Bistro

Revel, Revel, Revel . . . . That's all the noise one hears these days coming from the Jersey Shore - especially when it concerns new prospects for dining. Granted, the gleaming $2.4 billion tower of Atlantic City's latest casino resort is hard to miss. And with more than a dozen restaurant concepts involving some very big names, its spring debut has no doubt been the biggest food news to hit this casino town since the Borgata began A.C.'s high-end remake. Jose Garces should have Philadelphians' attention right off the bat with three restaurants: an outsize version of Amada with ocean views and flamenco; a jumbo Village Whiskey clone for gourmet burgers and booze; plus Nuevo Mex concept with a Distrito Cantina serving margaritas and a replica Guapo's Taco truck.

Darlene Boline Moseng, who did catering and private chef-ing, is into her third week of A La Maison (53 W. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, 484-412-8009), a rustic French BYOB in the Main Line storefront that was Jewel of India. Moseng, a graduate of the Restaurant School, is keeping it traditional on a blackboard menu - coq au vin, short ribs, steak frites (dinner entrees: $21 to $28). She's backed in the kitchen by Maurice deRamus (Zen in Northern Liberties, Kujaku on the Parkway), and Marabella's alumna Lori Sexton is running the front of the house.

South Street lost a bistro when Alex on South closed late last year, but gained another when Adrienne's opened not long afterward one block to the east. Like Alex's, Adrienne's has hearty food, big portions, moderate prices and a casual air, even though the dark-hued, 48-seat dining room hung with equestrian prints has the clubby look of a Ralph Lauren home furnishings showroom. Husband-and-wife proprietors Wally and Adrienne Hertler are on the premises - he working the front of the house, she in charge of the kitchen.

I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of Odeon for a number of reasons. First, I've always loved the space on S. 12th Street, the original home of Battles Florist - with its stained glass name still on the transom. Second, Odeon has the pedigree of two accomplished restaurateurs, Steve Ledbetter of Alouette and Gary Bachman of Frog and La Terrace. And third, I hungered for some genuine bistro food, having sampled it in New York where it's been the rage for some time. The restoration of the building by the new owners is splendid.

Clark Gilbert isn't promising the moon at Gemelli, his new bistro at the edge of Narberth, on rowhouse blocks once called - when the town was Irish-er - "the Italian section. " He is a seasoned chef, under his belt stints at the Four Seasons, Tony Clark's short-lived Square Bar on Rittenhouse Square, Avalon in West Chester, and the elegant, now-departed Taquet in Wayne. But he is the first to point out that the menu here, his first truly solo venture, is not the wheel reinvented: He offers a proper Caesar salad (add $2 for white anchovies)

Audrey Taichman - a.k.a. Audrey Claire - commands the northwest corner of 20th and Spruce Streets with a cordless phone in one hand and a waiting list in the other. The sidewalk in front of her hip little bistro is thick with young and beautiful would-be diners, waiting alongside some older Rittenhouse Square regulars with wine bottles in hand. "Somebody's phone is ringing!" one says, sending half the crowd diving to the bottom of giant designer purses. It's just another call for Taichman, who cheerily tells the caller, "The wait's about 45 minutes.

Brasserie Perrier, one of the landmarks on the Walnut Street restaurant row, has closed without notice. New Year's Eve was the finale, as staff learned that night. The bistro, which opened in January 1997 under Georges Perrier, received a slew of awards, including four stars from Mobil. Its closing had been inevitable. Co-owner Chris Scarduzio, who started as a sous chef and was elevated to partner in March 2004, said that based on the lease signed in 1996, the partnership was paying about $19 per square foot for rent at 1619 Walnut - about a third of current local rates.

New and just off City Avenue: Avril (134 Bala Ave., Bala Cynwyd, 610-667-2626), a cozy BYO bistro from chef Christian Gatti and his wife, April Lisante - hence the name. Gatti's Mediterranean menu starts in southeast France and heads into Italy. It will go farther inland as the weather cools off. Lisante, who spent a decade as a reporter, food writer, and editor at the Philadelphia Daily News, met Gatti in 2003 when she interviewed him for a feature about hot, young chefs.

Ever since it opened a year ago, I have heard good things about Main Street, the European-style bistro in the Princeton Shopping Center. Curiosity finally got the upper hand, and I went for a visit. I only wish I had gone sooner, for Main Street is an attractive, friendly place with excellent food that shows both originality and high accomplishment. The menu defines a bistro as a bustling "neighborhood restaurant . . . where folks chat happily across the room while pleasant waiters duck between the closely spaced tables.

They are expanding at Bistro St. Tropez, adding another room. Pourquoi, I ask, based on a recent visit, where the kitchen had serious problems handling the demands of Friday night diners in the existing space. Service was painfully slow, various items were undercooked, others overcooked, lovely bride got a platter meant for someone else and you couldn't tell the no-smoking section from the smokers without a gauze mask. And, oh yes, the wine list was bleak and overpriced.

