FOOD & DRINK

Brunch Bunch

WITH SPRING’S WARM WEATH-er come the “brunch holidays”-Easter and Mother’s Day. Put on your new shoes and hat, and try two Sunday brunches, one laid-back, one luxurious:

DICK’S LAST RESORT: Sunday brunch at Dick’s is more fun than church, almost as spiritually fulfilling, and you certainly won’t leave hungry. Front and center is the music of Betty Lewis and the Angelics, a bluesy gospel band that puts the spirit into such standards as “Amazing Grace” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Jesus.”

The buffet sticks to standards as well, with a couple of notable improvisations on the brunch theme; terrific little biscuits, all soft and flaky and hot, alongside white gravy swimming with little pieces of medium-hot link sausage. You can ask for them to be included in a made-to-order omelet. The good cop-bad cop service will be familiar to Dick’s regular patrons, and the cost is only a small tithe- $13.95 for all you can eat, including beverages (alcoholic beverages extra); S6.95 for children (who will love it). Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 1701 N. Market St., 747-0001. -Renee Hopkins

NANA GRILL: This buffet beggars description, its long tables laden with gastronomic delights rarely seen all at once. Start with champagne and fruits, all perfect, in or out of season. Mate them with cold meats-how long since you’ve had Brundnerfleisch, die air-dried beef equivalent of prosciutto, shaved thin enough to read through? Come back for huge shrimp. Progress to salads, smoked salmon, marinated artichokes. If it’s breakfast you want, French toast, eggs Benedict, or a custom-cooked omelet await; if you lean toward lunch, vast silver dishes offer pork scallop-ini, herb roasted chicken with polenta, grilled salmon with orzo pasta, and a selection of vegetables, Desserts? Try tiny glazed-fruit tarts, or full-sized servings of half-a-dozen sins. Brunch is a graceless word for such unbridled luxe. Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., $30. Reservations advised. 27th floor, Wyndham Anatole Hotel 2201 Stemmons Fwy., 761-7479.

-Betty Cook

HEARD ON THE STREETS

Steak Secrets

HOUGH IT STILL HAS no sign or phone book listing, the word is definitely out about Man’s No Place at 6310 LaVista Dr.

Just ask John Breckenridge, sales manager of the Western region for the cable channel Showtime. In town from California, Breckenridge was having trouble getting his reservation for one honored at a well-known Addison steakhouse, Angry, he walked out and found a cab driver who recommended somewhere else he could get a steak-Matt’s No Place. Once there, he was seated immediately and well-satisfied with his steak,

Then Breckenridge went back to California and spread the good word about No Place to everyone he knew, via the Internet.

Owner Matt Martinez confirmed the tale, saying he has gained quite a few customers from Breckenridge’s e-mail campaign. Martinez says his restaurant bas been a success partly because “we honor reservations, and we just use our old Southern hospitality.” -R.H.

GREAT PERFORMANCES

D Magazines First Annual “Munchie” Awards

● Best Underwater Adventure {and much, much better than Water-world): La Trattoria Lombardi’s enormous tureens of the seafood-loaded soup/stew called cioppino. Bellisimo!

● Best Religious Conversion (since Julie Andrews left the convent for married life in The Sound of Music]: Either Frisco’s The Abbey Texas Cafe or Cole Street’s Chip’s, both of which are housed in what were once churches.

● Best Use of a Tomato: City Cafe’s fresh tomato soup with scallions or La Madeleine’s tomato basil soup.

● Best Supporting Actor-Turned-Actress in a Deep Ellum Restaurant: Monica (née Eduardol of Monica’s Aca Y Alla, whose innovative Mexican dishes are boffo box office.

● Best Multiple Personality Since All About Eve: The ever-eccentric Enigma, where the decor is hodgepodge supreme, no two place settings are alike, and every diner at your table orders from a different menu.

● Best Director Yellow chef Christian Svalesen, whose Dungeness crab cakes are colorfully served atop coriander oil (green) and tomato coulis (red). More importantly, these might just be the eatiest roles-er, cakes, around.

-Suzanne Hough