Iconic American artist Andrew Wyeth died today at age 91. I was lucky enough to have had a brief, pleasant encounter a couple of years ago with the private painter when I was doing a newspaper story on his granddaughter Victoria Wyeth. He was very proud of her. Victoria, who was close to her grandfather, gives insightful, playful tours at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa. (about 1 ½ hours from Baltimore), where many of the Wyeth family paintings are displayed. Andy, as locals and family call him, lived nearby with his wife, Betsy.

Andy was no recluse in the area that set the scene for many of his stark, somber works in the Brandywine Valley. In fact, he could often be found at Hank’s Place near U.S. 1 and Route 100 in Pennsylvania with many of the regulars who posed for his paintings, including Helga Testorf. You may remember a bit of shock and awe when Andy’s nude paintings of Helga were discovered in the mid-1980s. But that’s history, and the family has dismissed the "scandal," Victoria told me.

I stopped by Hank’s—its motto is "Where Hungry People Eat and Friendly People Meet"—several times for a bite to eat while on various story assignments in the area. Andy could have been there, but you would never know, even though the place is small and cramped. (Everyone at the cafe was protective of him, and it was considered rude to even contemplate approaching him.) But then I’d hear, "Oh, Andy was just in here this morning," or "He’s coming back for lunch."

Hank’s is an interesting stop, and I recommend it if you’re in the area. But there are certain unwritten rules: stand politely in line at the door, don’t keep the outside door open, wait till one of the staff points to an open seat, pay in cash.

The menu is essentially really good diner food with items like eggs over easy; thick, triple-decker sandwiches; and plump, juicy burgers, many with lovely sautéed mushrooms. (After all, Kennett Square, Pa., the mushroom capital of the world, is right around the corner.) There are also platters like calves liver and veal parm.

But, in 2007, Andy also started chowing down at the nearby Brandywine Prime Seafood and Chops when the old, country inn was transformed into a spiffy dining spot. At the restaurant’s grand opening, I heard Andy was there, but it was so crowded I couldn’t maneuver around the room. I ended up being wedged next to an elegant, older woman in a fluffy, white fur hat. How pretty she is, what an interesting face, I thought. It was Helga.

Chef Cyrus Keefer quietly opened his pride and joy this week—Brasserie 10 South in the former Xanadu spot at 10 S. Calvert St. He’s taken over the bottom floor. (A club called Lux, separate from the restaurant, will be on the second level.)

Look for the brasserie’s menu to have classic French and new American dishes like crêpes, fennel-crusted tuna, and a terrine du jour. Offerings will change weekly based on seasonal, local products. "It’s the kind of food I wanted to do," says Cyrus.

The likable chef, who trained at Philadelphia’s Walnut Hill College Restaurant School, brings some serious cooking chops to the area. He worked at the award-winning Espuma and Nage in Rehoboth Beach, Del., before coming to Baltimore to be closer to family. He first landed at Sauté in Canton when it opened early last year but soon left to pursue other culinary endeavors.

He wants the new restaurant to have a friendly vibe, "not be uptight," he says. It’s open for lunch Tuesday-Friday and for dinner Tuesday-Saturday. For information, call 410-528-8994. A website should be up and running soon. And there's free valet parking!

Before I talked to Cyrus on the phone, he wrote me an e-mail saying, "I hope to put myself on the Baltimore map with this one." Good luck, Cyrus.

There seems to have been some sightings of acerbic, bad-boy chef Anthony Bourdain in Baltimore today. Hmm, what could the star of the Travel Channel’s "No Reservations" be doing in Charm City?

Perhaps it has to do with an item on his Sept. 1 blog about the TV projects he is planning:

"And a Detroit/Buffalo/Baltimore hybrid show which (I hope) will pay low rent homage to Curtis Hansen, Vincent Gallo and John Waters respectively (There will NOT be a Pink Flamingos finale, however)."

But should we be worried about our culinary reputation? After all, this is the man who wrote, "Baltimore sucks. If you haven't been there, it's a fairly quaint excuse for a city," in his tell-all book "Kitchen Confidential."

Uh oh. I’m not feeling so good about his visit.

Forget the JFX traffic for a while. Head to Pazo after work for $5 tapas and cocktails from 5-7 p.m., starting today. Festively called "Pazo Cinco," the happy-hour menu, offered Monday-Friday, includes chef Michael Costa’s Mediterranean-style cuisine and cocktails by sommelier/mixologist Olivia Boru.

