The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 23

THE ARTS M.Exmtttttf r-Poge 23 Oct. 31, 1975 raEMJDD By R.B. Reod Lotsa goods girls wait table (an absent brother Simon is a waiter at some local Holiday Inn). So this is totally a family operation, and there's not yet full fluency In English, the Laus having arrived from Hong Kong only in 1971. The physical layout is pleasant and modest, seating 40 people In a cleanly designed interior of figured Formica enlivened by a huge parasol in a Marimekko fabric.

The menu format is not typical of Chinese houses here. Sixty-four main dishes are served, of which 34 are "rice plates" with the curious notation: "a la carte add 25 cents." In this context "a la carte" means that rice is not served, so there's considerably more of the meat and veg. We had a pork chow fun (like chow mein but with broad noodles) at $1.50, a beef fried rice at $1.30, a shrimp egg foo yung at $1.70, and three rice plates a la carte (following prices include the added two bits): ginger beef at $1.90, cashew chicken at $2.05 and sweetsour shrimp at $2.10. The lowest price here (apart from spring rolls at .45) is pork sui mein at $1.10. All the portions were generous.

Of the Items we had, the chow fun, the egg foo yung, the fried rice and the sweetsour shrimp were outstandingly good. Highly eligible items we didn't order include la pineapple roast duck at $2.45, abalone in oyster sauce at $3.25, and shrimp with lobster sauce at $2.10. The Laus have been at this site Just three months, and Ho Mei Do is still both a minor discovery and a minor miracle. Take-home foods are sold, and small banquets can be arranged. It's a very deserving little station.

5 51 Photos from 15 years at the opera By Arthur Bloomfleld If anyone deserves a retrospective exhibition, it's Carolyn Mason Jones, the San Francisco Opera's senior photographer and very likely its most productive lens-person over the past 15 years. A handsome collection of Ms. Jones' work, most of it done at opera dress rehearsals, is currently on display at Odyssey Records (271 Sutter St.) and it testifies, in virtually every picture, to this artist-photographer's feeling for the ultimate dramatic moment The grandeur of the opera, and its humor, too; Its Intimacy, and also its frequently panoramic quality all have come to Ms. Jones' attention and been captured with clarity, zest and understanding. Choosing favorites in the Odyssey show is pointless.

However, nothing makes a better case for Ms. Jones' talent than her mercurial documentation of an interchange between Otello and Iago in Verdi's "Otello," a statuesque James McCracken turning his head in profile while Tito Gobbi, the Iago, appears runt-LLke behind his shoulder, a curly-haired figure of deep mischief, holding up his hand as if to direct the traffic of Oteilo's mind. The chiaroscuro of Boris Godounoff (Martti Talvela) in a mood of supplication, should not go unmentioned. Nor the Cecil Beaton-styled portrait of Leontyne Price, very elegant and sophisticated in a close-cropped hairdo. And there is, of course, Ms.

Jones' celebrated floor-eye view of a spangled Salome (Anja Silja) writhing in an attitude of something close to auto-erotic abandon. An interesting parallel hanging gives us two vivid views of the same situation, Violetta in" the HO ME1 DO, im Jackson (entrance on Hyde). Closed otherwise II a m. to I p.m. No alcohol, no reservations.

(73 478. The name of this little Hong Kong-style restaurant means Good Tastes, but it might with' equal Justice be called Ho Ga Chin, or Good Prices, since almost everything on the very considerable menu is priced below $2. In fact, if you check the Jackson St window before entering, youU. find Impromptu signs for dally specials as low as $125 and $1.40, the latter being regular menu items knocked down about 40 cents. The restaurant could also be called Good Vibes, for which I don't know the, Chinese.

A lady reader, whose name I seem now to have mislaid, was so impressed with these various kinds of Good that she has kept at me to review Ho Mci Do, and I finally got there the other night with two friends. A hazard of bargain prices, I learned is the temptation to over-order, which I did. We had six dishes, which Seemed reasonable for three people (plus, of course, soup and tea on the bouse), but we parried a good bit of it away in sacs chien, which are coming to be known as People Bags. We had a pleasant time with the young waitress, Rebecca Lau, who was surrounded by her family mother and father the Hey Ken Laus, sisters Linda and Anna, and brother Allen, the siblings all under 25. Allen and his father do the cooking, while the The Consumer- TYPICALLY CATCHY photo by Carolyn Mason Jones focuses on Tito Gobbi, a snarling Jack Ranc in Puccini's "Fanciulla." aby food question By Dr.

