Yum

In 1968, long before he animated "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," Richard Williams began an ambitious, elaborate feature called "The Thief and the Cobbler," about a brave cobbler, an Arabian princess and a bumbling thief.His decades-long project, retitled "Arabian Knight," opened Friday in an end-of-summer slot usually reserved for films being tossed away. "Arabian Knight" deserves better. It's no dog, though it is a fascinating problem.Mr. Williams' wide-screen animation is among the most glorious and lively ever created.

Every neighborhood in Baltimore seems to have at least one reliable spot for good Chinese food. But with its central location at Charles and 25th streets, and its hard-to-miss yellow-and-red signs, Yum's Asian Bistro feels like it belongs to the city as a whole — not just Lower Charles Village. And that's lucky for the city, considering the kitchen's proficiency with Chinese-American favorites, decent service and downright glamorous interior. Yum's chef and owner, Jerry Chen, trained in Hong Kong and previously owned sit-down Chinese restaurants in Washington and Charles County.

Site du jour Green Friends greenfriends.com This site claims to be the largest in the world for progressive single vegetarians to meet and share their interests in environmental protection, peace and animal rights - good things, all. Membership is free, but you must register. You'll find chatting, blogs, a green forum and an almost infinite circle of friends. --Knight Ridder/Tribune Events Italian Christmas Eve -- Learn to make Italian holiday dishes at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at Donna's in Columbia, 5950 Waterloo Road.

Yum's Asian Bistro has opened in Charles Village on the corner of Charles and 25th, where New No Da Ji was  for years and years. Before New No Da Ji (or No Da Ji as it was originallly known), there was Love's, which had been on that corner ever longer, for about 50 years beginning in 1942. The bad news: the old New Do Da Ji buffet is gone. The good news: Yum is a very pretty place to sit down for good old American Chinese food encompassing a half century or so of Cantonese, Szechwan and Hunan favorites.

For its single, full-length production of the 2003-2004 season, the Annapolis Opera opted for a romp on the lighter side, with the Gilbert and Sullivan satirical masterpiece The Mikado. Premiered in New York City and Queen Victoria's London in 1885, this frothy operetta spoofing feudal Japan (and feckless functionaries everywhere) is one of the great delights of the musical stage. When voices and acting are good enough to do full justice to the genius of the score, it's hard to imagine a more congenial night at the opera.

In the Region Judge decides she'll not preside over Rite Aid case A federal judge has removed herself from presiding over the criminal case of four current or former Rite Aid Corp. executives accused of falsifying accounting statements to inflate the company's stock price. Judge Yvette Kane, of U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, cited language in a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued Nov. 8. The appellate decision upheld Kane's original decision to hear the case but noted that her past association with lawyers who have done business with Rite Aid and former chief executive Martin L. Grass may leave her impartiality in doubt.

Eight years ago Ford's Theatre in Washington premiered a jazzed-up version of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado." Now "Hot Mikado" is back after being retooled in Chicago. Ford's just extended its run into July, and sometime before the end of the year, it's expected to move to Broadway.So, how hot is "Hot Mikado"? Well, its title is reheated; a 1939 Broadway production starring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson went by the same moniker. As to its sound, Rob Bowman's 1940s swing-era musical arrangements have a syncopated sass not found in Arthur Sullivan's originals.

Ocean City Restaurant Wee k is winding down to the last few days. The summer promotion, featuring fixed price two-course meals for $20 or three-course meals for $30, ends on Sunday. More than 20 restaurants are participating, including several that made our list of the 100 Best Beach Eats : Bayside Skillet, BJ's on the Water, Bombora, Captain Adam, Crab Alley, Fager's Island, Galaxy 66, The Hobbit, Shark on the Harbor - I could go on. Restaurant week is a good time to try someplace new like Bombora , which recently opened in Ocean City.

CHICAGO -- Some companies have dress codes, but Sears Holdings Corp. now has a bag code. Employees of the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based owner of Sears and Kmart stores are being discouraged from bringing bags, packages or anything else with the logo of a retail competitor to any company property. The request was made this week in a letter to Sears Holdings workers from Aylwin B. Lewis, who took over the job of chief executive officer from Alan Lacy yesterday. Lewis, a fast-food industry executive until about a year ago, also asked Sears Holdings workers to visit their nearest Sears or Kmart store three or four times a month, as well as to post product suggestions on internal company Web sites.

The "Ruler of the Queen's Navee" comes clean, or at least clear, in "Innocent Merriment, or Gilbert without Sullivan," a one-man rendition of the works of William S. Gilbert that opens tomorrow at Theatre Outback at Howard County Community College in Columbia.Walt Witcover, the play's creator and sole performer, said he does not mean to ignore Sir Arthur Sullivan, the other member of the Gilbert and Sullivan team, but wants to draw attention to Gilbert's lyrics and lesser-known ballads -- by speaking them, not singing them.

