Brussels

RICH LANDAU is a magician. What other explanation is there for the amazing tricks he pulls off with vegetables? Fingerling Potatoes with Creamy Worcestershire Sauce? Roasted Cauliflower with Black Vinegar and Kimchi Cream? In every case, the veggies retain their flavor essence while surprising and delighting. It's a culinary feat that seems beyond mere mortals. And it's no fluke: From the "Food of the Future" days of Horizons Cafe in Willow Grove to the last days of "Modern Vegan Cuisine" Horizons off South Street, and now their latest project - the sophisticated "vegetable restaurant" Vedge - Landau and his wife and partner, Kate Jacoby, have consistently wowed even the carnivore crowd with vegan creations that prompt the awestruck "how do they do it?"

After a flurry of U.S. cable deals in 1998 and 1999, the Comcast dealmakers at 1500 Market Street have grown quiet. With the industry's consolidation, Comcast Corp. has few options of U.S. cable companies it could buy. So Comcast is looking to Europe as one possible avenue for future growth. For the last several months, Comcast - through Broadnet, a separate Brussels-based company in which it is the majority owner - has been bidding to win national and regional wireless licenses throughout Western Europe.

Bill Clinton's Endless Campaign finally went overseas, and it appeared to be just as convincing in Brussels, Prague and Moscow as it was in America. The President had a lot riding on last week's trip to Europe and Russia, and he comes away a big winner. He got what he wanted from the allies in NATO. He got what he wanted from the fledgling democracies of Eastern and Central Europe. He got what he wanted from the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Belarus. And, of course, he got what he wanted from Russia.

Tom Peters does not look like the kind of man to lead an invasion: He smiles too much, for one thing. But he is the point man for the Belgian invasion of Philadelphia, commanding an arsenal of taps and bottles. Yes, the city has awakened to Belgian beer, and as manager at Copa, Too!, 263 S. 15th St., Peters has had a lot to do with that. He has made Philadelphia one of the places in America for draft Belgian beer. "We started 10 years ago," Peters recalls. "I took a trip to Belgium with my wife and discovered all these incredible beers.

When Emily Wimberley, a University of Delaware senior, was in London on an exchange program last fall, she flew round-trip to Belgium for $30 one weekend. At those rates, some of her fellow students were jetting off every other weekend, going wherever the cheap seats took them and adding to the growing headaches that low-cost carriers are causing the major airlines in Europe. "All the airlines sent us e-mail updates," she said. "Some people flew based on where the best deal was. . . . For that little money, it was worth it. " Hopping from one European capital to the next used to be a preserve of movie stars and captains of industry because of the $400 to $500 cost.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - New U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta warned NATO allies Wednesday that they should not rest on any laurels from the success of the ongoing military campaign in Libya and that a cash-strapped America cannot always foot the bill when the alliance falls short. The Libya operation that began in March revealed embarrassing gaps in European military abilities that were mostly filled by the United States, and shortfalls in such basic supplies as ammunition. "There are legitimate questions about whether, if present trends continue, NATO will again be able to sustain the kind of operations that we have seen in Libya and Afghanistan without the United States taking on even more of the burden," Panetta told the Brussels-based organization Carnegie Europe.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The leaders of Britain and France staked out starkly different visions of Europe's future Thursday as talks began in Brussels on how much the European Union should be allowed to spend, setting the stage for a long, divisive and possibly inconclusive summit. While British Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to keep payments into EU coffers down as low as possible, French President Francois Hollande called for sustained subsidies for farming and development programs for poorer nations.

Travelers scouting for economical ways to air-hop around Europe will soon have more choices: On April 5, the no-frills airline Ryanair plans to add six destinations from its base at Stansted Airport north of London. The new flights go to Brussels, from about $72 one way; G?teberg, Sweden, from about $87; Salzburg, Austria, from about $145; Stockholm, from about $116; Esbjerg, Denmark, from about $101; Pescara, Italy, from about $145; and Trieste, Italy, from about $145. The new routes represent the first service Ryanair has offered to Austria and Belgium.

Despite its position as one of Europe's capitals of trade and commerce - the vast port here is the fifth busiest in the world - Antwerp is really an ideal city for just hanging out. The dozens of sidewalk cafes and restaurants throughout the old city are perfect for people-watching - while enjoying a cup of coffee or one of the superb Belgian beers - and they also provide excellent vantage points for examining a cityscape studded with ornate buildings...

President Clinton began his European trip with a good policy move by rejecting former Soviet satellite states for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He wisely wants to integrate all the former Soviet bloc into the global system. Alliances are "threat systems" used to deter or defeat designated enemies. Linking Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the Western alliance would be seen by all Russians, not just the communists and fascists, as designating Russia as the enemy of Eastern Europe, which it is not. Furthermore, a greater NATO would spur most Russians to support the recreation of the old Soviet Union, especially the reintegration of Belarus and Ukraine with Russia, in order to counter the growing Western threat.