EATS

Bijoux's Italy Tour takes a spin through the Piedmont and Tuscany regions, with experts such as Stefano Chiarlo (oenologist at Piedmont's Michele Chiarlo) on board. The four-course wine dinner highlights seven wines. May 12 at 7 p.m. $145. 214-350-6100 for reservations.

Need reservations for Mother's Day? Check out our dining guide. We've got brunch , lunch and dinner options. There are buffets with omelet stations, prix fixe meals with fig-glazed quail salad, bottomless mimosas, frozen Bellinis, sushi, specials for kids, chocolates for mom and more.

It's a matter of survival as customers become more frugal and food gets more expensive. Check out details on how restaurants are getting menu makeovers.

Then tell us, have you seen it happen at restaurants you love?

Saturday is Customer Appreciation Day at the Coppell Farmers Market, held in conjunction with the Old Town Coppell Festival, a small-town shindig, fun for a family outing.

The "appreciation" is in the form of a free raffle for prizes provided by the vendors, and burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill. Kids will enjoy the free pony rides with photographs and a miniature stagecoach ride, plus some Clydesdales, antique tractors and a bluegrass band. The festival also brings out craftpersons, artists and gift vendors.

But you really come to buy the foodstuffs, and Marilyn Horton, the market chair this year, writes that Saturday there will be tomatoes, green beans, zucchini and yellow squash, a few cucumbers, green beans, garlic, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, mushrooms, poke sallet, broccoli, lettuces, chard, kale, spinach, collards and turnip greens. "We usually get a few surprises, too," she writes.

Also at the market: cheese, pastured meats, eggs from real free-range hens, seafood from the Gulf, Alaskan wild-caught salmon, honey, jams, fresh pasta, breads, pecans, teas and coffees, homemade soaps and those earthworm casings. And lots of plants: bedding, herbs, veggies, hanging baskets, the works.

Last night spotlighted two classic pivotal Top Chef challenges: The Relay Race and the Big Team Challenge - which usually would have been Restaurant Wars, but became Wedding Wars this year. One little cliché the producers should contemplate: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This bonus-length episode was fine and all, but these are restaurant chefs. Let 'em put on a restaurant again next season. Save Wedding Wars for the inevitable catering spin-off ...

Spoilers every which way after the jump.

This week, Restaurant Critic Bill Addison reviews Bolla, David Bull's modern Italian restaurant in the newly renovated Stoneleigh Hotel. Dining writer Kim Harwell reviews Daniele Osteria, a rustic Italian eatery in a hidden-away spot on Oak Lawn.

Share your own review of these restaurants. Leave a comment below.