Ocean City Restaurant Wee k is winding down to the last few days. The summer promotion, featuring fixed price two-course meals for $20 or three-course meals for $30, ends on Sunday. More than 20 restaurants are participating, including several that made our list of the 100 Best Beach Eats : Bayside Skillet, BJ's on the Water, Bombora, Captain Adam, Crab Alley, Fager's Island, Galaxy 66, The Hobbit, Shark on the Harbor - I could go on. Restaurant week is a good time to try someplace new like Bombora , which recently opened in Ocean City.

At least for today, I think Thai Yum is Baltimore's best Thai restaurant. Word will soon spread, and Thai Yum might not be ready for a sudden crush. When we visited, Penny Chungsakoon appeared to be working the line herself. There are unresolved service issues. Please be patient with it. This is the restaurant that used to be known as Ten-O-Six, from its street number on Light Street. When Tom and Penny Chungsakoon opened it back in 1999, the Federal Hill restaurant worked with an innovative menu that was half fusion (with exotic or then rarely seen ingredients such as wild boar, sweetbreads and ostrich)

The chef and the owners remain the same, but the Federal Hill Thai-American restaurant known as Ten-O-Six is now known as Thai Yum and, as its name suggests, will be exclusively Thai. A big hit after its 1999 opening, in its heyday Ten-O-Six was especially admired for chef Tom Chungkasoon's artful and ambitious fusion dishes, which might feature medallions of ostrich, sweetbreads or even wild boar. Then, for no particular reason, Ten-O-Six seemed to recede from the spotlight and never fully work its way back in. In the e-mailed message announcing the change, Chungkasoon wrote, "Due to the increasing popularity of Thai cuisine, we refined our cooking to only center around Thai cooking.

Annette McDaniels of Ellicott City was looking for an easy recipe for graham-cracker brownies that she said was popular in the 1960s. Jean Dacquisto of Ringtown, Pa., sent in a recipe for the brownies that she says her family has always loved. Her recipe is no fuss, no muss. To me, these goodies came out looking more like blondies than brownies, but no matter - they were a hit with everyone in my house. You can whip up these yummy treats on a moment's notice the next time your kids volunteer you to bring in something for the bake sale.

For beer drinkers, this is going to be an espresso Christmas. Many of the best-tasting brews I sampled in the crop of 2006 winter beers had distinct coffee and chocolate notes. Yet they still tasted like beer. This happy combination of flavors is a gift from brewers who traditionally bring rich, sometimes-spicy beers to market at this time of year. Perhaps "gift" is too strong a word because these holiday brews do cost anywhere from $7 a six-pack -- the price tag for Snow Goose Winter Ale and Otter Creek Alpine Ale, two favorites of a panel that recently sampled 34 winter brews -- to $14 for a champagne-size bottle of Sint Pieters Zinnebir Xmas, a pick from Belgium.

Lennart Meri, 76, a former president of Estonia, writer and film director whose relentless struggle against communist oppression helped the Baltic nation break free from the Soviet Union in 1991, died overnight at a hospital in Tallinn after a long illness, the presidential office said yesterday. Mr. Meri became Estonia's first president after the country regained independence, serving from 1992 to 2001. He was widely credited for remaining tough with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in negotiations on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia in 1994.

Lennart Meri, 76, a former president of Estonia, writer and film director whose relentless struggle against communist oppression helped the Baltic nation break free from the Soviet Union in 1991, died overnight at a hospital in Tallinn after a long illness, the presidential office said yesterday. Mr. Meri became Estonia's first president after the country regained independence, serving from 1992 to 2001. He was widely credited for remaining tough with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in negotiations on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia in 1994.

Pizza quandaryBy the end of February, Pikesville should be facing a difficult problem: How do you choose from over 30 different kinds of unusual and ethnic pizzas? That's when a new Al Pacino Cafe will be opening in the Festival at Woodholme. Plans are for 70 seats and a more polished decor than the Al Pacino's on Read Street, according to owner Ashraf Abou Bakr. But the downtown Al Pacino's is new and improved as well -- a month ago it expanded to the Cathedral Street corner. New Middle Eastern desserts and more appetizers have been added to the menu.

Site du jour Green Friends greenfriends.com This site claims to be the largest in the world for progressive single vegetarians to meet and share their interests in environmental protection, peace and animal rights - good things, all. Membership is free, but you must register. You'll find chatting, blogs, a green forum and an almost infinite circle of friends. --Knight Ridder/Tribune Events Italian Christmas Eve -- Learn to make Italian holiday dishes at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at Donna's in Columbia, 5950 Waterloo Road.