Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 21

MULTICOLOR (V IN THIS SECTION Dear Abby, 22 Slim Gourmet, 22 Entertainment, 27 Lifestyle DAYTON DAILY NEWS Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1985 Page 21 i ii, urn POfflKf Cookbook paints flavor of Cafe des Artistes carnal." The work reflected the men. In the grim years of the Depression, Christy was just the man to enliven the cafe with murals. As Gill writes, "he painted 36 pert nudes in a variety of seductive but not very naughty poses, counting on an abundance of foliage, feathers and falling water to conceal" what Adam and Eve grew ashamed of. Whatever their artistic merit, Gill says, "they do honor to his randy old evergreen heart." Restaurant developer George Lang acquired the cafe in 1975.

The murals were cleaned and Lang turned his attention to the menu. "It wasn't a lofty grande cuisine I was aspiring to create but a cuisine with the flavor and texture of a neighborhood restaurant," he writes. He wanted to serve "good, middle-class food, typical French Sunday dinners, the honest dishes of the cuisine bourgeois." The formula succeeded. Now the restaurant attracts people with names such as Newman and Nureyev, Bernstein and Perl-man, Sills and Stern. And, I can assure you, travelers from the Midwest, in search of a little romance.

If you don't find it, it speaks of the company you keep. By ANN HELLER Food Editor It has the makings of a glamorous movie or a spicy TV serial, this story of the New York restaurant called Cafe des Artistes. It has the setting a street of artists at the turn of the century. And the characters, from Isadora Duncan to Rudolph Valentino, who came for tables at the cafe. The history of the street is punctuated with stories of love and tragedy, including one of an out-of-fashion artist who ended his life in his studio.

The weapon was a pearl-handled revolver inscribed Edward, Prince of Wales." These days, the restaurant, known as much for its Howard Chandler Christy murals as its food, is a find for visitors if for no other reason than diners can walk from the restaurant to Lincoln Center, which is on many a tourist schedule. Probably as many people go just for the romance of the place. They dine while they nourish their artistic souls. ORIGINALLY, the restaurant was part of the Hotel des Artistes in what was built as a row of combination artists studios and apartments on West 67th Street, just after the turn of the century. The apartments were designed without kitchens the idea was to telephone the cafe for meals, which were sent up by dumbwaiter.

The system soon broke down, but the cafe flourished as did the artists' haven. As an early chronicler wrote: "There never was such a street in town as West 67th: fine modern apartment houses on the north side, and, on the south, stables: disreputable tenements; a garage that burned up three times; and, on the corner, a notorious saloon, which kept the night raucous with female yells, stabbing and bums hurtling out onto the ice pavements in wintertime." Such is a place that gives birth to legends (and grade movies). The lure was certain. The famous and flamboyant came to the street, as theater critic Brenden Gill writes. The crowds included Duncan, Noel Coward, Valentino, Zasu Pitts, Fannie Hurst, Al Jol-son, Heywood Broun.

Paul Whiteman, Edna Ferber, Ludwig Bemelmans, Ben Hecht, Norman Rockwell. ONE RESIDENT WAS Howard Chandler Christy, an Ohio boy born in Muskingum County log cabin, who became one of the major illustrators in the country, rivaling his friend Charles Dana Gibson. Gill writes of their creations, "the Gibson Girl was passionate but chaste, the Christy Girl was openly flirtatious; she was coarser and more Photo from book coverreprinted courtesy Crown Polishers Howard Chandler Christy murals are the backdrop al Cafe des Artistes provide the body. On the occasion of the restaurant's 10th anniversary, Lang has written the Cafe Des Artistes Cookbook (Potter, It's a wonderful little cookbook, complete with beautiful color reproductions of Christy's murals. The range of recipes in the book reflect the restaurant.

