Concepts

Fine Dining

Capital Grille - Los Angeles

Recently opened on the northwest edge of the Beverly Center of Los Angeles by the people best known for Olive Garden and Red Lobster; The Capital Grille is the most sophisticated offering from Darden Restaurants. With dishes like porcini-rubbed Delmonico with 12 year old Balsamic and Kona-crusted, boned-in dry-aged sirlion with caramelized shallot butter.

Lift Your Fork - Philadelphia

Lifestyle - Fine Dining

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Delicious American bistro fare just got even better at Fork: etc. (308 Market St., 215-625-9425), the casual next-door cousin to the elegant Old City eatery Fork (306 Market St.). Chef Terence Feury—whose adventurous and vibrantly crafted cuisine earned Fork a stellar review from the Philadelphia Inquirer—is now creating $15 plats du jour (served 5:30-8 pm Monday to Saturday, and 4:30-6 pm Sundays) in Fork: etc.’s convivial marketplace setting. The seasonal platters might include Southern fried chicken with biscuits, trout meunière with lemon brown butter or duck confit with arugula and shoestring potatoes. Also worthwhile: the four-course dinners on Wednesdays at Fork: etc.’s communal table, just $40 including wine. www.forkrestaurant.com

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Exotic Cocktails of the Gold Coast, Ft Lauderdale

Lifestyle - Fine Dining

Fruit and even veggie variations of classic cocktails are working their way onto Gold Coast bar menus. Yesterday's upstart, pomegranate, now shares the bill with new stars, such as passion fruit, lychee fruit, flowers and even cucumbers.

Cucumbers? At Fort Lauderdale's BOVA Prime, which opened on Las Olas Boulevard in 2008 as Riley McDermott's, one of the signature drinks is the Mint-To-Be martini, made of premium Polish Orzel vodka, mint leaves and fresh cucumber slices shaken together, then poured into a martini glass and garnished with a mint sprig.

"It's a very light summer martini, very crisp, very fresh," says Jason Cotter, beverage director at the seafood steakhouse. The drink is especially popular served with oysters from the restaurant's raw bar, he says.

Another hit at the eatery: the Pineapple Bella Martini, made of vodka soaked for days in fresh pineapple, Veuve Clicquot champagne and crushed ice. "It has an effervescent candy pineapple flavor," Cotter says. "It's really popular with women in our bar."

At Blue Martini at the Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale, one of the star exotics is Pink Passion, a mixture of Skyy Passion Fruit vodka, PAMA pomegranate liqueur and pineapple juice, served in a glass rimmed with pomegranate-flavored sugar and garnished with an edible orchid.