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1. PETE TITTL: It's do or diet time, and these menus can help

   BY PETE TITTL Contributing columnist

   Saturday, Feb 18 2012 06:00 PM

   Last year Applebee's discovered something most Americans have known for some time: January is national New Diet Month, with the new year and the upcoming summer swimsuit season being good reasons to shed those extra pounds.

   The chain unveiled its "better for you" options, complete with calorie counts under 600 and a national advertising campaign. It was such a success that almost everyone has imitated it, including IHOP, Panda Express, Benihana, Dairy Queen (a low-calorie Blizzard -- believe it!) and even local favorite Frugatti's, which has a new insert on the menu that includes low-cal seafood, steak, pastas and pizzas.

   When judging the food for this particular column, we had to come up with a different standard. After all, pouring on the butter, sugar and salt to make something taste good is a no-brainer. But how does the food fare without those ingredients to literally sweeten the pot? With that in mind, the guiding principle for me as I ordered my way to better health was: Did I miss the calories?

   The restaurant we tried that does low-cal best is Frugatti's, which is offering "lighter versions of our more popular dishes." They call it a "fitness" menu, as a subtle nudge to get your carcass back in the gym. The leaner fare is welcome to me because as much as I love the fat Sammy sauce on the salmon, I can feel my body expanding as I eat it. You can choose from a baked chicken salad ($10.59), six pastas, three pizzas, three seafoods and one steak (a 10-ounce sirloin with roasted rosemary potatoes and asparagus).

   From that list we chose the salmon in light tomato cream sauce ($18.99, 655 calories) and the fitness red pepper chicken fettuccine ($18.99, 696 calories). My pasta was amazing. They brought this big bowl of it out and my immediate thought was that there was no way I could finish this. But it was so good that I did finish it and didn't come close to missing the calories. What made it great was the variety and portion of chopped vegetables (lots of green and red pepper bits, fresh mushrooms and onions) as well as a red pepper sauce that, while not creamy, seemed quite substantial.

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2. PETE TITTL'S SIDE DISHES: Still pizza, no matter how you slice it

   Jimano's Pizza, at 9510 Hageman, is now Cubbie's Chicago-Style Pizza. Owner Jim Reed said the change came Jan. 1 and was motivated by his desire to have the flexibility of a non-franchised restaurant.
3. 

   Sassy, brassy makes customers happy

   Mere waitresses have customers. Connie Russell, who's been slinging hash with sass at a succession of Bakersfield restaurants for 25 years, has friends.
4. 

   Keeping the bar warm and friendly

   It was while attempting to mix a strawberry daiquiri as a trainee at RJ's Bar & Grill that Leigh Ann Lucci got the first hint this place was more than just a Rosedale gathering spot.
5. 

   Waitress gives as good as she gets

   Although we're still counting down the nominees for Bakersfield's best server, Claudia Norman has already declared victory.
6. 

   She's in the 'people business'

   As Ashley Bledsoe dashes between tables at the Coco's on Rosedale Highway -- coffee pot in hand, loaded tray on her shoulder -- she presents a vision of such boundless energy, her customers need a nap just watching her.
7. 

   Singing for your supper

   As the Sinatra of Sorella Italian Restaurant, Mark Downing is more than happy to sing for your supper -- after he's steered you toward the nightly special, uncorked the wine and sold you on the dessert you weren't sure you had room for.
9. 

   She's the secret weapon at the DoubleTree

   While most of Bakersfield is still tucked snugly under the covers, Bambi Hall is busily prepping a dish of hearty smiles with extra sugar every morning at The DoubleTree.
10. 

    For her, it's all about family

    Penelope Kehagias hadn't been this rattled at work since the first time, many years ago, that she had to open a wine bottle by herself. But here she was, at Uricchio's Trattoria on a recent Tuesday night, and the usual Penelope magic just wasn't flowing.
11. 

    All are his favorite customers

    Just as Bobby McFerrin told us in the '80s, "Don't worry, be happy." It's just that credo that motivates Carlos Juan Maldonado as a server at Don Perico in northeast Bakersfield.
12. 

    Service with a ready smile

    Ask server Octavio Avila for a cure to the work-week blues and you're bound to get a smile, followed by a shot of traditional south-of-the-border hospitality.
13. 

    A great waitress and a good friend

    It's the constant worry of working mothers everywhere: What's Junior up to when I'm not around? But not for Erica Lucero, who came up with a brilliant solution. She just brings her teens to work with her, and has them bus her tables while they're there.

14. Grits, greens 'n' gravy: Food good for the soul

    Many of the students who begin studying with Chef Pat Coyle at Bakersfield College are so new to the culinary world they've never sampled a decadent French sauce, aren't sure what to make of goat cheese and need a few minutes to find Morocco on a map. Even more astonishing, most have never been to a Basque restaurant.