They are as French as pot au feu, as American as buttermilk pie, as ethereal as hot chicken liver mousse and as earthy as headcheese. They are as innovative as seafood gazpacho or as traditional as cassoulet, as elegant as pear champagne, as basic as breast of veal. It's easy to get caught up in Lang's notes while skimming through the recipes in this small volume. To wit, his description of Ilona Torte: "One slice of it will bring temporary happiness, which is more than we get from most things these days. According to fairly reliable sources, it also acts as an aphrodisiac and quantities of the Ilona torte will turn a puny creature into Casanova or a woman you wouldn't notice on a desert island into Madame du Barry both of whom, by the way, indulged in quantities of chocolate." The praise may be extravagant, but I tested the recipe and it led six of us into a passionate game of trivial pursuit.

Here's that recipe, including some of my testing notes. Be assured it a flourless cake; the nuts smaller springform pan.) Sprinkle with flour, shake out any excess. Pour batter into pan and bake in a preheated, 375 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert torte onto a rack and let cool completely.

Cut the torte into two layers; place the top half, topside down, on a round platter. Cover the cake with cup mocha buttercream. Reserve 1 cup for decoration. Place the second layer on top of the filling, smooth side up. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.

Press the remaining '3 cup ground walnuts into the buttercream on the sides of the cake. Use a pastry bag to See A LITTLE, Page 22 sugar and cup water. Cook over low heat, stirring, just until melted and blended. (Do not let it boil or you will have fudge.) Let mixture cool for 15 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy.

Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Slowly beat in the chocolate syrup until well blended. Then add the 1 cups walnuts and bread crumbs, mixing just enough to combine thoroughly. In a large mixing bowl whip egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whites into the chocolate mixture, until no white streaks remain.

Lightly butter a 10 inche torte pan 3 inches deep. (I used a standard, slightly ILONA TORTE Serves 12 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces 1 cup sugar 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 eggs, separated 1 cups, plus 4 cup, coarsely ground English walnuts 2 tablespoons fresh white bread crumbs pinch of salt Mocha buttercream In a small saucepan combine chocolate, Chicken little: Fast food franchises strike gold with nuggets gets, and older customers because they find the nuggets easy to digest. "What's interesting about it is that the product itself has very little taste," says Mullins. The sauces are what give the nuggets their flavor. Some of the new business may have been taken away from the fried chicken chains.

Kentucky Fried Chicken and Church's Fried Chicken have struck back by introducing their own nuggets. You can also get nuggets in the grocery store Banquet, Weaver and Tyson are selling similar products. One company not joining the bandwagon is Wendy's, which serves a chicken sandwich. "We have a quality product," says Denny Lynch, Wendy's vice-president for communications. "We would not have any intention of putting out processed chicken parts." Wendy's has aired humorous television commercials emphasizing the fact that the nuggets are processed chicken.

Just what is a McNugget made of? McDonalds' spokesman Mike Pirages wouldn't say. But by law, the supermarket brands must reveal their ingredients. Banquet's nuggets are made of chicken, wheat flour, water, rice flour, salt, spices, cellulose gum, hydrolyzed plant protein, sodium phosphate, flavoring and coloring, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, dried whey, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate. Nutritionally, a serving of six McNuggets (without sauce) weighs 1 09 grams and has 323 calories. The Wendy's sandwich, including bread but not dressing, By JEREMY IGGERS Knitht-Riddcr Newspapers Chicken nuggets deep-fried chunks of processed chicken are the hottest thing in fast food these days.

How hot are they? Within 12 weeks of starting nationwide sales of their Chicken McNuggets, McDonald's vaulted into second place among chicken retailers in the United States, right behind Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1984, the first full year of nationwide sales McDonald's projected sales of 3.5 billion nuggets. "They hit a home run," says Keith Mullins, restaurant industry analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds in New York City. Mullins says the biggest buyers are kids and old people kids because they like to use their hands to eat the nug weighs 132 grams, with 370 calories. The most significant difference is this: according to my calculation, the McNuggets hold 59 percent of their calories from fat, compared to 29.2 percent for the chicken sandwich.

