This week is a big one for dining out. But last night the plan was to eat in.

I had prepared beef stew the other day for dinner. As the dinner hour approached, its charms were fading fast. Feeling a bit melancholic from too much winter weather, the notion of a hot dining spot on a cold nigh tseemed like a better idea.

That's it. Chuck the beef stew. We're going out to eat, an opportunity that I don’t often pass up.

What I really wanted was a cozy place with good food.

I thought of Mim’s, 555 or Café Uffa because they would be cozy and good. I made a few calls. Portland restaurants were not busy last night. It's a holiday week of sorts, people away skiing or sunning somewhere south.

As it turned out, Uffa and Five Fifty-Five are closed on Tuesdays. And I had had lunch at Mim’s a few days ago, so I’d reserve dinner there another time.

The concept of cozy dining is not hard to achieve in Portland. We seem to specialize in the intimate. And and number of places would have worked.

Where haven’t we been for a while? Cinque Terre.

The parking is easy there, something I usually consider when equating where to go. If I don't get a spot on Fore Street, I just pull into the Fore Street Garage.

We arrived at seven-thirty, to a half-full room-- impressive enough for a bleak night with burr and snow in the air.

We settled into a plush banquette. The night was already improving. My first thoughts were this is a really attractive restaurant. The notion of cozy and sizzle conspired with an easy confluence.

I'm not going to go into an exhaustive diatribe of every bit and morsel. Suffice it to say that we had a wonderful meal. I started off with the night's version of fricos, an appetizer which is often on the menu. It's Montasio cheese wrapped around potato, splashed with truffle oil and fried. It's served over wilted spinach, with flecks of pine nuts, capers and eggplant. A great dish. My companion had the eggplant terrine, another preparation high with flavor and style.

For a main course we chose the braised chicken and the sole. The chicken was cooked in a deep, richly vibrant tomato sauce, and I loved it. The sole was served with braised endive and capers, another excellent dish.

We finished the meal with a chocolate sampler, a must-have dessert here.

Cinque Terre was really the right choice on such a night.

The remainder of the week has a lot of eating ahead.

Tonight we're off to Ribollita for a friend's birthday celebration. I haven't been there in ages and look forward to it.

The next night we're going to a special dinner at Bandol, which I'm sure will be memorable.

If I can bear it we'll eat home on Friday. Though, at this point, a simple feast of fasting could work, too.

On Saturday we go to Boston to see Kathleen Turner in the revival of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf." I saw the original on Broadway when I was barely a teenager. I look forward to it with an anticipatory pre-codger's point of view.

I haven't decided on where to have dinner in Boston. On my list to try are Caffe Umbra, Teatro, Pigalle, Azure and Clio.

Any suggestions?

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