Now that we're well and truly into 2012, what's most exciting about the Charlotte-area restaurant landscape?

That it's not 2011, for one thing: What a dull year for new stuff! We got a sprinkling of excitement, but mostly it felt like a retrenching by restaurateurs understandably nervous about taking any chances. I'm cautiously optimistic about 2012 being better.

That the Democratic National Convention is en route - which could conceivably get a few interesting places opened that wouldn't be otherwise.

That diners have warmed some to less-expensive cuts and foodstuffs - because there's certainly more economizing to come in restaurant kitchens. Everyone from the USDA to chocolate producers are predicting higher food costs in 2012, and that'll mean chefs having to do even more with less. I'm going to view the sauté pan as half-full: The best chefs in that position will get more creative. (And maybe - maybe! - diners will declare themselves ready for portions that aren't gargantuan in that way only American portions seem to be ... Well ... Nah. That's not going to happen.)

Looking forward to...

The places I'm most anticipating (and including some already open, that I'm eager to see develop, and some slated to open soon):

Malabar is the Spanish place Augusto Conte turned Coco into. Will traditional tapas wow uptown this time around? I'd say there's a chance, between its sliced-to-order Iberico ham (yes, it's worth the $18), and nearly three dozen classic small plates, plus a handful of entrees, including a delicious dorade. Yes, there's paella, though you have to order for two.

Fern opened in late fall 2011 and is lovely. But I'll be really excited when spring rolls around and we get to see what chef Alyssa Gorelick does with the more delicate vegetative stuff.

Osso - named in Italian for the bone some of its interior design suggests - is an opportunity for chef Gene Briggs to zero in. He's got the whole wide Mediterranean to cover at Blue; here he goes Italian. So far, the menu's a little osso-fied, from the "Ossome-tini" (awesome-tini; get it?) to the excessively punctuated "Osso" Buco, but that dish, a pork shank, was tasty.

Two spots bring longtime Charlotte chefs back to the local fold: Mark Hibbs is at Blackthorne at Ballantyne, with several dishes he used to do at Ratcliffe on the Green uptown, and some new ones as well, in a more bustling, lower-scale spot. On our visit the place was packed, and seared salmon, thin fries and braised lamb shank over barley did very well. Tobin McAfee plays with the old and new at La Paz at the Metropolitan, where he did a Restaurant Week menu (offered through Sunday) that included lobster chile con queso, cilantro-encrusted beef tenderloin and butternut squash tamale with farmer's cheese. None of those are on the regular menu, but that may change, depending on diners' feedback.

e2 : Not since Wolfgang Puck rode into town the first time (in '03) has a chef the size of Emeril Lagasse - celebrity-wise, I mean - arrived. (Laurent Tourondel of BLT Steak was close, but sans "Bam!") Lagasse has a dozen other restaurants, from New Orleans to Vegas, and opened the lucky 13th this week at the Levine Center for the Arts uptown. I can't wait to dig into his chicken and waffles (buckwheat! sorghum molasses!) and "ham-cured" pork loin. He's also got chef Jim Noble's bread on the menu, from Noble's new King's Bakery just up Tryon Street - another place worth getting excited about.

And speaking of Puck, look for former Upstream chef Scott Wallen to take the helm at the star chef's new Charlotte foray, going into Phillips Place mid-spring: Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Bar. Details to come; stay tuned.