Movable Feast

It's the commonest of complaints -- one you hear yourself saying and realize you're becoming your mother: "Nobody sits down to eat anymore." Well, not in the kitchen, at least. Left to our own devices, we'll often graze at the counter, which explains the appearance of tall coffeehouse-style "bistro" tables in kitchen corners, as well as the sudden hip factor assigned to hip-height food preparation tables from restaurant suppliers ($149 and up, from B&B in Los Angeles, [323] 735-1561; www.

Jazz Bakery's Movable Feast Where: Musicians Institute, 1655 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood When: 8 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday Price: $25 general; $15 students (21 and younger with ID) Info: www.jazzbakery.com

Rob Thomas, the man behind "Veronica Mars" and "Cupid" (the old "Cupid," with Jeremy Piven, and the coming new "Cupid" with Bobby Cannavale) and briefly associated with the rebranding of "90210," has found a new outlet on the relatively remote reaches of Starz, the cable network that shares a name with a bushy-haired 1970s power-pop band.

IN 1974, artist Judy Chicago launched a work in Los Angeles to redress ignorance of women's history. "The Dinner Party," an installation in the form of a banquet table commemorating important women, became an icon of the era. Now the work has a permanent home at the Brooklyn Museum, where it went on view this weekend at the new Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Here on the West Coast, other works by Chicago are part of "WACK!

The late afternoon sun glinted on the water as we sped along the canals of Ft. Lauderdale in our water taxi on the way to dinner. We passed pastel-colored homes with louvered windows and manicured yards dotted with palms. It was nearly dusk when our boat pulled up to the dock at Stan's restaurant; tiny white Tivoli lights glowed along the railing. Lou Vassaluzzo, the tuxedoed maitre d', ushered us to an upstairs room, with a polished oak bar at one end and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

Just in case Dukakis does win the election, he already has begun setting out the menu for his inaugural celebrations. "We're going to be celebrating . . . with a little California champagne," he told audiences as he toured the Central Valley on Sunday. On Tuesday, he told an audience in Milwaukee that he would be celebrating with "some good old Milwaukee beer." (The next day in Pittsburgh, Pa., he changed the beverage of choice to the local brew, Iron City beer.

Roses grown in containers, hanging baskets and barrels add a new dimension of interest to gardening. The look of your garden can change with the placement of the roses. Wide walkways and entrances can be highlighted with tubs of blooming roses. Patios and decks can feature groupings of different rose varieties to give texture to the display, and miniature roses can perk up window boxes and hanging baskets to provide color in neglected areas.

Think of a salade Nicoise, with chunks of crusty bread soaked in oil, vinegar and herbs. These are the flavors and texture of pan-bagnat. This dish, whose name means "wet bread," was designed by frugal French women to use up stale pieces of country bread, according to Jacques Medecin, author of "Cuisine Nicoise" (Penguin Books: $8.95, softcover). "Originally pan-bagnat was simply a salade Nicoise," Medecin writes, "to which had been added . . .

Charlie Francis, coach of world record-holder Ben Johnson, had a simple explanation when asked why the Canadian sprinter is not taking his meals at the Olympic Village. "The food is horrible," he said. Janet Evans didn't go that far, but the U.S. swimmer said, "Much of the food is rice and noodles, and there's just so much of that I can take. So I've gone over to the NBC booth near the pool, and they give me steak and candy bars." Said U.S.