The ideal dinner would include Pacific salmon and a flight of Oregon Pinot. Recommendations?

Caveat: I don't like Chinese food generally. That said, when my wife gets the jones I refuse to go anywhere but Great Chow on Beale Street in Quincy.

Les Zygomates: they're open really late, are in a really cool location (the Ladder District, near S. Station), and have jazz most nights. A true wine emporium, they serve some 40 wines by the glass, or even better--by the sample! And the food is great too.

www.winebar.com

Do not miss: lunch at the Plough and Stars on corner of Mass. Ave and Hancock Street (around 900 Mass Ave). Even without some of the best mid-day chow in the area, it'd be a great bar: I worked across the street for two years and a really good day was when I'd cross the street for lunch at noon or so, have two entrees--the meat and the pasta dish--and stay for the afternoon. Particularly if the Red Sox were on TV.

They have new ownership now who've cleaned up the place a bit, though they've kept the basic decor the same. And, if anything, the food is even better.

And I wish they'd find a better house wine by the glass. Such a shame since they've got a really nice wine list for a non-European ethnic joint.

That said, though, on the rare night my wife and I can escape Helmand is always near the top of the list of destinations, if only on the strength of the little pumpkins--undeniably a unique chowing experience--and the delicious bread with those three sauces.

Les Zygomates on South St. cures my French bistro jones every time, from Sylvia the luminous French hostess to the dozen or so 2-oz samplers I end up trying to all the wonderful French staples. And jazz most nights to boot! The ambience and the location--tucked away in the ladder district--complete the feeling that you've left Boston for a night and snuck off to Paris, circa 1920.