Octopus

WE WERE gathered in a friend's apartment last weekend, stuffing ourselves with roast pork, dumplings and homemade spicy tofu to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, when the conversation took an interesting turn. My friend Tim, a Canadian of Taiwanese descent, extended his chopsticks to the head of the large, steamed ginger fish at the center of the dinner table and asked: "Does anyone mind if I eat the cheek? That's the best part." Many Asian food connoisseurs know the tiny flap of flesh beneath the eye is the most succulent part of the fish -- a choice morsel that inspires much bickering in my family over who gets to have it. And the fish cheek started a discussion on Asian delicacies around the world that are rarely found in the United States.

"I think the 'Arthur' series of books by Marc Brown is great. I like the books for many reasons. First, I like them because they give a lot of details. Next, I think they are funny. Then, at the end of the books, they are so silly and have wonderful things to laugh about." -- Jasmine Fonce Joppa View Elementary "My favorite book is 'Spiderman: Dangerous Dr. Octopus' by Michael Teitelbaum. It has lots of action. Dr. Octopus captures a girl and Spiderman comes and saves her and takes 'Doc Oc' to jail."

DETROIT -- It rained octopuses in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the New Jersey Devils, and there is every indication it will rain octopuses even larger in Game 2.Tomorrow at noon, Kevin Dean, who co-owns Superior Fish with his brothers Michael and David, will auction for charity Stanley, a 52-pound octopus, and his younger brother, Oscar, 36 pounds."

Ever since the four-ton carcass washed onto a St. Augustine, Fla., beach in 1896, it has been cited as the only evidence for the existence of Octopus giganteus -- an octopus with a 200-foot embrace.But now, scientists at the University of Maryland College Park say they have slain the old sea-monster legend. Their analysis of preserved tissue from the creature shows that it probably was just decomposed whale blubber.Dr. Sidney K. Pierce, a UM expert in the cellular biochemistry of invertebrates, says he'd hoped to prove the big octopus was real.

Culinary SuccessI am responding to your May 19 article, "Restaurants adjust to leaner times." As strongly as I agree with Chef Michael Gettier's synopsis of the trend in restaurant dining, which is to look for value as opposed to glitter, I disagree with any suggestion that Baltimore is just a "crab and beer town."The restaurants that take advantage of Baltimoreans' quest for value are highly successful even in these slower economies. Look at Jimmy's Famous Seafood on Holabird Avenue, which continues to crowd them in every night for a fantastic meal.

IN the spirit of the times, we are downsizing the staff that writes these columns. Thanks to the downsizing, we are at last free to say "downsizing," having downsized Walter Mulmer, whose task was to keep the column free of what he called "mushmouth" words.Good old Walter. How we shall miss him. He would never have let us say we were downsizing. He would have made us say we were firing people left and right.Making people say what they mean is a precious service, and Walter will soon be offering it to the nation's greatest corporations as well as to the Clinton administration.

PierpointPierpoint, 1822 Aliceanna St., 675-2080. This small Fells Point restaurant offers an atmosphere that is sophisticated in a "new Baltimore" kind of way. The dining area is just two deep, narrow rooms with the first room occupied by the bar and a few tables. The aisles are thin; the decor spare; the colors muted; the tables almost too close together. The lean decor only serves to emphasize the food, which is sophisticated, but traditional, rooted in Maryland's rich culinary traditions.