Atmosphere

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) West Coast meets France Tersiguel's in Ellicott City has always been one of our serious French restaurants (as opposed to a bistro or cafe) - one of the few left after Jeannier's closed. For years diners have been able to count on getting classics like foie gras or bearnaise sauce there in a decidedly nonhip but pleasing setting, with formal but not stuffy service. Since I last ate at Tersiguel's, though, there have been changes.

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) After 11 years in a basement a few blocks south, Minato has moved up into the light. That's how it seems, anyway, if you're seated at one of the tables in the big storefront window of what once was the Belvedere Florist. On a summer evening, light still streams in through most of dinner. There's a glittery retro chandelier. Light is also provided by the huge rainbow wave fixture, almost a sculpture, overhead. The fluorescent lemon-lime chairs are so bright they practically light up the place by themselves.

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) Baltimore's Thai restaurants have always been valued for being small, family-run and authentic. If the dining rooms are a little -- well -- unhip, so much the better. Nothing wrong with that, but the owners of Lemongrass in Annapolis have come up with a different model. They know that when the space is cool and the servers have funky style, the young and the beautiful will come. When the food is decent and the prices are moderate, everyone will come.

Food **1/2 (2 1/2 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) Pierpoint is Baltimore's forgotten restaurant. When Nancy Longo opened it in 1989, the New American bistro with a Maryland accent was an instant hit. But over the years the restaurant and its personable chef-owner have gotten less and less attention as newer, trendier places arrived on the scene. With the opening late last year of Longo's in Green Spring Station, Nancy Longo's second restaurant, I thought there might be a rebound effect for the original place, still doing its thing in Fells Point.

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere ** (2 stars) There are two kinds of people who shouldn't even consider eating at the new RA Sushi in Harbor East: Those who take their sushi seriously, and those who don't like really loud, throbbing rock 'n' roll music while they eat. In fact, if you fall into either of those two categories, don't even read any farther. That's how enraged this Arizona-based chain will make you. Poor:]

Most of the world's telescopes on the ground and in space will be pointed at Jupiter this summer, watching for a cosmic collision that is certain to happen and waiting to give scientists their first view of the kind of catastrophic event that may have accounted for mass extinctions on Earth long ago and the eventual emergence of humans.A comet, now shattered into at least 21 icy chunks, is zeroing in on the largest planet in the solar system.Scientists have been tracking the course of the comet, Shoemaker-Levy, for more than a year.

ST. MARY'S CITY -- Crouched at the bottom of a 17th-century grave, hopeful scientists yesterday extracted more than 2 liters of air from a sealed lead coffin.But they'll need the best 20th century equipment to show if the air is free of modern pollutants -- and the key to a breakthrough in atmospheric science.Initial analyses by NASA researchers failed to confirm whether the coffin air has, in fact, been sealed off since the 1600s. The samples, in steel cylinders, were sent to a better-equipped lab in Virginia for further analysis over the weekend.

Rock fans in New York are a tough, dedicated bunch. They have figured out how to snap up tickets for concerts that sell out the day they're announced. They adapt to great variations between announced and actual show times; they brave frisking, metal detectors, overcrowded halls, belligerent bouncers and exorbitant drink prices.Just about every band in the known universe looks forward to a showcase in New York, where audiences are both discerning and diverse. But where will they play? Often, at places that would be outshone by the dives back home.

Capsules of recent reviews in the LIVE! section. Indonesian House Allegheny Ave., Towson, 410-825-2181 Lunch and dinner daily Appetizers, $3.25-$6.95; entrees $7.50-$13.95 (MC, V) The extensive menu at Indonesian House includes curried dishes, sushi, and Indonesian noodle and rice dishes. The desserts, however, are among the best things on the menu. The sweet rice with mango and coconut was sticky and chewy, topped with fresh fruit. Food: ** Service: ** Atmosphere: ** Maiwand Kabob 5467 Harpers Farm Road, Columbia, 410-992-7754 Lunch, dinner daily Appetizers $3-$3.