See you in the next decade, a restaurateur emailed me, and I had to stop and think: “Oh, yes, tomorrow’s not just the new year but the 20teens.”

The last day of the year is always a time for remembering what we liked about the last, but I think looking ahead is more appropriate for a brand new 10 years. So what do I want?

1. That food safety comes to the forefront of American attention. Those stories about ammonia-treated processed (or as one insider calls it “pink slime”) beef sold for school lunches because it can reduce costs by pennies even if e coli and samonella might be present are truly horrifying. And disgraceful for a country rich with agricultural resources.

2. That farmers, including vegetable farmers, be recognized and rewarded fairly for what they do.

3. That independent, gimmick-free restaurants do well by feeding us well.

4. That obesity become a past-tense problem.

5. That hunger be diminishes, if not wiped out.

6. That we eat wisely and well.

We’re just back from South Beach (and, yes, it was gloriously warm). I don’t think the dining scene there matches Boston, SanFrancisco and certainly

Chef Rodriguez

not New York, but maybe the sun is too bright.

However, we did happen to drop in on D. Rodriguez Cuba’s second night. This is Douglas Rodriguez (OLA, “godfather of Nuevo Latino, Top Chef), who has a new spot that’s dedicated to only Cuban cuisine. It’s a little more downscale price-wise than OLA, and has some interesting twists on what can be a delicious but pretty heavy cuisine

Octopus salad esbache was delicious and so were the short rib skewers (though they tasted sort of pan-Asian — wasn’t that soy sauce), but the arroz con pollo, tried because it’s such a classic, was odd. The rice and peas were just right, but the chicken, advertised as thigh meat, was definitely breast meat covered with a creamy sauce. That was tangy and tasty but overall, it wasn’t the homey dish one might expect but instead a kind of hybrid — Cuban meets Continental??

Because the liquor license had’t been finalized, the restaurant was offering rum cocktails gratis — a lovely lime daquiri and a rum punch, both well-made, not too sweet, and not too boozy.

The staff was pleasant, friendly, and really nervous. Even the laid-back feeling of South Beach, and the beautiful surroundings of the Hotel Astor didn’t seem to calm them. And when I happened to see Chef Rodriguez with his wife Nelly in the lobby, he too seemed jittery. I guess that’s understandable in an economy that’s affecting even the golden edges of Florida.

But give Rodriguez and his staff a little time. I’d definitely go back to graze through more of his Cuban food — and I’m sure others will, too. Maybe Nelly’s roast chicken would be a better choice. Next time.

For those of us working in the world of food, the subject of hunger is vexing. That some seek out the most luxurious and rarest in comestibles, others consume much, too much, and yet so many never have enough to eat seems unreconcilable.

Boston area restaurateurs and chefs are famously known for being charitable to hunger-related causes. But even the waves of donations — from benefits for Greater Boston Food Bank  to Share Our Strength to local groups such as My Brothers’ Table  in Lynn — are a drop in the bucket. This year, especially the need far outstrips the giving.

So what can we personally do about hunger? I have no set answer, no panacea for the ills of the world. Only the beginning of  a gift list.

Heifer International and pig gift

 Yesterday, I went online and bought my parents, who spent their younger years giving as much as they could to their extended families, community, church, and those in far away places, a pig. Well, not really a live, squealing pig Fed-exed to them, but $120 to Heifer International. This will pay for a family in a developing country to have a pig that can feed and provide for them. Oh, and I dropped a couple of dollars into a Salvation Army bucket (my mother rang a bell for years at Christmas time).

Next week, I’ll decide how much I can give to My Brother’s Table, which feeds and cares for homeless in Lynn. After that, I’ll consider my New Year’s Resolutions — what will the next year bring and what I can do — from helping to find restaurateurs willing to participate in charitable events to volunteering to putting up some money. 

It’s only a little, a drop in the bucket of need, and certainly miniscule compared to what others give.  But it’s my drop into the bucket of hunger.

"Fully Committed" the play

Last week I made a restaurant reservation, and was bemused when the young woman told me that “We’re fully committed” that night. It was the second or third time I’d heard it in a few weeks. It seemed so late ’90s when the play of that name chronicled the hot-hot-hot years of New York and San Francisco dining. But everything that goes around, comes around, so Fully Committed is having a comeback.

Which brings up the issue of the phrases that stick in the restaurant industry, year after year, trend after trend. “Still working on that?” “Are you finished yet.” And the classic “Fries with that?”

What’s your evergreen restaurant phrase?

Last night we met friends at Il Casale in Belmont. Early, very early, because the di Magistris’ brothers new restaurant in an old firehouse down from where they grew up is packed all night, every night. No wonder. It’s warm, it’s welcoming, the vibe is lively from the baby crawling around at the next table to Mary Richardson of Chronicle on the other side to seemingly everybody from the near and western suburbs crowded into the long bar area and noisy dining room.

Midway through fantastic sfizi (small bites, great ones like chicken liver crostini and burrata with Sicilian oregano and pistachios) chef Dante diMagistris strode, just back from Italy, with truffles. And we were treated to tagliatelle with a soft-poached egg topped with freshly-shaved truffles. Dante did the shaving, remind me of the first time I wrote about him. In a review of blu, I talked about this young chef who’s enthusiasm for the truffles he shaved over pasta transformed the dining experience.

Il Casale is a hit for good reasons — oh, did I tell you that Daniele Baliani, one of the great talents in any kitchen, is cooking there. And did I say that Leon diMagistris, the father famed for his high-style salon in Belmont, chats with customers. Or that the prices are reasonable, the pasta comes in small or large portions, and the staff couldn’t have been more solicitous about a diner allergic to olive oil.

