Your 5 best bets for dining in the week ahead
Date night
Oh, go ahead; live a little. There are few better ways to impress a date than with white truffles, that ethereal delicacy with an all-too-fleeting season. And now through early January, you can get them at Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar. Ferraro's is featuring white truffles in three dishes, including the veal medallions with sage, white wine, fried eggs and fresh white truffles shown here.
Family fun
If you're looking for a place to take the family, Arizona Charlie's Decatur has recently renovated its Charlie's Market Buffet. There's a carving station, one serving seafood, one with pasta dishes, one with salads and one with desserts. Breakfast is served on Fridays and Saturdays, brunch on Sundays and lunch and dinner daily, and weekends bring Specialty Steak Nights, with cooked-to-order New York steak on Fridays and carved strip steak on Saturdays from 4 to 9 p.m.
For friends
Get the group together for the new happy hour at Salt 'N Pepper Southern Comfort Bar & Grill in Tivoli Village. From 4 to 6 p.m. daily, the restaurant offers four beers on tap for $4 each, wine by the glass and honey-whiskey shots for $5, and such dishes as fried pickles with spicy ranch dressing, $2; cornmeal fried tomatoes, $4; and biscuits and gravy, $6.
Solo trip
Dragon Noodle & Sushi Bar at the Monte Carlo has opened a noodle bar serving foods from throughout the Pacific Rim. Designed for a quick bite, it seats 12 and includes such dishes as Vietnamese pho with beef and pork-bone broth with rare eye round, beef ball or tendon and brisket, and Japanese udon with fish broth, shrimp tempura, chicken or vegetables. Prices run $11.95 to $15.
Something new
Hong Kong Cafe has opened at the Palazzo, serving — you guessed it — Hong Kong-style cuisine. Located off the casino floor, the restaurant serves such dishes as rice roll with XO sauce, $8.95; Macau-style roasted pork belly, $17.95; and pan-seared scallop with Szechuan pepper sauce, $29.95.
— Heidi Knapp Rinella
