Globe reviewer Alison Arnett samples this traditional city's revolution in cuisine

By Alison Arnett, Boston Globe Staff

The American dining revolution took awhile to catch on in Boston, this bastion of tradition, but now we're in the white-hot thick of it. The restaurant scene here is one of the liveliest in the country, with new places opening every month and chefs who have gained the status of local stars.

The details For details on any restaurant mentioned in this article, including a map and door-to-door directions, simply click on the name below: Anago, 617-266-6222 Aujourd'hui, 617-351-2071 Biba, 617-426-7878 Blue Room, 617-494-9034 Capital Grille, 617-262-8900 Carambola, 781-899-2244 Casablanca, 617-876-0999 Cafe Celador, 617-661-4073 Clio, 617-536-7200 Dali, 617-661-3254 East Coast Grill, 617-491-6568 Elephant Walk, 617-247-1500; also in Somerville, 617-623-9939 Ginza, 617-338-2261; also in Brookline, 617-566-9688 Grill 23 & Bar, 617-542-2255 Hamersley's Bistro, 617-423-2700 Icarus, 617-426-1790 Il Capriccio, 781-894-2234 Jae's, 617-451-7788; also on Columbus Ave. and in Cambridge and Brookline La Bettola, 617-236-5252. Lala Rokh, 617-720-5511. L'Espalier, 617-262-3023. Maison Robert, 617-227-3370. Mistral, 617-867-9300. New Shanghai, 617-338-6688. Penang, 617-451-6373. Pignoli, 617-338-7500. Olives, 617-242-1999. Restaurant Zinc, 617-262-2323. Rialto, 617-661-5050. Salamander, 617-225-2121. Terramia, 617-523-3112. Tremont 647, 617-266-4600. Truc, 617-338-8700.

``What's your favorite restaurant?'' It's the question I'm most frequently asked, often with the implication that I'm holding back. There is no mystery, I'm glad to tell. The answer lies in the people more than the institutions, and favorite chefs who always delight me.

Jody Adams, chef and co-owner of Rialto, brings to her cooking both nurturing and an intelligence that warms soul of the eater. Her Mediterranean food is intense yet never overwrought. When spring rolls around, I immediately yearn for her carta musica, a paper-thin flatbread, strewn with tiny spring vegetables and sheeps' milk cheese or the intense flavors of her meat and fish dishes. The restaurant, in the Charles Hotel, Harvard Square, Cambridge, is elegant, yet like a living room you've always admired. Expensive.

L'Espalier, in a grand brownstone in Back Bay, exemplifies the special occasion restaurant where one goes to mark an anniversary, a promotion with opulent cuisine and ambience. What's amazing is that chef and co-owner Frank McClelland's food gets better all the time, ethereal concoctions such as grilled sweet and sour quail with warm fingerling potato salad and English pea and mint coulis, buttressed by delicious homemade bread and fine desserts. The service is impeccable but never condescending. Very expensive.

I'd be happy to eat Gordon Hamersley's food at Hamersley's Bistro every night, so inspired yet comforting are his creations. His palate is robust and the combinations make sense. The chef and his wife, Fiona, work to make their South End restaurant warm and hospitable and, best of all, consistent. Expensive.

Excitement rules the menu when Lydia Shire and her chef Susan Regis at Biba get together, making this almost 10-year-old Back Bay restaurant always seem new. A salad of pig's ear and trotter, lobster over seaweed or tropical creamsicle for dessert spill out of this innovative kitchen. Biba can seem edgy, but the best dishes are worth the gamble. Expensive.

Daniele Balliani, the chef at Pignoli, Shire's other restaurant around the corner from Biba, is one of my favorite interpreters of Italian fare. His food, especially inspired pasta dishes, are delicious and often witty, a uniquely Italian way of eating. Expensive.

Of the newest stars in Boston's firmament, Kenneth Oringer at Clio, shines clearest. He succintly distills flavors into conceptual art, making one want to think about what went into that bite of foie gras or lamb infused with myriad spices. The stylishly pale-on-pale decor is as much of a treat as the finely conceived dishes at this Back Bay place. Expensive.

New Shanghai in Chinatown isn't as fancy as the celebrity chef places, but chef and co-owner C.K. Sau is every bit as creative. His deeply-satisfying black pepper scallops and light Shanghai-style dim sum dishes are wonders, and if one inquires, he'll sometimes invent something new. Inexpensive.

Just stepping into Salamander envelopes one in spices and smokes of exotic. Chef-owner Stan Frankenthaler is a sorcerer of flavors, his plates bold and overflowing. Expensive.

If feeling pampered is crucial for special nights out, Aujourd'hui at the Four Seasons Hotel in Back Bay is the best bet. The cuisine by Ed Gannon is exquisite, matched by the extravagant beauty of the room and the soliticiousness of the staff. Very expensive.

Maison Robert, long the premier French restaurant in Boston, now combines that refined sense of service and decorously beautiful room with chef Jacky Robert's adventurous palate. Crispy quail, clove and orange sauce or ostrich marinated in pomegranate juice mix with classical French dishes. Expensive to very expensive.

