a leap year, women should do it on February 29th. Some people want to propose in a special place - the top of a mountain, or on a boat in the middle of the lake at moonlight are just two we've heard of recently - but more big questions are popped over restaurant tables than anywhere else. Try Guilbauds for a discreet table and service, Browns Bistro for a cosy, boudoir setting, Adare Manor for Gothic splendour or Fredericks in the Aghadoe Heights, Killarney for the most magnificent view (but not until summer when the renovations will be finished).
Q is for Quiet. A little more of this in restaurants please. Not a worshipful hush, so you are afraid to talk about a whisper, but quiet enough to hear each other talk. That means keep the music down and let people enjoy the good old-fashioned art of conversation.
R is for Root vegetables. They're native and cheap, and good cooks can work wonders with them. Look out for parsnips, beetroot and celeriac in many different guises this year. Properly cooked they taste so much better than flabby mange-tout.
S is for Service, and in some restaurants it's just terrible. Good waiters are so valuable that owners are paying more and more to keep them. The alternative is to have a running roster of bright young things of all nationalities, many of whom don't know, or care, about food and wine, and speak poor English. Expect delays in being served, particularly on weekend nights, and look out for an influx of Russian waiters as the Russian community here grows.
T is for Truffle Oil, the magic ingredient that top chefs like to add for oomph and expense. English chefs are just getting over their love affair with it, but it's still big here.
U is for The Unicorn, still one of the most popular restaurants in Dublin. How do they do it? The food is consistently just OK but people keep coming back for the laidback atmosphere and for the people-spotting, particularly on Saturdays.
V is for value for money. It's hard to find in many Irish restaurants, particularly the more fashionable ones. Sure, there is plenty of money around but people shouldn't have to pay £50 a head for lunch, or £100 for dinner, or £18 for a simple plate of pasta as I had to do in Cookes before Christmas. Overheads might be high, but those sort of prices seem simply greedy.
W is for wrap. It looks and tastes better than a sandwich. The more exotic the filling the better - and the more you'll pay. M&S does a passable Chicken Tikka but top marks go to Nude for its crispy duck wrap.
X marks the spot. It's not enough to be seen in the best restaurant; to impress, you also have to have the best table. Find out which it is, and book in advance.
Y is for Yule and it's not too early to book your Christmas party. Booking in advance has become a big part of eating out, particularly in Dublin where people book three to four weeks in advance for a Saturday night slot in the most popular restaurants. Beat the system by eating out midweek, where you can get a last minute table in virtually any restaurant in town.
Z is for zzzzz . . . are we suffering from menu fatigue? Do you feel that if you see one more bruschetta or penne dish you'll scream? Chefs, show a little more zest and zeal with your ingredients please.