Probably the most interesting restaurant piece in this week's papers focuses on service, and the cultural differences that make dining experiences vary from city to city. Los Angeles is a driving town; that affects the service, since people splurge on things other than multiple cocktails. Plus, since diners might have battled some crazy traffic to get there, they want the night to be extremely worth it, and that includes pampering.

New York ... well, New York's about toughness. Many will also say it's about gruffness, with a sweetness below the grit. And its tightly wound denizens expect polish and consistency when it comes to dining. They want things be very "Three Bears" -- the slippery "just right" that makes being a Big Apple server such a hard job. New Yorkers may look pretty darn quirky, and many of them are completely bizarre people themselves, but quirky restaurant behavior doesn't always fly.

Ideas like this, along with many others, can be found in the L.A. Times's fascinating piece, "Service That'll Play in L.A." Oh, but even better reading than that is the "manifesto" sidebar to the story. It is a "Diner's Bill of Rights" as crafted by Times writer Leslie Brenner, and it is just awesome.

Hot Plates loves no. 6, a mini-screed against being told to "wait until the full party has arrived in order to be seated." We also love no. 10, which expresses annoyance at waitstaff who neglect to bring a wine list to the table. "Restaurateurs, welcome to the 21st century! Many of us -- even girls -- are interested in wine." We have experienced this puzzling phenomenon, and we didn't think we looked like the Pepsi-with-dinner type.

Here's an item out of Washington but about New York: a little rave about Fiamma in SoHo, which was "recast" and reopened in September with Fabio Trabocchi at the helm. Trabocchi was formerly the man behind the four-star Maestro in Tyson's Corner, Va., and he seems very happy about his new roost.

At this point, you may be wondering where Frank Bruni has cast his discerning eye this week, since his reviews typically make it into this roundup. It's impressive: Bruni seems to be showing his tender side by writing about a place he feels should be getting more business. Also noteworthy is that it is a Korean place in Brooklyn -- though Park Slope might well be an extension of the West Village these days. However, in Moim's review in the N.Y. Times, the place gets just one star: "Upscale Korean food remains a relatively somnolent genre," Bruni says.

There are a couple of shorter writeups in the New York Times: BLT Market, the newest spot from the prolific Laurent Toroundel that's in the Ritz-Carlton, sounds "bistro-y" but is not a drop-in-weekly place for most people, with entrees between $29 and $43. And Seven's Turkish Grill, up in the west 70s of Manhattan, sells "pides," not pizzas, and they sound delicious: "The soft warm dough is slathered with meats (cured and otherwise), cheeses or vegetables and sometimes all three."

Neighborhood spots are great, but it's also neat to have a Michelin-rated restaurant in your 'hood. The updated Bay Area Michelin Guide just came out, and two places got two stars (the only three-star is French Laundry); in all, 34 places got stars, up from 28 last year.

When the stars come out tonight, we hope some of you are seated somewhere wonderful where you didn't have to wait to be seated, you received drinks in a timely fashion, nobody forgot what you ordered and you didn't have to endure a monologue about your server's dining preferences. Don't get all soft on Hot Plates; stand up for your dining rights!