Creature comforts meld with the signature dishes of chef and co-owner Bob Calderone at Anago. Brand-new, this restaurant in Back Bay's Lenox Hotel already grasps the concept of titillating the palate with strong and sure flavors while making dining a pleasure. Expensive.

Olives holds an enviable place in Boston diners' hearts. The lines form early (no reservations) and the crowds stay late. Exhilirating food by chef and co-owner Todd English is matched by an atmosphere that's supercharged, amazing in an almost 6-year-old restaurant. Expensive.

Mistral is the newest Boston superstar - the place to see and be seen. Chef Jaime Mammano's straightforward cooking is the perfect foil for the drop-dead chic of the patrons who crowd the handsome South End place. Moderately expensive.

The young and the restless crowd Ginza, in Chinatown and Brookline, late at night to sample sushi chef Toro Oga's fanciful creations. It's a happening spot at 1 a.m. but the sushi and other Japanese appetizers are just as good all day and night. Moderate.

Casablanca has been a favorite gathering place in Harvard Square, Cambridge, for generations. Now chef Ana Sortun has made this legend a draw for dining, as well, with innovative dishes that draw from Tunisian and Turkish influences as well as more familiar Mediterranean cuisine. Her appetizers are especially intricate and wonderful to share. Moderate.

Chef/co-owner Steve Johnson at the Blue Room in Kendall Square, Cambridge, is another pioneer in fashioning imaginative dishes for prices that aren't prohibitive. He's strong on local vegetables and bold about flavors, and the lively room knits together the feeling of a neighborhood party. Moderate.

Sometimes the diner wants a cozy neighborhood place. The Boston area has some great ones and you don't have to be a habitue to enjoy them. The kitchen at Cafe Celador in Cambridge near Harvard is the domain of Patrick Noe, chef and co-owner, who delights his clientele with well-balanced, comforting French country food. Moderate.

The South End is many things and one of them is a hip, urban neighborhood. Icarus with Chris Douglass at the stoves has been a long-running star with New American cuisine that focuses on healthy eating. Moderate.

As a perennial magnet for diners, the North End's Italian restaurants vary more than one might think. My favorite is Terramia where chef Mario Nocera produces beautiful, clear flavors from a tiny kitchen. Moderate.

Dining can transport one to a distant place and Boston, with its diverse population, supports many fascinating ethnic restaurants. Lala Rokh, obviously a labor of love by chef Azita Bina-Seidel and her brother, Babak Bina, evokes their Persian heritage. Besides enjoying the fare, the diner can view the family's personal collection of Persian art at the Beacon Hill restaurant. Moderate.

The Elephant Walk restaurants, one in Somerville, the other in Brookline, are another warm family venture, this time Cambodian. Nadsa Perry and her mother Longteine de Montiero recreate fresh and intriguing Cambodian flavors, plus some with French influences. A new restaurant, Carambola, in Waltham concentrates on traditional Cambodian food. Moderate.

Discovering Malaysian cuisine can be fun and hip at Penang in Chinatown. Plates piled with beef rendang or giant coconut shrimp and festive glasses of ABC, a drink of shaved ice and red beans waft, by and soon even the shyest diner is asking his neighbor what that dish is. Inexpensive.

Loyalists abound in Boston. There are many who almost always go to East Coast Grill in Cambridge where Chris Schlesinger specializes in downhome food - spicy barbecue, lively fish dishes and great coleslaw. The ambience matches the food and the informality is contagious. Moderate.

Jae Chung is a one-man whirlwind with devotees across the metro area. All of the Jae's, in the South End, Theater District, Cambridge and Chestnut Hill, Brookline, are slightly different, but the big draw is Jae's take on light, bright Asian cooking. Moderate.

Dali in Somerville captures the same spirit as its namesake. The Spanish tapas and more substantial dishes are fine but the reason to be there is the zany ambience fostered by owner Mario Irate. Moderate.

Another fanzine spot for another reason is Il Capriccio in Waltham. Here the food by chef/co-owner Rich Barron complements the exquisite wine selections by co-owner Jeanne Rogers; the results are memorable meals. Moderate.

And, of course, there are diners who yearn only for steak. The two Capital Grille restaurants, one in Back Bay, one in Chestnut Hill, Newton, have diehard fans, but I prefer Grill 23 in Back Bay. In a former Stock Exchange room, the menu varies from the straight steak house agenda, the desserts are intoxicating and the service soliticious. Expensive.

Several young chefs - all in the South End - whose sparkling talent and energy enliven their cuisine are Rene Michelini at La Bettola, Nicholas Tischler at Restaurant Zinc, Andy Husbands at Tremont 647, and Corinna Mozo at Truc. All are worth checking out. Moderate.

The near future holds more promises. A few hints: Barbara Lynch, whose generous interpetation of Italian dishes has won her converts, plans to open her own place, No. 9 Park in mid-April 98, and Michael Schlow, who had a stellar Boston debut at Cafe Louis, plans a downtown restaurant by late '98. Keep tuned because more fine eating is on the way.