Mousse

Not many desserts can satisfy like a luscious mousse made of fine chocolate. Even fewer can compete with chocolate mousse when it comes to fast and easy finales to a meal. So I was terribly disappointed when the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended that we avoid raw eggs because of the risk of salmonella. The traditional way of making chocolate mousse - adding egg yolks to melted chocolate, then folding in beaten egg whites - could no longer be used. At least, not until the egg supply could be made completely safe.

Some find their romance in roses. Others warm up to diamonds. But the undisputed, virtually universal messenger of love - or at least strong affection - among Americans is chocolate. As a nation, we consume more than 2 billion pounds of chocolate a year - more than 11 pounds per person. And if you know someone who is allergic to chocolate, you probably fill his or her quota as well. Over time, the experts have tried telling us that chocolate can cause headaches or acne or heartburn.

Everybody should have a pet. And I'm not saying this just because the American Pet Council gave me a helicopter. I'm also saying it because my family has always owned pets, and without them, our lives would not be nearly so rich in - call me sentimental, but this is how I feel - dirt. Pets are nature's way of reminding us that, in the incredibly complex ecological chain of life, there is no room for furniture. For example, the only really nice furnishing we own is an Oriental rug that we bought, with the help of a decorator, in a failed attempt to become tasteful.

At a time when a lot of Philadelphia restaurants are starting to look and taste alike, Overtures offers a welcome detour from the pasta-paved promenade. This new restaurant just off South Street - brought to you by the same folks who run Backstage on 4th Street - has conjured up not one but two tempting menus, and two very different dining areas to showcase them. The amusingly theatrical 30-seat main dining room, with its acres of faux marbeling, trompe l'oeil wall drapery and tapestried banquettes, dares us to dress up and dine elegantly.

It doesn't look like much from the outside, and the name Fish du Jour is so innocuous that the place could pass for a retail seafood outlet, but, oh, how the food at this new Marlton restaurant sparkles. Thanks to imaginative, beautifully presented dishes, many prepared in classic French style, this all-seafood restaurant is very special - indeed, one of a kind. It was opened Sept. 20 by Waldemar Blaschke, a former partner in Philadelphia's Le Champignon. Except for its large blue awning, Fish du Jour looks like any other store in its tiny mall along Old Marlton Pike near Olga's Diner, but inside is an airy, cafelike haven shimmering with bright pink walls.

Scrumptious southern Italian cuisine served in an exceptionally lovely dining room makes Scoogi's in Flourtown an enormously appealing restaurant. Sponge-painted in the golden earthtones of Umbria, the attractive high-ceilinged Sun Porch is a worthy setting for these classic Italian dishes. The restaurant has been around a long time, not surprising considering the cozy food and affordable prices. Owner Roberto Angelo Rosato has achieved his goal of celebrating Italian culture through food.

The setting is nothing to write home about, but the cuisine at La Trattoria is so outstanding that the surroundings can easily be forgiven. With marvelous sauces made from fresh ingredients, the northern Italian dishes at this delightful Medford restaurant rank with the region's best - high accomplishment for an area rich with superb northern Italian restaurants. A recent meal began with a complimentary appetizer - sliced asiago cheese and marinated mushrooms, eggplant and pimento in high quality olive oil. Piping hot loaves of wonderfully textured bread, replenished without asking, come on a bread board with a ramekin of room-temperature butter enchantingly flavored with garlic and herbs.

When it comes to wonderful, interesting food, it's hard to beat Chef Paul's, a tiny, little-known restaurant in Lambertville. There's nothing fancy about this place, nothing to get all gussied for, but for an eclectic assortment of exciting, expertly prepared dishes, Chef Paul's offers wonderful treats. The menu offers a wide variety of international dishes, from Louisiana creole to Spanish countryside fare, with nods to French, Jewish, Hungarian, Italian and Polish cuisines to boot.

Despite the popularity and health appeal of seafood, there are precious few restaurants in this region specializing in fish. One of them is O'Fowley's Crab House & Shore Bar in Lahaska. Contrary to its fanciful name, this mostly seafood restaurant across Route 202 from Peddler's Village is an informal, unpretentious place with fairly decent food. O'Fowley's opened 18 months ago in the premises last occupied by Padrone's. Before that it was the site of Ristorante Marcella, which changed its name to Cafe Marcella and moved across the Delaware to Stockton.

Not only is Bella Luna one of the Main Line's newest, smallest and noisiest restaurants, it also is one of the prettiest and friendliest suburban restaurants. And its home-cooked, moderately priced Southern Italian cuisine is simply glorious. The Bryn Mawr dining room was opened March 7 by Marianne Favacchia Gere and Kim Strengari, and already is filled with happy customers. Happily, good news travels fast. While this is the partners' first restaurant, they are hardly novices to the business, having worked at such top-notch places as the old Greenhouse, now 333 Belrose in Radnor; Siggie's L'Auberge in West Conshohocken; the Willistown Grille in Paoli; Jake's in Manayunk; and the old Central Bar & Grill at the Bryn Mawr train station.

