Newsday from New York, New York • 234

RIESTAIJRAWfS By Susan Mulcahy TT DINING OUT AND GOSSIP werent a per-I I feet match, thered be a lot more people eat--U. ing alone in restaurants. Aa it is, restaurant tables usually are occupied by more than one person. In between forkfuls and even, contrary to what their mothers have told them, with their mouths foil these restaurant deniaana are talking to one another. And we all know what that means: gossip.

Any eatery, therefore, is fertile ground for loose talk and idle chatter, but there are certain places more suited to it than others. At restaurants where gossip is a featured dish, consumption of informational tidbits is perhaps even more essential to a satisfying meal than is the ingestion of more conventionally palate-pleasing morsels. Lunch is the meal most suited to gossiping. Often, the talk is business-oriented: Colleagues are dished; deals are cut. At dinner, people often order too many cocktails, or other entertainment beverages, and the next day have difficulty recalling the gossip they may have picked up.

Particularly in light of the decline of the three-martini lunch, midday meals provide an ideal setting for nourishing chat. They dont serve cocktails at the University Restaurant at 12th Street and University Place, though beer and wine are available. The luncheon crowd at the coffee shop is more apt to choose liquids like coffee, tea or Sanka from the menus refreshing beverages section. Dont insult the staff here by asking if they serve turkey loaf. Their sandwich the real thing, big chunks of meat sliced from a bird, which, if youre sitting at the counter, is parked right in front of you.

Its like the day after Thanksgiving, only instead of Aunt Millie doling out the food, its mostly guys from Greece, laboring beneath decorative wall plates adorned with the Acropolis and other landmarks. The mustard, which is what true turkey sandwich aficionados use to liven up the situation, is Guldens spin brown. Its not as good as Grey Poupon, but definitely a cut above the dreaded yellow Frenchs, suitable for ballpark franks. But enough of this cuisine stuff. Lets get down to gossip.

At lunch, the University is always packed. And, due to the presence of the counter, you dont need a lunch partner to get into a gossip mode. Because the Village Voice offices are practically right around the corner, semi-subversive political discussions frequently take place here. Just as often, interior decor is a hot topic. (There are lots of antique shops in tiie neighborhood.) And, best of all, the food, and talk, are cheap.

A diet cola and a turkey sandwich, consumed at the counter, come to (5.75. Next on the gossip restaurant agenda is Oreo, an Italian eatezy at 322 W. 40th St. Though certainly The Four Seasons Is a place where New Yorks power brokers break bread, and gossip. a haven for lunchtime chatter, its even livelier at dinner, when the clientele is more glitzy.

For the show-biz crowd, many of whom sleep late, andor just got in from L. dinner is really lunch. The night I dropped by Orso, actress Madeline Kahn was eating at a table up front. Director Hal Prince was just a few tables away. Other patrons looked as if they, too, were somehow involved in artistic pursuits.

At restaurants popular with famous faces, simple eating arrangements can lead to gossip: Whos sitting with whom, and did they get a good table? If a certain agent is sitting with a certain actress and a certain executive from a movie studio, is a deal in the making? Its something to gossip about ORSO, even the waiters are gossipy. Hi! Hi! said one to a couple arriving for dinner. Did you see Robin? Did you go for the weekend? To another, he asked, Hows the little critter? Apparently, he was inquiring after a child. At the next table, an enthusiastic conversation ensued, Im telling you, it turned out they were twins, and the mother was a big agent The gossip scene looked to be heating up when an agent walked in and joined the first couple the ones who may or may not have seen Robin for the weekend. This agent had a large black eye, definitely something the nosey waiter should have been curious about But did he go up and say, Who gave you the hideous shiner? No.

And I didnt want to interrupt their meal, so the black eye remained a mystery. The food at Orso is Hollywood Italian, meaning that, along with standard Italian fare, fancy pizzas also are served. The toppings are not as bizarre and indigestible as they are in California, however. Instead of quail eggs and nasturtiums, ingredients such as basil and tomato are used. Also, they have that nice Italian pottery at Orso with the animal patterns which adds to the foods general tastiness.

We both had salads, followed by pasta. I had thin noodles with herbs, blade dives, onions and tomato sauce. My friend had thick hollow spaghetti with pancetta, grilled eggplant and tomato sauce. We were both too full for dessert, but did order coffee. I had a glass of wine, too, I have to admit, though only one.

Its best to keep your wits about you when gossiping. The bill came to (50. There are so many gossipy restaurants in New York, its difficult to make a short list, but no examination of such eateries would be complete without the Four Seasons Grill Room, the place where New Yorks power brokers break bread, and gossip. All you have to do is gaze around the vast Philip ohnson-designed space and observe whos sitting with whom and you have enough stuff to fill a gossip column for a week. During the recent turbulence at Conde Nast, when Vogue editor Grace Mirabella was edged out of her job by HG editor Anna Wintour, the Grill Room was a veritable gossip hotbed.

One day, Si Newhouse, Four Seasons regular and Conde Nast chairman, was lunching in the Grill Room at the same time as Mirabella. Then in waltzed Wintour. Heads turned, I can assure you. The food at the Four Seasons, located at 99 E. 52nd is delicious, adding to the allure of the place.

During a recent lunch there, I had a salad, then shrimp-and-chicken skewers. This dish is even better than the turkey sandwich at the University, and, also because its from the spa" menu, is presumably dietetic. My companion had a crab cake, then lobster salad. Again, we couldn't handle dessert, and just had coffee. Meals here are not cheap; lunch came to (1 19.

THIS particular day, there was lots to observe in the Grill Room. Sonny Mehta, head of Alfred Knopf, was lunching with one of his authors, Toni Morrison. John Gambling of WOR-Radio was seated with Ad Age columnist Jim Brady. Architect I. M.

Pei, former Postmaster General Robert Tiach and Simon Schuster edi 5 I 8 CO cn tor Michael Korda were among the other Grill Room lunchers. Media deal maker John Veronis fresh from his success in arranging Rupert Murdochs (3 billion acquisition of Triangle Publications was also cm hand, and was in the middle of a serious discussion with his companions. At the table next to us (we were seated at what is supposedly Jackie Onassis favorite table, but that may just be a rumor) were two business types, one of whom asked to have a phone brought over. Its unfortunate that more eateries dont provide this sort of service. If they did, a recurring dining-out dilemma would disappear.

In these top-of-the-line gossip spots, if the person with whom youre lunching has nothing to chat about, dont sit there and suffer. Pick up the phone and gossip with somebody else, ill Susan Mulcahy ia the editor of New York News-days Inside New York column. Molly ONeill is on vacation. NmdwUicME.Ach Rom toft. Dr.

EugenaPetti, Cathy Spina and Rosa Spina chat during lunch at the University Restaurant i.