Plates

It's 7 on a Saturday night, your section is full and you're repeating the specials of the night for the third time to a timid thirtysomething who must be suffering from short-term amnesia. You glance at the customers at your other tables: Two need bread, two are waiting to order and the family of five in the corner needs refills of chocolate milk and Shirley Temples. Waiting tables is a stressful, fast-paced and, at times, utterly chaotic occupation. Perhaps that's the reason that every week, according to People Report (a Dallas-based research-and-consulting company)

Eat what you want - just don't eat too much of it. That may be fine advice, but it's easier said than done. Now a Canadian scientist has conducted a simple study to see whether a special set of dishes can help dieters toe the line. In the first clinical trial on "portion control plates," Sue Pedersen, an endocrinologist at the University of Calgary, had 65 subjects use a specially designed plate and bowl to limit their calorie intake for part of each day. Another 65 people who didn't use the dishes served as a control.

MVA establishes hot line to catch license violatorsMaryland residents can assist the Motor Vehicle Administration in its efforts to locate vehicles whose owners have been avoiding Maryland taxes. If citizens notice a vehicle with out-of-state license plates that has been parking in the same residential complex or area for more than 30 days, they are asked to call the hot line number.Maryland law requires that all residents have their vehicles registered in Maryland within 30 days of moving to the state.

As the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft slips closer and closer to its assigned orbit, scientists find their plates are overflowing with exciting data, stuff they have barely been able to taste, much less digest.Even before the big spacecraft settles into its circular path around the red planet by March, the new photos it is sending home are forcing researchers to rethink some older ideas. For example: Although Mars was known to be a very windy place, the new evidence suggests it's windier yet, so the terrain is probably more rapidly remodeled than expected.

Md. Senate OKs plan for scholarships in high-tech fieldsThe state Senate gave its blessing yesterday to a college scholarship plan designed to encourage top students to major in science, engineering and computers.The governor's proposal would provide $3,000 a year to any Maryland high school graduate with at least a B average to study a technology-related field at a four-year college in the state. Students would have to maintain their grades and work in Maryland after graduation.The Senate voted 43-3 to approve the bill, which now goes to the House of Delegates.

Summertime, and the living is easy - and it's generously colored: bright, like a Gerbera daisy; pastel, like sorbets; or shaded in hues as cool as a lake or pool.Summer entertaining - indoors or out - is less formal than in years past. Still, the season inspires us to create romantic moods with picnic-like spreads that evoke images of Tuscany or Provence. Some floral and fruit themes are so luscious that you won't be able to resist using them year-round.This year, there's a bumper crop of new designs, many of them on melamine, a rugged plastic hybrid.

MIAMI -- Do a childlike drawing of two smiling tots and the words "choose life" turn Florida's license plate into a provocative bumper sticker?Can specialty plates saying "legalize marijuana" or "prayer in school" be far behind?Those questions may be on the mind of Gov. Lawton Chiles this week as he considers signing a bill that opponents argue would make Florida the first state to let drivers express their anti-abortion sentiments on a license plate."This is clearly a message that advances a political agenda," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a south Florida Democrat and abortion-rights supporter.

THE LEAD EDITORIAl for May 10, ''Melee at Jessup'', accurately notes the combustibility of confining a large number of young strong men -- many of them with no hope of ever going home -- in one place with very little to do. You call for expanded work and training programs for prisoners.You are right to focus on the great dangers of inmate idleness. But you need to inform yourselves about the leading obstacles to putting prisoners to work.In the 19th century, some American prisons were so busy employing and training inmates that they paid for themselves, and in some instances even turned a profit.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans filed suit against Maryland officials yesterday to block the state's revocation of specialty license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag.The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, says the revocation violates the group's constitutional rights of free speech and equal protection under the law. The suit names Gov. Parris N. Glendening, Transportation Secretary David L. Winstead and Motor Vehicle Administration chief Ronald L. Freeland.The suit seeks $1,000 for each alleged violation by the state -- an amount that probably would not exceed $156,000.

JUDGE FREDERIC N. Smalkin's decision this week in the so-called ''heritage'' license plates case generated the predictable outcry, but the fact is, the constitutional issue involved in the case could not be clearer: He simply ruled that if the state of Maryland chooses to issue special license plates to the Daughters of the American Revolution, then it cannot refuse to issue plates to the Sons of the Confederate Veterans.Judge Smalkin's decision is so solidly grounded in Supreme Court precedent -- including a landmark ruling in the 1950s prohibiting Alabama from stigmatizing membership in the NAACP -- that it is hard to imagine that any judge, state or federal, Massachusetts or Mississippi, could have reached any other conclusion.

