Rick Bayless, master of fine-dining Mexican cuisine with Chicago-based restaurants Topolobampo and Frontera Grill, explores fast-casual with his new concept XOCO (pronounced SHO-ko) where guests order and pick up their food from a main counter, then dine-in or take it to-go. Located next door to Bayless' other famed restaurants, XOCO serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a small, narrow space that features a short-order-style, open kitchen line with counter seating and small tables. XOCO's menu includes traditional Mexican street food like tortas (sandwiches) with meats roasted in a wood-burning oven and egg-based breakfast sandwiches cooked on a gridde, plus soups, and small plate options for lunch and dinner. The restaurant also serves hot churros straight out of the oven, which passers-by can see from the street thanks to the eatery's large front window. Other notable menu items include specialty coffees, and hot chocolate — the restaurant is the only one in the area importing Mexican cocoa beans and processing them onsite for drinkable and edible chocolates.

Table toppers: butcher's paper, plain wood, black tablecloth

Plates: uneven circles, triangular, stacked, coup, tiny compartments for amuse bouche, terra mesa

Accessories: metal items, mini-vases

Glassware: eclectic-styled glassware, stemless wine glasses, carafes, decanters

This bright and cheery Seattle restaurant has a mix-and-match menu that allows customers to enjoy a variety of creative and sophisticated dishes without breaking the bank. Chef and owner Jerry Traunfeld developed the idea of a "thali," a price-fixed platter holding a variety of small, colorful dishes in mini appetizer and entrée form. Each thali menu item highlights seasonal ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. Diners also can order a-la-carte style items from the main menu at more affordable prices. A frequently rotating menu, "Today's Thali" platter once featured Walla Walla onion soup, wild sturgeon with eggplant and lentils, wagyu beef with farro, cucumber kimchi, nigella naan and more. Poppy earned an honorable mention in FE&S' 2009 Performance in Tabletop Awards in the category of independent restaurants with guest check averages less than $30.

2.8% is the average rate foodservice operators' E&S budgets are expected to decline in 2010.

34% of operators are adjusting their menu strategy to include "value" items and adjusting portion size.

20% of operators had a better year than expected in 2009; 28 percent said it was worse.

68% of operators held off on replacing equipment in 2009.

64% of dealers focused on recruiting new customers; 63 percent are also focused on growing established accounts.

66% of dealers anticipate heavy equipment will drive sales growth for 2010, followed by 62 percent for light equipment, 45 percent for smallwares, and 40 percent for tabletop.

47% of dealers expect that reach-in and walk-in refrigerators will be among their top 3 best-sellers for the next year, followed by 22 percent for ranges and 18 percent dishwashers and warewashers.

52% of dealers surveyed see both schools and casual dining restaurants as the top segments for sales opportunities and growth in the coming year; 60 percent of dealers surveyed think opportunities in fine dining will decline.