Jean Mayer second act of "Travlata" writing her sad letter of farewell to her lover Alfredo. There's Joan Sutherland, in 1964, and Beverly Sills, in 197,3, looking very much like sisters in misery. For a lighter touch there's that oft-published view of a merrily (but not too merrily) winking Giulietta Simionato as Dame Quickly in "Falstaff." Meanwhile, a picture or two like the One of Jess Thomas dying his ill-advised bikini death in last year's "Tristan" are not much more than reportage, but Ms. Jones has been expected to document Just about everything that happens on the Opera House stage. Prints of the Odyssey pictures, in black and white or color, in sizes from 8 by 10 to 30 by 40, are available through Ms.

Jones at 1315 Waller St. Q. Since my son has begun eating solids, I have Wear and Compare made all of his baby food. Recently I saw a television show on the subject that advised against using home-prepared carrots, beets and spinach because they contain nitrates that can be converted to nitrites. Can you explain more about this? A.

Spinach, carrots and beets contain varying and occasionally high levels of nitrates, which are themselves harmless. Under certain conditions, A 99 -cent festival of old films however, the nitrates can be converted to nitrites, which are particularly toxic to infants. The nitrites link up with the pigment In red blood cells, which transports oxygen around the body and forms what is called methemoglobin, a pigment that is unable to carry oxygen to the tissues. When the level of methemoglobin becomes too high, the baby's skin will turn bluish. This conversion of nitrates to nitrites can be the result of enzyme activity during storage and transport of the raw vegetable.

It can also be accomplished by bacteria introduced during the preparation and storage of the cooked vegetable. And It can take place inside the body. The infant's stomach, which contains less acid than an adult's, Next comes Warner's "Public Enemy" (1931, starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow) on Nov. 21 and 22. Warner's "Gold Diggers of 1935" (Dick Powell and Gloria Stuart, directed by Busby Berkeley) plays Nov.

28 and 29. The movie on Dec. 5 and 6 is United Artists' "Red River" (1949, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, directed by Howard Hawks); and on Dec. 12 and 13 Warner's "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951, starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, directed by Elia Kazan). The full program spans Hollywood's golden age of sound films (1931-1951) and was selected by Arthur Knight, renowned critic and film historian, who Is professor of cinema at USC and reviewer for the Hollywood Reporter.

(The Metro Theater, by the way, permits smoking in the balcony.) Stanley Eichelbaum provides an ideal medium for nitrite-forming bacteria to thrive. To date, some cases of methemoglobinemia What exactly is "The Benson It Hedges 100" Film Festival? And why Is the Philip Morris Company doing it? Representatives of the firm who came here to announce the project candidly avowed that the festival of 100 movie classics coming to the Metro is, purely and simply, a promotion gimmick to offset the ban on TV cigaret advertising. Unable to reach the public through the tube, they decided on a Benson Hedges festival in theaters across the country. San Francisco will be the test The Metro is the first house booked for a trial run of five weekends, starting Nov. 14 and 15.

If the first five movies go over, the festival will run its course, here and elsewhere, until the 100 classics are The plan is to screen them in Friday and Saturday midnight showings for a modest admission charge of 99 cents. The low-price midnight shows are, of course, a cagey way for the cigaret sponsor to snare a young crowd. Whether they'll want to see a bunch of old Hollywood pictures remains to be seen. The first weekend will bring the Columbia musical; "Cover Girr (1944), with Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly and Phil Silvers. from eating home-prepared spinach puree, carrot soup (commonly used in Europe for babies with diarrhea) and carrot Juice have been reported in the medical literature.

However, methemoglobinemia as a result of eating beets has never been observed. But because the nitrate content of. beets is often high, it seems like a good idea to leave home-prepared beets off your son menu as well. Incidentally, there is no risk in using commer cially prepared spinach, beets and carrots. Most of the nitrate is lost during blanching and processing.

Moreover the commercial process results in the inactivation of enzymes and elimination of bacteria, so that any remaining nitrates will not be converted to the toxic nitrite. aiiFrandsco Siimiihtuiii t) rt Market Report Best fruit buys are small Hachiya persimmons, NIKLAUS yYSS, Conducting cranberries, pomegranates, Florida red and white and Texas red grapefruit, California red and golden AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE AJ Delicious apples, Bartlett pears, Thompson seedless, jTcMiiiituiiilij Tokay and emperor grapes, bananas and oranges. YOiirnnmin Best vegetable buys are loose Brussels sprouts, small bell peppers, sweet basil, hard squashes, Tenth Anniversary Season DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS by Eugene O'Neill Oct. 31. Nov.

5, 6. 7. 8 (mat eve). 1 0. 1 1 THE MATCHMAKER by Thornton Wilder Nov.

