EATS

Here's a preview tidbit from this week's Table Talk column by Kim Harwell. The full column will be online Wednesday evening:

"Amuse (1326 Lamar, 214-428-7300) has only about a week left in its current incarnation, but don't think that you've seen the last of the acclaimed American bistro. The 2 1/2-year-old eatery, located across from the South Side on Lamar complex, is closing on Aug. 23 and reopening on Sept. 2 as Sala, serving traditional Tex-Mex with "a Southwestern twist," according to chef-owner Doug Brown. As for Amuse, the concept is moving to Victory Park, although with a new, as-yet-to-be-determined name. "We should be finalizing all the details in the next week or two," says Brown, "but we really thought that what Victory [Park] needed was a reasonably priced bistro with unique wines." The projected opening date is March 1 for the new restaurant, which will inhabit a 2,600-square-foot corner space in the development's Lifestyle Fashion Terminal.

That's not the only new venture for the erstwhile Amuse gang. Mr. Brown and his executive pastry chef/co-owner Jason Foss are also taking over the former Top of the Cliff Club. The Oak Cliff private club, which opened in 1965, is being converted to a private event space for weddings, parties and corporate functions. The newly christened Orion Ballroom (400 S. Zang Blvd., www.theorionballroom.com) will complement another Brown-Foss venture, Beyond the Box Catering."

Confession is good for the soul, right? Well I must admit that when I was writing restaurant criticism back in the '80s, I missed the mark with Il Sorrento. Most of us critics at the time focused on its campy, overwrought atmosphere that included a gondola and the fact that it was so popular on prom night.

Owner Mario Messina, who sold the longtime dining icon on Turtle Creek north of Northwest Highway to make way for The Sorrento condominiums, gave a friend of mine some of his old recipes and tasting menus, and going through these shows just how much we missed.

Today through Sunday, about 120 restaurants will offer three-course meals for $35, with $7 of that going to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. Some places will offer Restaurant Week specials through Aug. 24 or Aug. 31. Check out our Restaurant Week package for a list of participants, menus, maps and more.

Tell us: Where do you have reservations? Who was sold out when you called? Then come back and leave your review. We want to know if it was the best meal of your life. Did it disappoint? Did you get the "discount diner" treatment? Would you return and pay full price?

Photo of Craft's monkfish by Courtney Perry / DMN

Really. Tom Spicer is offering three gift-box specials through his Web site or with pick-up at FM 1410. The latter point is important: Pick it up yourself, and Tom will double the amount of goodies because shipping is $24.50 with a minimum $25 order online. That's $49.50 if you use the site's shopping cart.

Here's what $25 gets you (double all amounts if you choose to pick up): 1 pound fresh shelled legumes, 8 ounces assorted wild and cultivated mushrooms, 2 bunches baby striped beets (8), a 2-ounce bunch of fresh herbs, 8 ounces salad greens (red and green oak leaf, Lollo Rossa, Tango, red and green romaine, arugula, watercress, etc.), 8 ounces wild huckleberries.

Click to the next page for the other two gift boxes, including Sasquatch's suitcase.