Daily News from New York, New York • 52

CM wine dine rn SMMt Tills Frail uj is The conga line oughtta snake right past Puente's City Island debacle Pimm By ARTHUR SCHWARTZ By RON GIVENS Morsa, Little Italy's premier restaurant designers, gave Patrissy's a new. eye-catching facade, a street-side cafe and a brighter, cleaner interior. But the food and the staffs attitude at this Little Italy landmark are what really needed an overhaul. All I asked for was a Negroni, the recipe for which is on the back of the Campari bottle. "Can you spell that?" the waiter asked after conferring with the female bartender.

When seating us. she had proven to be an ungracious "hostess." Even spelled correctly, the drink was the worst. With our waiter nowhere in sight, I took it back to the bar myself. "I meant no offense," I said, but she wasn't going to let me off the hook. "I'm offended because you are offensive," she said.

I went back to my table fuming to eat the calamari we'd ordered even before the drinks, only to wait another 15 minutes for it. The breading on the calamari was fried nicely but the squid was tough, and the meal went downhill from there. Speaking of offensive, the veal scaloppine here must be breaded and fried way, way, way ahead, then reheated. It's hard to figure out how else the breading could be so stiff and thick, or how what seemed to start out as decent veal had become so tough and dry. Better parmigiana is available at any neighborhood pizzeria.

Incidentally, when I asked to see the owner (Arnold Magliaccio, the new one), I was told he wasn't present. When I asked to see the manager, I was told he wasn't present. What Schwartz wants to know is: Why did Magliaccio make such a big investment, then appear to leave a rude bartender in charge? PATRISSY'S: 98 Kenmare near Mott (212) 226-8509. Daily News Associate Features Editor FRUIT BEERS GET NO RE-spect. It's a waste of good fruit, say the fruit lovers.

It's a waste of good beer, say the beer lovers. They're both wrong, say I. And there's fresh proof out of Belgium, a plum beer that's one of two brews I'll be sampling today that have recently come to town. My new favorite fruit beer is De Troch's Chapeau Mirabelle (Wam-beek, Belgium), a luscious plum beer made in the classic Belgian Iambic style. Mirabelle is the type of yellow plum used.

It isn't easy to make a Iambic, a beer aged in a wood barrels. Yrou FOOD FOR THOUGHT By RICH del ROSSO Daily News CnTic HKN IT COMES TO LATINO lif music. Tito Pucnte is the ac-w know lodged king "El Rey." But watch out. Tito! The new City Island restaurant carrying your name could make you the court jester. In no way is it ready for the public.

While waiting lor its liquor license, management did indeed delay the actual opening until two weeks after the well -publicized grand-opening party. But booze was the least of the problems. I mean, hat kind of Latino restaurant can't get rice and beans right? There wasn't a moist grain in the house the night I ate there. The white rice tasted left over. The rice with pigeon peas was worse.

Not only were the grains like rocks either from repeated reheat-ings or poor keeping but they oozed oil. Leathery steamed lobster tails, a whole one drenched in oversweet Creole" sauce, and gray and greasy grilled skirt steak were also tragedies. Actually. knew something had to be wrong as soon as I approached the place and saw executive chef Yvonne Ortiz at the reception podium on the outdoor dining deck. Ortiz is an experienced chef, a cookbook author and a self-appointed ambassador for Puerto Hican food.

Why is the chef taking names? Ortiz rolled her eyes, then reassured me that her husband, John Hanev. also an experienced chef, was handling the kitchen. Still, neither the dining room nor the kitchen nor even the bar was under control. At the bar. we had trouble getting any ol the three bartenders.

"You have to wave to them." said the woman next to us. but when waved, (lie bartender came over merely to say. I'm awfully busy right now." By this time, recognized, we were being gien YIP treatment. You'd think that would mean we'd get a drink. Instead, we had to order drinks all over again.

At least for the moment, disarray is king here, not Tito Puente. TITO PI KNTE'S: 04 Or Island at liorlon Cit'i Island: i718) 885-3200. Big trouble in Little Italy Another new restaurant with problems is actually an old restaurant that has been problematic for years. Studio A beverage that is subtly, refreshingly sweet-sour N.YG. SCHOOLS MOOD SERVICES I A fX 'Too old? Nonsense, you're like a ne aged NEW YORK DISH can only do it in Belgium, where the yeast naturally floating in the air kicks off the beer's primary fermentation.

This yeast, along with wheat, gives straight Iambic its bracing tartness. By adding copious amounts of fruit cherries, peaches, raspberries or. in this case, yellow plums Iambic makers create a beverage that is subtly, refresh-' ingly sweet-sour. As fruit Iambics go, the cloudy, golden-brown Mirabelle is moderately sweet and somewhat cidery. The plumminess is definite, but not overpowering.

From its delicate fragrance to its captivating taste, it is a perfect summer beer. Foster's Special Bitter may be less exotic than the Mirabelle, but it is equally refreshing. This new import is made in Toronto by the Australian conglomerate that gave us giant cans of lager, Paul Hogan and the phrase "shrimp on the barbie." Bitter is the classic pub style of beer in England, combining rich, somewhat dry malt with a tiny jolt of hops. Served on tap out of casks, this savory brew is barely carbonated and not really that bitter at all. An India pale ale, for example, can out-hop a bitter any day.

It shouldn't be too surprising" that Australians learned, empirically, how to capture the essence of the bitter style. The Foster's delivers slightly toasted malt, backed with a brief splash of hops. The only thing that keeps this brew from being a stereotypical bitter is its considerable carbonation. I don't think this distinction, however, would trouble Paul Hogan, and I think it should trouble you. Grilled shrimp, anyone? Mi 5 By BETH LANDMAN T1" HE REPORTED PLANS OF 11 Sirio Maccioni to move Le Cirque tl into the New York Palace Hotel (455 Madison between 50th and 51st Sts.) seem to have hit a wall, due to difficulties with the union contract.

"I like the people at the Palace. It's the best space in New York, and they have made me a great offer, but I don't want to go to a place and have the same problems with the hotel union that I have now," Maccioni said. The staff at Le Cirque, hich is located in the Mayfair Hotel on E. 65th is also governed by Local'6. the Hotel.

Restaurant Club Employees tJnion. which earns more in wages and bene fits than Local 100, which oversees most restaurants. "I will stay where I am for now, unless the union gives us a contract different from the one I have on 65th he said. A spokesman for Local 6 would only say, "There are many hotel restaurants making a profit." Wre'll just have to keep an eye on those negotiations. Night and Day, the recently translated SoIIo bistro Jour et Nuit.

has closed for Labor Day eekend, and if it reopens later this month, it won't be for long. "For me, the chapter is over," said owner Frederick LeSort. who is busily working on his new Park Ave. South (between 18th and 19th Sts.) restaurant. The Lemon, due in November.

"The'area has changed tremendously. This place doesn't have the special feel for me it used to. On Friday and Saturday nights, it's like South Beach; it's attracting all these out-of-towners." According to LeSort, he is currently negotiating with prospective owners. who hope to turn the once trendy restaurant into a tapas lounge. While Gino Diaseria and Scott Bryan are trying to seal their deal to open an upscale American restaurant in the old Markham at Fifth Ave.

and 13th the pair have signed another lease at 142 Wr. 10th most recently Kiss Bar Grill. They'll open Degage, a value-conscious cafe with such offerings as grilled saute with cool spicy soba sTSttJperfeft for thdse.who want high-encfebneepi at low-end prices. CO.