Is "fine dining" doomed?

Recent months have brought fewer and fewer openings of fine dining restaurants in this area -- Brandywine Prime is one of the rare exceptions. As a critic, it's become clear over the past two years or so that more restaurants are trying to balance upscale ingredients and approach with a more casual atmosphere, and simplified execution (for an example, read my latest review, of Fenwick Island's Catch54). I can see why so many restaurants are headed this way -- after all, especially since 9/11, we are now a society that favors less fussiness -- but I also fear that it will only open the door for lower standards, ultimately a bad thing for us gourmet-minded diners.
Some top chefs recently tackled this issue at Monday's Food & Wine Classic event in Aspen, Colo. According to the National Restaurant Association's report, here's what was said:

The future of fine food in America lies in more casual, user-friendly formats than what is offered in traditional fine-dining restaurants, according to restaurateurs and chef participants in this year’s Food & Wine Classic event.

“Fine fast,” was the term suggested by New York-based chef and television host Tom Colicchio (pictured) for the new genre, which he predicted would follow the fast-casual format and feature excellent ingredients.

Colicchio said that, although he believed fine dining was alive and well, “once you get over the glamour you realize that you can’t replicate it.” To expand as an operator, you need a more pared-down, streamlined format such as fast casual, he said.

“You take the best of fine dining and marry it with fast-casual qualities,” he said.