This year has seen a proliferation of funky new properties around the world, a gloomy economic outlook seemingly unable to hold back our desire for edgy style or luxury wherever we go. Here, a look at some of our favorite openings throughout the year.

Online reservation site OpenTable.com has announced the Diners’ Choice Awards for the top 100 best restaurants in the United States.

The list of winners is derived from more than 10 million reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 12,000 restaurants across the US.

The honorees span 35 states and include Canlis in Seattle, Barbara Lynch’s Menton in Boston andJohn Besh’s Restaurant August in New Orleans.

Bing, the decision engine from Microsoft, recently pulled together its search trends for 2011 and below is the top 10 searched fashion brands of 2011.

Gucci reigns supreme for a second year in a row and beat out top brands including Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Y-3 and Louis Vuitton.

Guess and J.Crew proved to be forces amongst the high-end labels that made the list, taking the number 6 and 7 spots respectively.

Drinks International, based out of the UK, has published its version of the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards, with the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

From secretive speakeasies that require walking through phone booths, wardrobes and hidden, unmarked doors, editors and bar professionals around the world selected their picks for the best bars around the world.

While New York and London dominate the top 10 list, watering holes from 16 countries are represented along the way, including bars from France, Spain, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

Bon Appetit magazine has released a list of the top 10 chefs to follow on Twitter following a story on how Twitter is narrowing the gap between chefs and their diners.

Fans are tweeting to chefs directly, with some soliciting chef secrets for the best marinara sauce, some taking their beefs online for the Twittersphere to see, and others still hoping for a virtual shoutout and a mention on Twitter with their handle.

Chefs, meanwhile, like Chris Cosentino of Incanto in San Francisco, are posting Twitter-only specials for their regulars.

For the second year in a row, Michael Jackson has topped Forbes magazine‘s list of top-earning dead celebrities.

The King of Pop, who died two years ago at the age of 50, brought in $170 million for his estate over the past 12 months, enough to place him ahead of every other pop music act of the past year — both living and dead — except for Irish rock band U2.

Elvis came in second place, earning $55 million, thanks to his songbook and a hit Las Vegas stage production featuring his tunes mounted by Cirque de Soleil.