Many nutrition authorities recommend limiting consumption of fats to 30 percent or less of total caloric intake. Husband may have to kick old-time arch supports Ask Millie B. DEAR MILLIE I have a real problem. My husband wears metal interchangeable arch supports in all his shoes. The pair of supports he has now are probably 30 years old and are kaput.

I have had no lurk finding another pair at various shoe stores and repair shops. I am told no such arch supports are still on the market. I have bought other supports but they do not really give hint much support. Eaton Your continued support of your husband has paid off. No such arch supports are made in the U.S..

but leftovers show up occasionally. Take the broken-down arches to Max's Shoe Store. 729 Watervliet and a matching pair may still be tucked away in a dusty box that came from the factory years ago. Two types of foot arches were used back then: a spring-steel metal support and a solid metal arch covered in leather These are no longer used because foot doctors don't recommend them, consid ering metal as too firm, unyielding. If the old-style arches don't fit your husband's shoes, consider custom-made supports.

Max's and other orthopedic shoe services build up layers of leather to give the exact comfortable firmness any arch needs. DEAR MILLIE Why do new acrylic sweaters pill? My woolen sweaters never did this. The acrylic one I got for Christmas carries a Pierre Cardin label; but even though I've worn it only a few times, fuzzy little balls are multiplying on the chest area and the underarms. How can I remove this fuzz? And. will it return? Dayton Price won't prevent pills on acrylics Rub sweater arm against sweater chest and the friction lifts then breaks off extra-fine yarn nap.

Your next rub rolls the fuzzy nap into pills Very few wool-like acrylics are pill-proof, and even fabric scientists can't always teli which garment will or won't acry lics for busy people. DEAR MILLIE My dog knocked over a bottle of Merthiolate. Now how do I remove the stain from light-colored carpeting? S.B., Englewood Lock Rover in the kitchen, grab a roll of paper toweling, a bottle of alcohol and a roll of masking tape. Blot up as much orangey-red as you can before treating the stain. Use the masking tape to separate stain from the surrounding carpeting.

That is, flatten carpet nap around the stain and cover it with the tape to protect it from the diluted stain. Merthiolate (a registered trademark) is a bad stain to work with. It bleeds and spreads as you treat It You must work fast to get out all the red Dilute the alcohol with a little water and sponge stain quickly blot with dry toweling Repeat until no stain color shows up on the blotting towel. Rinse treated area with water Wait a few hours to see if stained area turns pink, a sign the dampened stain is rising up from the carpet backing Repeat the treatment. If needed, shampoo the area with foam-only from a solution of mild detergent and a small amount of ammonia (half-cup per gallon of water) has been added.

Rinse. Blot excess moisture. If the red spill was on bathroom carpeting, store Merthiolate. iodine, Mercuro-chrome. poison ivy lotions and other colored medicines in small plastic bags or in a plastic storage box The extra storage protection could prevent a few more accidents from a bouncy Rover Our own problem-solver.

Millie Bingham, will be happy to help voo uckle your every day dilemmas Send our questions to Ask Millie B. Lifesty le, the Dayton Daily News. Fourth and Ludlow streets. Dayton, Ohio 45401. Please include yvur name, address and telephone number; ou may request they be withheld from publication.

Ask Millie B. appears every Sunday. Wednesday and Friday in Lifestyle. shed and how long it will keep on rolling up fuzz bails polyesters also pill but not as badly. The shedding doesn't weaken yarns, since surface nap isn't knit into the garment.

To remove the little balls in the safest and fastest way. use an electric shaver It lifts-snips without cutting the sweater Trimming pills with scissors or scraping them with a razor blade is gambling with a cut sweater Hand-picking takes too long. To reduce pills, wash and dry an acrylic sweater inside out and on a delicate machine cycle Such easy care is seldom possible for wool knits, which is why designer emblems adorn.