One fish, blue fish. Fariba and Tommy Todd (Atlantic Star) are landing Blue Trout on Piedmont Avenue in Midtown. Chef Chuck Taylor's menu will feature seafood, including the namesake dish of truite au bleu. Taylor is also an alum of Atlantic Star | Minneapolis-based Buca di Beppo ("Joe's basement" in Italian) has opened in Alpharetta. The southern Italian eatery serves up huge portions of family-style food by executive chef Vittorio Renda | Joshua Perkins is now executive chef of Di Paolo in Alpharetta. He has worked at Ugo Alciati's Michelin two-star Guido and at Star Canyon. He prepares such nouvelle Italian specialties as baked sea bass topped with roasted garlic and capers | Van Gogh's in Roswell has hired David Berry (ex-Horseradish Grill) to collaborate on its American menu with executive chef Eddie Garcia-Guzman | Metrotainment Cafes (Einstein's, Joe's on Juniper, Martini Club) has opened a third Garrison's at Perimeter Mall. Stephen Kazman will serve aged beef, seafood, and offer an extensive raw bar | Birdi's has alighted in Decatur Square in the former Food Business space. Partners Dewayne Mullis, Doug Sheffield, and Sherri Dupree, assisted by consultant and Food Business operator Deena Keeler, have renovated the three-level location. The menu encompasses Mediterranean pastas, seafood, salads, toasted baguette sandwiches, and 60 wines by the glass.

Pasta takes flight. Laura Brennan (ex-Mercury Bar, Seasonal Table) has opened Caffe Umbra on Washington Street in the South End. The food is a mixture of country French and country Italian, including a five-dish pasta "tasting flight" | Lorenzo Savona, who recently left Les Zygomates, has become wine director at The Fireplace in Brookline. Under chef/owner Jim Solomon, The Fireplace serves New England comfort food and wood-grilled specialties. Les Zygomates is now run by Ian Just, who had been co-owner with Savona | An old fire station in Harvard Square has inspired a new restaurant, Cambridge 1. The Church Street building housed a station in the 1920s. When owners Chris Lutes and Matthew Curtis (Miracle of Science, Audubon Circle) were renovating, they uncovered the granite plaque that once marked the entrance and found the name for their new place. Inside they opened up the former Young and Yee Chinese restaurant, adding windows overlooking the Old Burial Grounds. The menu (salads and charcoal-grilled pizzas) and decor (polished concrete floor and plasma TVs in the bar) are contemporary | One of the town's most successful business partnerships has broken up. Brian Lesser has separated from Joe Quattrocchi and their restaurants (Commonwealth Fish & Beer Company, Vox Populi, Barcode, Metro). The focus is on operations, not growth, says Quattrocchi, but Lesser's forte is development. Lesser says he'll look at new projects after a breather | The family-run Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in the South End celebrated its 75th birthday. It was one of the first restaurants in Boston to serve a racially mixed crowd | Julien Wagner has been promoted to replace pastry chef Paul Connors, who has left Radius to move to Minnesota | Jay Silva (ex-Pigalle, Sage) has become executive chef of Fifty Seven restaurant at the Radisson Hotel. He plans to enhance the basic steakhouse menu with seafood and New England-influenced specials. He replaces Renatto de la Rocha. Fifty Seven opened last November after extensive renovations.

Number 1. Restaurant Development Group has opened One North Kitchen & Bar downtown, with Todd Davies (ex-Tru, Rosebud Steakhouse, Mossant) manning the kitchen. They've billed the place as a contemporary American brasserie | Kamehachi Japanese restaurant has opened its third Chicago-area location; it's in the old Spruce space | She was named one of the ten best new chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine, and now Kelly Courtney has left MOD to open a restaurant of her own | Veteran restaurateur Zaven Kodjayan has retired after 27 years at his namesake Zaven's on East Chestnut. The new owner is Alain Sitbon, a former maître d' at the old Sage's East. The restaurant's name will remain the same, and Zaven says he will return to work the room from time to time | Upscale Mexican food is the fare at the new Dionises Restaurant & Café | Talk is that stiff competition and high rents caused the closings of two prominent River North restaurants, the 11-year-old Blackhawk Lodge with its stick-to-the ribs-fare, and the six-year-old Hudson Club Restaurant, which had one of the city's most extensive wine selections.

