Hey Trench,
As you've noticed the design of the component has changed quite a bit. More info on why we did what we did can be found here:
compojoom.com/blog/entry/changes-coming-up-with-hotspots-4
There is no way to restore that toolbar with categories, unless you hack the template and add the code. But I think that the solution we have there is currently good. Just go to the menu, select all categories as start categories, and they will appear under the filter. (with smaller icons, than in that toolbar, but they'll be visible). Then the user can hover over them and he will see that he can close them and eventuelly he'll also figure out that he can bring them back by clicking on the filter button.
Regards,
Daniel