Here’s a sampling: croquetas (crispy mashed potatoes with manchego cheese), grilled pork tenderloin pinchos (like a canapé), veal-and-pork empanadas, wood-grilled eggplant dip, and mini pizzas. To wash it all down, there are drinks like kaffir-lime-and-Thai-chili martinis, white-chocolate-and-macadamia-nut martinis, and spearmint mojitos.

Suddenly, the work week never looked so promising.

Instead of looking back, I prefer to peer into the food future, or, at least, look at what others are forecasting for the upcoming year. These lists are fun whether they pan out or not. Here are some of the predictions.

—No surprise: Organic and local foods will be in the forefront again. But they’ll get even more attention because "green can mean efficiency and cost savings," according to foodchannel.com. And who doesn’t want that in this economy?

—A return to home cooking—again a cost-saving measure, says foodchannel.com. It’s time to dust off the slow cooker, it says.

—When you do go out to eat, it will be for breakfast, says Bon Appetit magazine. Look for affordable seasonal menus with dressed-up pancakes, waffles, and eggs.

—The National Restaurant Association is all over the brunch trend, too. It predicts a leaning toward ethnic-inspired breakfast items like chorizo scrambled eggs, Asian-flavored syrups, and coconut-milk pancakes. It also mentions an increased interest in seafood breakfast items, specifically mentioning crab cakes!

—Desserts focus on the pantry-staple peanut butter, says Bon Appetit. Think peanut-butter and chocolate cheesecake swirl brownies and peanut-butter and jelly shortbread wedges, it says.

—Bite-size, mini desserts will be popular, too, the restaurant association says. Other trends: dessert flights, gelato/sorbet, drinkable desserts, and savory desserts.

—New Southern cuisine will shine. Classic country cooking gets gussied up with such ingredients as cornbread croutons and crispy country ham in beet salad and brioche-breaded fish, says Bon Appetit.

—New cuts of meat will land on our tables, like Denver steak and pork flat iron, says the restaurant association. (I found some great suggestions for one new darling, pork petite tender.)

So we’re in for some great eating in the year to come. I’ll share more trends soon like one for nutrient-rich superfruits. Goji berries, anyone? How about mangosteens?

I just saw on Elizabeth Large’s dining blog that the current owners of Brasserie Tatin sold the restaurant to someone from the now-closed Boccaccio, who plans to open an Italian restaurant there. Tatin’s last day is Tuesday (Dec. 23).

If you can, try and visit the restaurant before it closes. I was there a few weeks ago and had a lovely meal. I was planning to run a review soon. Here’s what I wrote about my visit:

A contemporary French restaurant in the midst of vintage apartment buildings in the Homewood area is a visual surprise when you enter the front door, tucked inside the Broadview apartments. Tiny lights cascade down a wall in the sophisticated bar, black tabletops glisten in the dining room, and sleek banquettes in modern-day tangerine and turquoise hues add poufs of color. We had to agree with one diner who exclaimed, "I love these sparkly tables. I feel like I’m on Broadway." Indeed, the staff and kitchen do everything they can to put on a worthwhile show. Appetizers like succulent frog legs in garlic aioli and rich slabs of country pâté arrive quickly. Entrées live up to expectations, too—from a classic roasted chicken with marvelously crackly skin to humongous diver scallops in a fresh St. Jacques interpretation with rum and vanilla. And you must have dessert before bidding au revoir. How can you not succumb to tarte tatin, a wedge of caramelized, tender apples with crème fraîche and a tart green-apple sorbet?

Adieu, Tatin.

I just finished talking to Jill Snyder, former cheftestant on the Bravo reality show Top Chef. She was in the kitchen at Sotto Sopra, where she’s working with friend and executive chef Bill Crouse. "I hadn’t done Italian food before," she explains.

I was wondering what happened to Jill. Not long after she was told to pack up her knives in episode two of the TV show, she left Red Maple, where she had been working as the chef. For now, she’s planning to say in Baltimore.

She hasn’t been idle. Besides helping out at Sotto Sopra, she’s really excited about being one of the honorary co-chairs at the 18th annual Chocolate Affair, which benefits Health Care for the Homeless. You’ll find her amid the chocolate decadence on Feb. 5 at the M&T Bank Stadium. She’s also talking to Fox News about a possible morning cooking segment.

Jill is still under contract with Top Chef, so she really can’t say a lot about the show. But she did say the finale hasn’t been shot yet. She also says she has stayed friends with everyone on the show and keeps in touch with them by e-mail. I like her attitude. "It was just a show," she says. "I just want to keep learning and cooking and one day open a restaurant." Yeah, who needs Top Chef.