1 (mat eve). 4. 12 15(mat), 18 TINY ALICE by Edward Albee Nov. 5 (mat). 12, 16, 21, 26.

29 (mat). Dec. 2 GEARY THEATRE673-6440 A butter and red-leaf lettuce, pumpkins, green and red cabbage, rutabagas, tomatoes, parsnips, carrots, Follow the Symphony around town. Hear a Schubert Symphony Cytle and works by women composers, a FINAL CONCERT TONIGHT AT 8PM- Carl Maria von Weber Abu Hassan Overture Julia Smith Overture Sc Mexican Dances from "The Stranger of Manzano'' Franz Schubert Symphony No. 6 in Major Potrero Hill Jr.

High Auditorium 655 DeHaro Street (at 18th) TONIGHT AT 0:30 Seamless bra is totally smooth comfortable. NIGHT830R TRULY KXABSOUS! 4th, SMASH MONTHlT" LIMITED ENGAGEMENT Pre ten ted by San Francisco Symphony Auociariofi in cooperation with San Francisco Unified School District aiu'The Department of Education, Archdioces of San rso Francisco, and San Francisco Private Schools. green onions, chard, parsley and collard greens. Recipe of the Day This is a new variation of the ever-popular cake made with a mix, salad oil, eggs and pudding mix. BANANA POUNDCAKE; Combine in a large bowl 1 package (18 ounces) yellow cake mix, 4 eggs (at room temperature), 13 cup salad oil, cup water, 1 13 cups mashed ripe bananas (4 medium), 1 package (3 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix, teaspoon cinnamon and teaspoon nutmeg.

until blended then beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Turn batter into greased and lightly floured ICynch tube pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 'hour or until cake tester Inserted In cake comes out clean. Cool In pan 10 minutes then turn out onto rack and cool completely. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes 26 servings. Dacron' polyester tricot cups are lightly padded ith fiberf ill for shaping. Stretch nylon spandex. A. B.

Fully padded, $5 This project is funded in part by a pant from the National Endowment for the Arts. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 861-6240 s. 'i our cat WIW ft Gentle control brief completes smooth look. is dead! a new adult comedy by JAMES KIRKWOOD Montgomery Playhouse 622 Broadway at Grant Avenue Reservations: 788-8282 TICKETS: Box OffiM. Tfcketran, Maty', BASS and Al Agenda.

Heloise Tricot comfort brief controls A A gently and allows you to wnat4t. i Kitllt roil -ivmor unrjt (Jan AorlBd- EDWARD ANNE MULHARE ROGERS ng Arthur is Gutnevere GALE GORDON ti PtHinott In lavish new production of lliuvr owui iiitii. i.ip,in- weight nylon, spa ndex. tummy QlJJ slimming panel. S.M.LXL.

Gluing jewelry HALLOWEEN SPECIAL MUSEUM orocfot Value. That's us. 7 RON KUSMANN as Lancetof USE WARDS CHARG-ALL CREDIT Mmi Dear Heloise: When a stone comes out of a piece of Jewelry, glue the stone in place and use a spring-type clothespin to hold the stone until the glue dries. -Mildred Kinle Dear Heloise: To wash and dry plastic artificial flowers without having them all over the place, sort them upside down lntoa nylon net bag (stems up toward the opening). Swish In a solution of lukewarm water and mild soap.

Rinse thoroughly In lukewarm water. Finish with cold water, aa cold water firms the plastic. Slip the handle of the bag over your arm and carry to the line to dry. Use a twistem to fasten ths bag to the line. This is a quick and easy way to freshen artificial flowers.

Barbi Costume Contest -10 PM, Oct 31 THo In cottum admitted FREE all day OnSr admitted ot 2 of price of 1 235 Jefferson St 673-9765 PRIZES! NOW THRU DECEMBER 6 CURRAN THEATRE 445 GEARY ST. Cvet. (Ext. SuaJ 1 30 Mats. (Wei I Sat.) 2 30 Sundays 7 P.M.

Oct 26 I Nov. 2 MNKAMEMCaat MASTER CHARGE MONORtl FULL-TIME STUDENTS $2.50 hr. bef. curtain (if available). I D.

REQ'D TICKET INFGROUP SALES 673-4400 Un MUMOAT THOOUGN FM4 SATURDAY Mil SUHDAT lU (ftUUjMV A MMMUWO tli titiftwM 4 IKI IW Milium ytin i 4M IMKKI Hat I WW Km vu. urn lMSw xntf tv iiiiImh hii wiuinwi assiu? noiimiHiit wim.