^

Chef coup. Now that Gordon Ramsay is in charge at The Connaught, there aren't too many places left for traditional British food. In a real coup, Margaret Levin of Wiltons, a favorite London institution, has convinced Jerome Ponchelle to hop on board after his eight years at The Connaught | Fans of Cibo should like Il Posto in Holland Park, where ex-Cibo chef Andrea Gazzabin is at the stoves | Sugar Hut is a new Thai place in Fulham with lavish decor inspired by a cross section of nations: Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Morocco | Café Grand Prix, a Monte Carlo offshoot, has opened on a huge site just off Berkeley Square in Mayfair. The food is Italian-accented French | Sumosan is one of the hot new openings on the site of the former Mash in Mayfair. The Moscow-based father-and-daughter team of Alexander and Janina Wolkow are hoping to rival celebrity haunt Nobu with a restaurant and bar in the basement that is serving "Japanese tapas" | Serious gourmets will love the retail side of Flaneur Food Hall & Restaurant near Smithfield Market. The well-stocked shelves have luxuries from around the world, and the dining tables are set smack in the middle. Choose from the small menu or the takeaway counter. The mouth-watering desserts taste as good as they look.

^

Naga hide? Katsuo "Naga" Nagasawa, chef of Marina del Rey's Café Del Rey since 1991, has decamped to Redondo Beach's Legacy, where he is both chef and partner, with Paul Guillemin. The pan-Asian menus are more flavorful than ever. Café Del Rey's kitchens are now in the hands of former Naga aide David Iino, who is returning to his roots after a stint as executive sous-chef at Napa Valley Grille in Westwood | The classic Mission Inn in Riverside has added Mexican restaurant Las Campanas, with executive chef Victor Juarez now responsible for the open-air restaurant, as well as the Mission Inn Restaurant and Duane's | Jennifer Lopez has opened Madre's in the fondly remembered Chronicle space recently abandoned by Joachim Splichal. The Cuban-born chef, Rolando (he goes by just one name), may not speak English, but he knows how to turn out the family-style, Cuban-Puerto Rican flavors that J-Lo likes best | Bruno Lopez (no relation), remembered fondly from his days at The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, has joined Jaan in Raffles L'Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills. David Myers, for whom the French-Californian-Cambodian concept was created, jumped ship to do his own project | The Sky Room in Long Beach recently did the "Chef's Shuffle" as the much-trumpeted Don Dickman departed after only six weeks, and Rainer Schwarz (former executive chef at downtown's Café Pinot) stepped in and up to the rooftop restaurant | Dana Point's Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort has hired Tony Pels, Jr. (ex-Citronelle in Santa Barbara), as executive chef, and Ashton Hall (ex-Harbor View Hotel in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts) as chef de cuisine of Regatta Bar & Grill | The churrascuria craze is spreading, and the Original Farmer's Market at Third and Fairfax is home to a novel variation. At Pampas Grill, diners pay by weight for plates full of chef/owner Francisco Carvalho's Brazilian food | Pascal Frapech (Renaissance) is now cooking at Cezanne in Le Merigot Beach Hotel in Santa Monica.

^

Seafood diet. Newcomer Zeke's Restaurant in old Metairie is aiming to create the oyster orgy dinner. Owner Zeke Unangst worked at Frankie and Johnny's, an uptown fixture where boiled crayfish reigned supreme. Now, in addition to his stash of plump raw oysters, Unangst produces char-broiled oysters and fried oysters amandine as well as the ubiquitous boiled crayfish | Greg Kogos, who owned the Rendon Inn for 15 years, has transferred it to Mike Kieffer, who, in turn, has hired Pat King (ex-Bayonna) to turn out top-notch food | New Orleans lost one of its most respected restaurateurs on April 16, the day that Ruth Fertel died from cancer at age 75. Fertel founded the Ruth's Chris Steak House chain in 1965, when she mortgaged her house and bought Chris Steak House, renaming it. Her memory will live on with the Ruth U. Fertel Culinary Arts Building being built at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux | Tory McPhail, who has taken over the kitchen at Commander's Palace, has also become the newest New Orleanian to grace the TV screen. Off the Menu at Commander's Palace chronicles his hunting and fishing adventures. McPhail replaced Jamie Shannon, who died much too young from cancer last year | Indigo, the laid-back beauty in mid-city, once again has a new executive chef: Kevin Vizard, who previously ran his own restaurant, Vizard's, and was a sous-chef at Commander's Palace. Vizard replaces Tucker Fitz-Hugh, who has moved to the House on Bayou Road, a bed & breakfast with cooking classes.