Jasper could be a poster BYOB for the DIY era. Owner Nick DiFonzo did all the renovations himself, spending a year and a half converting a Victorian home in downtown Downingtown into a 45-seat restaurant. He trained the servers, mostly high school and college students, to his own specs. He personally sources all his ingredients on regular trips to the Regional Produce Market in South Philadelphia. And he is the only chef in the kitchen. I always appreciate such a personal touch.

Gina Nicolo perches on a Louis XV chaise at Miel Patisserie in Cherry Hill. She is fretting over the final details of the five-tiered cake that the shop's chef-owner, Robert Bennett, will create for her wedding on Saturday. The two agree on a pain de genes, a French pound cake, with rolled fondant piping accented with blown-sugar butterflies (because butterflies are the theme of her wedding) in pink and lavender (to match the bridesmaids' dresses). Then Nicolo, 31, has another idea.

Thanksgiving's groaning board, with its parade of plenty, is the very essence of the holiday. We seem to count our blessings in the number of side dishes that flank the turkey, and if we really want to trumpet our largesse, we have two or three pies waiting in the wings. When the time comes to push back, it's the folks around the table who are groaning. As a guest, I've been there and done that, and frankly, I prefer a lighter finish to the big feast. Surely I'm not the only one who has stared down at a wide-bodied wedge of pie and prayed that my host wouldn't take offense if I ate just a forkful or two. Now that I'm the Thanksgiving host in my family, I try to offer a choice at the meal's end: a slice of pie or something lighter.

With beautiful new decor and a talented chef, Ristorante Mediterraneo remains one of our finest Italian restaurants. The burgundy-and-gold dining room at Pine Run Corners in Horsham, a few yards off Route 611, offers the same high-quality cuisine it did when it opened seven years ago. That's not surprising, considering that one of the owners is a partner in another fine restaurant, Cafe La Fontana, in nearby Hatboro. The menu is filled with mouth-watering temptations such as an appetizer of risotto with shrimp ($10)

Not only is Bella Luna one of the Main Line's newest, smallest and noisiest restaurants, it also is one of the prettiest and friendliest suburban restaurants. And its home-cooked, moderately priced Southern Italian cuisine is simply glorious. The Bryn Mawr dining room was opened March 7 by Marianne Favacchia Gere and Kim Strengari, and already is filled with happy customers. Happily, good news travels fast. While this is the partners' first restaurant, they are hardly novices to the business, having worked at such top-notch places as the old Greenhouse, now 333 Belrose in Radnor; Siggie's L'Auberge in West Conshohocken; the Willistown Grille in Paoli; Jake's in Manayunk; and the old Central Bar & Grill at the Bryn Mawr train station.

The National Rifle Association announced plans this week to open a restaurant/arcade in Times Square. Here's what we think you can expect: Hi! Welcome to Shooters!(R) My name is Wayne T. Wayne, and I'll be your server tonight. Let me tell you about our specials. Start off with a nice venison soup, served with a touch of cream and a light scattering of spent-shell croutons. Salads are for liberal pansy-ass gun-control freaks, so we don't have any. For our entrees, we have a rare canvasback duck, shot with a 12-gauge Winchester model 12 that won't, God willing, be confiscated by jackbooted government thugs.

Scrumptious southern Italian cuisine served in an exceptionally lovely dining room makes Scoogi's in Flourtown an enormously appealing restaurant. Sponge-painted in the golden earthtones of Umbria, the attractive high-ceilinged Sun Porch is a worthy setting for these classic Italian dishes. The restaurant has been around a long time, not surprising considering the cozy food and affordable prices. Owner Roberto Angelo Rosato has achieved his goal of celebrating Italian culture through food.

Some find their romance in roses. Others warm up to diamonds. But the undisputed, virtually universal messenger of love - or at least strong affection - among Americans is chocolate. As a nation, we consume more than 2 billion pounds of chocolate a year - more than 11 pounds per person. And if you know someone who is allergic to chocolate, you probably fill his or her quota as well. Over time, the experts have tried telling us that chocolate can cause headaches or acne or heartburn.

Bastille Day, the holiday honoring the liberation of the royal prison, the Bastille, by the peasants, artisans and merchants known as the Third Estate during the French Revolution, is one of the most important chapters of that country's history. It really isn't associated with any particular foods, but the chefs and foodies in Philadelphia and South Jersey, who count themselves as devoted - actually, fanatic - Francophiles, never let such minor details derail their fun. And besides, a celebration featuring fabulous French food, music, and dancing will always draw crowds.

Joey Serrano's round face looked a little thinner early Friday morning as he stretched out in the black limousine with his brother and two friends from Seventh and Susquehanna. His last meal - 36 hours before - was corn and rice, which had followed a lunch of barbecued shrimp, a six-ounce bacon cheeseburger and chocolate mousse. The limo rumbled onto Interstate 95. Or was it the limo that was rumbling? Serrano pointed to his belly. "I could just go for two big pancakes with butter," he said.