BROOKSIDE. Featuring a coffee bar for sleepy morning customers and a cheerful, rustic dining room for later in the day, Aixois is fast becoming a Brookside mainstay. Classic French dishes, simply prepared, form the backbone of the dinner menu. Start with classic hors d'oeuvres ­ mussels cooked with wine, herbs, and shallots, or snails in garlic, parsley, and butter will whet your appetite. Entrees include grilled duck breast with sauteed mushrooms and black truffle sauce, and scallops and shrimp in a port reduction with crystallized ginger. Beef, veal, and fish also make appearances in a variety of savory sauces. Don't forgo either chocolate and fruit crepes or profiteroles for dessert.

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA. A city presence for more than 50 years, this chocolate shop and tearoom is acclaimed for its rich, flavorful chocolate candies and a painstakingly crafted selection of decadent pastries. The tearoom offers a changing menu of Swiss fare throughout the week, but coffee, tea, pastries, and, of course, chocolates are available before and after lunch. Confections are perfect to enjoy on-the-spot, or pick up a selection to share with a very lucky somebody. Also open Mondays from Thanksgiving through New Year's.

DOWNTOWN. Vegetarian cuisine that tastes great? Yes, if it's at Bluebird Bistro, where they make simply spectacular soups and specialty pizzas. The comfortable spot, which also offers dishes that incorporate meat and seafood, makes you feel right at home, and much of the produce the cafe uses comes from a garden right across the street. When you stop for lunch, you get not only healthy food but great, tasty cuisine to boot.

PRAIRIE VILLAGE. With a chocolatier and pastry chef from Lyon, France, this small bakery brings a large dose of authenticity to local sweet tooths. Within the cheery, yellow-walled space, you can enjoy a coffee and pastry at your leisure, or a small patio is available. Cookies, brownies, and an assortment of bars, fruit tarts, breads, and muffins can be had, and a small but delightful lunch menu includes quiches, sandwiches (including a croque monsieur), and salads. Espresso drinks, brewed coffee, and Italian sodas comprise the drink offerings.

WESTPORT. The espresso shot is elevated to an art form at this Westport coffeehouse. Precise attention to the roasting, grinding, tamping, and extracting of each shot results in consistently excellent espressos. That the cafe easily holds its own against a chain coffee shop next door speaks volumes about the quality of its product. Relatively cheap java with complimentary refills attracts a pleasantly varied crowd that often spills over to lawn chairs outside. If you crave more than just a latte, pop open a Coke in a glass bottle and have a sandwich or pastry.