^

Starting over. Michael Lomonaco, the chef who revitalized Windows on the World, opened Noche last month in Times Square with Windows owner, David Emil. The fanciful Rockwell-designed restaurant features a ceiling that changes color, mojito carts, and a menu of pan-Latin favorites conceived by Lomonaco, who is consulting, and chef Ramiro Jimenez, an alumnus of Chicama | Pasta Break, which was also destroyed during the attack on the World Trade Center, is being resurrected in Midtown. It will reopen this summer at the new E-Walk entertainment complex, also in Times Square | Rhône, a bar in the Meat Packing District with an all-Rhône wine list, has a new chef. Stuart Dove worked in London with Gordon Ramsay before signing on at Rhône. Menu items include pork chop with Luberon-rosemary jus | Midtown Italian Moda has opened a breezy outdoor dining annex called Loggia, where diners can enjoy seasonal, summery fare like grilled red mullet with salsa verde, and other dishes prepared with herbs that grow on the premises | Django, named for gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, serves creative French cuisine prepared by Gwenaël Le Pape. One such dish? Lobster salad with rhubarb and watercress | Teany is a stylish Lower East Side cafe dedicated to the pleasures of tea. It is the project of the electro-pop star Moby, who, along with co-owner Kelly Tisdale, had long wanted a sufficiently hip spot to sip his favorite beverage. The cafe also serves vegan food | East Village impresario Frank Prizinzano has added another diminutive jewel to his Italian restaurant crown. Taking its place besides the beloved Frank and Lil' Frankies is Supper, which serves Northern Italian food in a homey, charming hodgepodge of a space | Even the chefs at Battery Park's Ritz-Carlton get to enjoy the view. Rise, the hotel's 14th floor bar with panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty, now has a hibachi menu. Dishes like harissa-rubbed lamb and cilantro-marinated shrimp are cooked tableside on portable hibachi grills | It's not what you think. The Gowanus Yacht Club and Beer Garden is a new Carroll Gardens outdoor spot opened by the owners of Patois and Uncle Pho. Expect hot dogs, beer, and secondhand lawn furniture, however. No yachts | After nearly a decade, Rick Moonen has left his post as chef of Oceana to open his own place. He plans to launch the seafood-focused RM, which will replace Lure on the Upper East Side. Co-owners Matthew and Richard Harriton own Lure, Branzini, and the Independent | Raphael Palomino focuses on Mexico for his latest venture Vida La Vida. It replaces Sonora, Palomino's Latin spot | United Noodles—a new East Village restaurant opened by the owner of the post-modern Thai duo SEA and Spice—lives up to its name, serving noodle dishes that run the gamut from soba to pasta and hint at influences as far-flung as France and the Far East. United Noodle chef Paul Chantharavirooj has quite a pedigree: he previously worked at Patina and L'Orangerie in Los Angeles and at Union Pacific in New York | A mini Thai empire is born with the opening of The Basil—the third in the chainlet that includes Holy Basil and Little Basil. The newest member of the trilogy is located in Chelsea; it's upscale, with dishes like a porterhouse with sautéed morning glory | Red Hook is home to the new Hope & Anchor, named for Rhode Island's motto (hope) and the image of an anchor that appears on the state flag. One of the owners is from Rhode Island. The menu, the creation of Dianna Munz, features upscale diner fare alongside more adventurous offerings like cod with tomatoes, chickpeas, and chorizo | Peter Beck has left Tamarind. His replacement is Durga Prasad, who had been working at the Flatiron eatery as the tandoori chef and is considered a master chef of India | New arrival. Tocqueville owners chef Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovitzky welcome their first child, baby Francesca.

