From the editor: Focus on the futureFrom the editor: Focus on the future

It’s the question asked most often: What are the hottest concepts today? What’s new? What’s next?

As the editor of Nation’s Restaurant News, I’d say this either starts or ends most of the conversations I have with industry contacts. I know our entire team gets the question as well.

Each year we are able to definitively answer that question with our annual Hot Concepts awards, which identify rising restaurant brands set for big things. This year’s class exemplifies a new era for chain restaurants, in that they don’t look or act much like the chains of yesterday. Many of the winners focus their menus on a handful of items executed perfectly; some make ingredient sourcing a key brand promise — whether local, organic or all-natural; and our ca...