All this and truffles, too. No wonder it’s tough to get a table.

Art in a cup

After a long day-into-night of judging the first annual White Chrome Barista Throwdown put on by  Flat Black Coffee in Dorchester, here are a few things I remember:

–About 2/3 of the way through tasting espressos and lattes made by 11 contestants, Annie Copps, of Yankee Magazine and one of my fellow judges, counted that we must have consumed 24 shots. She started spitting, just like a wine tasting.

— Gerra Harrigan, the expert from New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Providence and the other judge, managed to keep her cool composure and sort through the contestants through about 5 hours of tasting.

— All 11 contestants were really good — and some could talk while making excellent espresso. Even if their hands shook when serving the coffee.

— Alison Novak, from Simon’s Coffee Shop in Cambridge, who won, made a signature dessert coffee that by now I can no longer describe, but I’d have every night if I could.

— The reason I can’t describe it, although my palate memory is excellent, is because even taking tiny sips of more than30 espressos and espresso-based drinks makes you a bit forgetful. Drunk, even. Not only that, I couldn’t spell.

Gerra judges barista and coffee contests all the time. Today, recovering from an event that was a lot of fun plus included dinner at Tavolo down the street, I’d have to think about it doing another very soon — at least until my ability to spell returns.

By now, everyone who’s anyone in the food world has opined on the closing of Gourmet. It’s sad, true. But that’s almost more from an historical perspective — 69 years is a pretty impressive run — than its current standing in the world of food. In this Twitter-Food Network-Chowhound era, did anyone wait breathlessly for the latest issue of Gourmet — or any other magazine?

What I’ll miss: Barry Estabrook’s pieces on the politics of food, especially one tracing  the e coli outbreak in spinach and its results.  And the travel articles (unfortunately few of late).

What I won’t miss: Although Gourmet always looked stylish, the design changes veered so wildly that beyond the pretty cover, it was hard to tell sometimes what you were looking at. And I particularly disliked the photographs of farmers over the last years who seemed to be purposedly “dirtied up” to match somebody’s notion of agricultural reality (this is done elsewhere and it’s sooo annoying. As though everyone  in rural areas neglects to wash their hands or faces when a photographer shows up.)

And the A-Z redesign with copious recipes recently looked like a last-ditch panic — which I guess it was.

Connecting the dots between food and our larger world was the greatest service of Gourmet. That blurred sometimes when the fattest issues seemed to only trumpet the excesses of restaurant extravagance or the thinnest only comfort food. But by knitting together travel, food memory, the restaurant world, and food politics, Gourmet could make a statement and do it stylishly. 

I’ll keep as many issues of Gourmet as I have room for — I’ve saved holiday issues for ideas and recipes for decades, and often refer or find old issues when I travel. In a Food Network magazine era, that information and that style unfortunately won’t be matched.

A Mad Hatter feeling is coming over me. I seem to be rushing to catch up, and blogging is sliding farther and farther behind. But I just have to tell you about “Teach a Chef to Fish,” an event being held in Boston, Chicago, and Toronto. The subject is saving the sea, and the object is to introduce chefs to sustainable species. Boston’s event is Monday, Sept. 28, at the Fairmont Battery Wharf, and will include presentations, discussions, and lots and lots of examples of how to get going on serving sustainable fish. It’s from 3-5 p.m. and is $50; part of the proceeds will go to the New England Aquarium.

Coincidentally, that’s the day I’m taking 15 people from around the country participating in an Elderhostel (soon to be Exploritas) Dine Like a Critic to see Legal Seafood’s plant and to hear Max Harvey, of Jasper White’s Summer Shacks who lectures at BU on sustainability.

Saving the sea will be the hot topic for Monday — and beyond.

Jacky and Iris Robert

Last Sunday, I got to catch up a little with Jacky Robert of the growing Petit Robert Bistro empire — it was his birthday and he threw a house, well, actually a backyard, party at his own Maison Robert. His daughter, Iris, was in from New York. Right now, Iris is cooking at Jean-Georges in New York, part of a series of jobs she’s taking to round out her culinary education.  (Vongerichten is bringing his culinary brand here with a Market restaurant opening in the new W in the Theater District next month.)

Iris, who basically grew up in the kitchen, opened Petit Robert Bistro on Columbus for her father before moving to New York. She’s a talent, completely at home in the kitchen, and despite her youth, able to create wonderfully delicious and unfussy food. Her sights are next set on working in kitchens in France for awhile.

And then somewhere down the line, she’s thinking of a return to Boston. Perhaps there’s a new Maison Robert in Boston’s future?

Just as the mood in Boston restaurants is at its glummest, there’s a flurry of new places opening or in the works. Orinoco in Brookline – which is about to become taco central, as unlikely as that is. Abbey Park and 88 Wharf in Milton, another unlikely new restaurant hub.  Sonic on Route 1, which is mobbed — Sonic, a fast food creation that we in the Midwest thought was cheesy decades ago!!!And coming soon, the behemoth Post 390 on Clarendon Street, which threatens to suck up a lot of the dining oxygen at 300 seats with plenty of money behind it.

Add to that changeovers, BanQ will become Ginger Room, Excelsior will become something else, and more rumors are in the air.

Is this the end of the recession? Cheap rents? Panic? Time will tell, and hopefully diners will be able to sort out the new from the good, quality from the chaff, good value from the cheap bargains. Maybe the dining public is digesting this right now while waiting in line to order Sonic burgers and a malt.