^

Trust us. Guillermo Pernot, chef/owner of ¡Pasión!, has joined forces with South Beach developer Tony Goldman (The Hotel, Miami Beach) to create Trust, a new venture planned as the first of several along the now ragtag 13th Street corridor | Cresheim Cottage, with its picturesque dining vista, has opened for the season, serving lunch, brunch, and dinner. The patio, behind the 1748 Mt. Airy cottage, overlooks a 38-acre campus, former home of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and Spring Garden College. This year, the patio will be surrounded by a garden that produces many of the herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers used by chef Craig Stewart | Buca di Beppo has grabbed the prime "before and after the orchestra" socializing spot, a huge space directly across the street from the new Kimmel Center, new home to the Philadelphia Orchestra | The owners of the relatively new Rittenhouse Square pub, The Black Sheep, have taken over The Dickens Inn watering hole and renamed it The Dark Horse | Drinker's (named not for patrons but for one of Philadelphia's historical figures, who was born nearby) is a new "anti-modern" bar: "no" to computers, "yes" to used furniture, candlelight, and handwritten menus. Ironically, it's just a few doors from the ultra-modern Continental.

^

Raw power. Roxanne, the hot (not in temperature, though) Larkspur restaurant where vegan ingredients are never heated above 115 degrees, is expanding. Roxanne and Michael Klein are adding 25 seats to their Magnolia Avenue restaurant, plus a take-out deli next door. Both are expected to be completed by summer's end | Sam Duvall has morphed his Rocco's Seafood Grill on Van Ness into F.I.G.S., which stands for French, Italian, Greek, and Spanish comfort food. Duvall has also lowered prices 25 to 30 percent; the most expensive wine is $29 | Since Bruce Hill (ex-Waterfront) joined the Real Restaurant Group in early 2000, he's been sent to shape up half a dozen venues, from Red Herring in San Francisco to Verbena in Oakland. Now, he's taken over the stoves at Bix on Gold Street in the Financial District to rework some Continental and old-timey dishes. Meanwhile, his long-awaited restaurant, Ro-Sham-Bo, in conjunction with the Real Restaurant Group, is due in the fall | Sad news. On the opening night of Chez Papa in the Potrero District, chef Randall Brown collapsed from a heart attack. The 31-year-old dynamo was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he passed away on May 8 | The prolific Pascal Rigo (Bay Bread, Chez Nous) will open a two-tier restaurant with two concepts. Up front will be the 80-seat bistro La Table. In back will be the 40-seat La Table du Chef, Rigo's first foray into fine dining | Another September opening is on the drawing boards for those South Bay dynamos chef/owner David Kinch and partner Aimee Hebert. They plan to launch Manresa on Village Lane in Los Gatos, incorporating Spanish and Californian flavors | Paul Arenstam, who closed his Belon restaurant in the Hotel Metropolis, has become executive chef at the Grand Cafe in the Hotel Monaco. He replaces Victor Scargill, who left to pursue other opportunities | In Palo Alto, Michael French, executive chef of Spago Palo Alto since it opened more than four years ago, has left to spend more time with his family. His replacement is Aram Mardigian (ex-Spago Las Vegas).

^

The nose knows. Gio Rana (Gio's, Five Doors North) has returned to the city's Beaches neighborhood with Gio's Really, Really Nice Restaurant on Queen Street East. Rana, the flamboyant restaurateur, was forced to leave the area a dozen years ago when local officials took exception to his trademark plaster nose sign, claiming its size infringed upon public property (he was also denied a liquor license). Now Rana, with chef Joanne Clayton, is back turning out his usual southern Italian dishes in a former bank | The peripatetic Elaina Asselin (ex-Roxborough's, Ellipsis) has left fine dining to supervise food preparation at the new Whole Foods Market in Hazelton Lanes, Canada's first outpost of the American health-food supermarket.

^