Revel, Revel, Revel . . . . That's all the noise one hears these days coming from the Jersey Shore - especially when it concerns new prospects for dining. Granted, the gleaming $2.4 billion tower of Atlantic City's latest casino resort is hard to miss. And with more than a dozen restaurant concepts involving some very big names, its spring debut has no doubt been the biggest food news to hit this casino town since the Borgata began A.C.'s high-end remake. Jose Garces should have Philadelphians' attention right off the bat with three restaurants: an outsize version of Amada with ocean views and flamenco; a jumbo Village Whiskey clone for gourmet burgers and booze; plus Nuevo Mex concept with a Distrito Cantina serving margaritas and a replica Guapo's Taco truck.

Chef Peter McAndrews has added the Old World-elegant Popolino , in Northern Liberties (501 Fairmount Ave., 215-928-0106), to his collection of Italian-themers ( Modo Mio , Monsu , Paesano's ). Working with Four Seasons alumnus Steve Flis, he's put an antipasti bar - tavole calde ("hot table") - in the middle of the dining room. (It's not self-service; staff does the portioning). Cuisine is moderate-priced Roman rustic - 10 appetizers and 10 entrees, plus house-made desserts.

Not satisfied with simply selling cars, Cortright Wetherill Jr. of Devon Hill BMW has gotten himself into the restaurant business with Ella's American Bistro in Devon Square (214 Sugartown Rd., Wayne, 610-964-3552). Though it's white-tablecloth, they're going for a distressed feel with wood-paneled walls. The bar is made from a knotty sycamore tree; the wine list consists of about 50 bottles and 12 wines by the glass. Executive chef Matt Schuler, a Johnson & Wales University grad who lives in Lancaster, is doing the local-sourcing thing (sustainable, naturally raised, organic, chemical-free, etc., etc.)

Bistrot La Minette 623 S. 6th St 215-925-8000 www.bistrotlaminette.com Parc 227 S. 18th St. 215-545-2262 Vintage 129 S. 13th St. 215-922-3095 www.vintage-philadelphia.com Zinc 246 S. 11th St. 215-351-9901 www.zincbarphilly.com  

REMEMBER THAT odd little boom in French bistros a few years ago, right around the time the economy was collapsing around us? Oo la la, we were suddenly transformed into Le Philly , awash in cozy French spots like Bistrot La Minette, Cochon, Zinc, 10 Arts and others. There were so many French places here that our dining scene fostered a radical activist group that staged protests against foie gras in front of several bistros. The trend culminated, as it usually does, when Stephen Starr weighed in with Parc, his $9 million, 800-pound gorilla of a bistro on Rittenhouse Square.

The restaurant space at the Wayne Hotel in downtown Wayne, once the home of Restaurant Taquet, has been expanded and renovated into a dining room and bistro bar called Paramour (139 E. Lancaster Ave., 610-977-0600). As part of the two-year renovation to the hotel, developer S.W. Bajus has also set up an outdoor veranda and a lobby lounge. The bistro has plush semicircular banquettes and floor-to-ceiling windows, and the main dining room - now allowing for plenty of natural light - has an open kitchen, marble floors, and an enormous glass-walled wine display.

The scene is hopping on both sides of 18th Street north of Rittenhouse Square as a.kitchen has opened on the ground floor of the AKA Rittenhouse Square (135 S. 18th St., 215-825-7030), joining the weeks-old Serafina. It's a polished but not stuffy American bistro from David Fields (ex- Salt ), featuring the food of Django/Talula's Table founding chef Bryan Sikora. From an open kitchen, he is preparing a locally sourced menu of right-sized plates, all priced under $20, that can be mixed; figure on a couple dishes per person.

Dining with a water view in Las Vegas generally means nachos and a mojito at a hotel swimming pool. But at Marche Bacchus, a bistro-style restaurant in the northwest part of the city, it's the real deal. Marche Bacchus is in Desert Shores, a master-planned community about 10 miles from the Vegas Strip that is set around four elongated man-made lakes. The restaurant's dining terrace looks out over one of them. Owners Jeff and Rhonda Wyatt have been sprucing up the terrace and tweaking the menu since they bought the restaurant four years ago. "We live right there near the restaurant, and we were customers," Rhonda Wyatt says.

If there's a commonality among restaurants due to open by the end of the year, you can see it on the front windows, in blaze orange: Liquor-license placards. From barbecue joints in Center City and University City to a slew of bistros in the burbs, alcohol is in the mix. Not only are fewer BYOBs being planned, but some existing BYOs have elected to go the bottle route, such as Ristorante Pesto in South Philadelphia and La Fontana Della Citta near Rittenhouse Square. It's not to say BYOBs are going away, just as budget-conscious patrons seem eager to seek them out. It's just that, especially in tough economic times, high-profit-margin alcohol sales often are the difference between success or failure.

Nobody puts on a suit and tie anymore to go out to eat, as formal dining continues its quick fade. But Philadelphia's restaurants still have some serious style. Here are eight great destinations, from cutting-edge city hot spots to cool suburban classics, a Paris-style boite, and a parkside perch where the people-watching is as prime as what's on the plate.   Adsum This fall's hottest no-reservations table comes courtesy of ex-Lacroix chef Matthew Levin, whose debut as an owner-chef is refining contemporary bistro style in Queen Village with a menu that's both cutting-edge and affordable.