Cuba de Ayer is the wonderful creation of Jessica Rodriguez, who thought so highly of her mother-in-law's home-style Cuban cooking that she decided to open a restaurant. Her mother-in-law, Mayra Lopez, from Camaguey in Cuba, was, I assume, first flattered and later surprised when this actually happened. Cuba de Ayer graciously serves moderately priced, wholesome, and very tasty food in cheerfully attractive and well-managed surroundings. It's the kind of suburban restaurant that is packed with merry regulars on a Sunday night, the kind of place that people discover by word of mouth and stay loyal to for years.

When I think of Towson, I rarely think "sushi." I might think of what swims in the closest body of water, the Loch Raven reservoir. Crawdad sushi? Catfish sushi? No, thank you. Even so, I spent an afternoon last week spearing pieces of tuna, salmon and shrimp in downtown Towson, touring some of the town's many sushi restaurants, trying to get to the bottom of why the suburb is something of a sushi stronghold. Even though Towson is awash with sushi spots, I confess that initially I had some trouble swallowing the notion that chopstick-wielding tourists would flock there, which the Baltimore County Office of Economic Development claimed during the tour.

Alizee, by my count, is the fourth restaurant to move into the space in the Colonnade once known as the Polo Grill. Probably we came to review it too soon. Some promising amenities, such as a wine cellar with a communal tasting table, haven't materialized yet, and there are still both functional and cosmetic touches to be applied. On the other hand, there's nothing introductory about the prices. But it's not any one thing that Alizee is lacking, but more essentially an identity. There's a vaporous sound to that name, Alizee, that fits a restaurant that doesn't yet feel substantial, or where the food doesn't match the carpeting.

When I went back to check, I was surprised to find out that it's been nine years since I last reviewed Sascha's 527 Cafe in Mount Vernon. Because it's close to The Sun, this has been a place I occasionally go for lunch when I'm meeting someone outside the office. By day, Sascha's, located on the first floor of a 19th-century Mount Vernon town house, is set up to provide a quick lunch of good food cafeteria style. At night, like a scene change at the theater, the place becomes a sit-down, not-quite-fine-dining restaurant.

Ellicott City's La Palapa makes a good run of it. All at the same time, it operates as a family restaurant, a sports bar, a college-style happy-hour hangout and a few things in between. Mariachi bands stroll on Friday and Saturday nights, and folks take salsa lessons on Thursday night. I wouldn't think of it as a destination restaurant, but as a place to consider if you're in that area. The big attraction here, for my money, is the patio. There aren't too many outdoor-dining options in Ellicott City, and this is a good one. It's walled-in and set back a little from Main Street, so diners don't have to shout their conversations over traffic noise.

It won't be long before my kitchen walls are alive with the sound of music. About a month ago, I wandered into a wallpaper store in downtown Catonsville, killing time while my son took a music lesson across the street. I figured it was a nice warm shop in which I could browse without ever feeling compelled to buy anything. After all, there are no impulse-shoppers in the wallpaper category - who pops into a wallpaper store on a whim and comes out with 15 double rolls? When it comes to wallpaper, people typically look, look some more, and finally return to the store to look some more.

To "Paper or plastic?" and "Obama or McCain?" add yet another wrenching personal choice: "White napkin or black?" Forget square plates. Small plates. Sauce-drizzled plates. Plate as a verb. The newest craze in fine dining is not on the table but on your lap: the color-coordinated serviette. The idea is to keep lint from marring the dining experience. At the Capital Grille in downtown Baltimore and at the chain's other locations, the staff scopes out what diners are wearing and swaps out napkins accordingly.

The recent melamine scare from China has me wondering. Due to the fact that supplements have little regulatory control, is there a risk that protein powders sold for dieters and muscle builders could contain melamine to increase the amount of protein when tested? Also, should I worry about my children's melamine dining plates? You raise a fascinating question. Chinese producers have apparently added melamine to milk to cover up the fact that it was diluted. The same chemical was also added to the pet-food ingredient gluten to make it appear higher in protein so it would be worth more.

I have inherited a collection of decorative plates and serving pieces that were displayed in a large breakfront in my childhood home. I don't have a similarly large cabinet for housing the collection now, so can you give me some suggestions for how to show off at least a few of my favorite pieces? You don't need cabinetry to display this kind of collection. I'm always perusing new books that can help my readers better see some of the many possibilities for designing a personal interior.

La Jolla, Calif. -- Cry-Baby the musical is tantalizingly, teasingly, heartbreakingly close to success. That makes it all the more frustrating to see success receding in the distance, marching out of Southern California in search of someplace else to settle down. This new song-and-dance extravaganza, based on John Waters' 1990 cult classic film, made its rollicking world premiere Sunday night before a packed audience. Much about it works not just well but brilliantly. And the musical's creators - some of the most talented folks in the business - still have five months to tinker with the off-kilter Romeo and Juliet story before it opens on Broadway in April.