Up & Coming Weekly

JAN. 27 - FEB. 2, 2010 UCW 19 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM In Lying to Be Perfect (Saturday, 9 p.m., Lifetime), Nola (Poppy Montgomery) is an overweight magazine editor who has a deep, meaningful relationship with dough- nuts. She's a frumpy doormat in the office but has devised a secret alter ego: a sexy advice columnist whom no one has ever seen. Complications arise when a mean editor demands that the mysterious columnist make a personal appearance, so Nola must cut out junk food to find her beauti- ful inner self. Yes, we're in fantasyland — an alternate universe where diets im- mediately work miracles, and where Poppy Montgomery is initially pre- sented as an ugly duckling. (This is a woman who played Marilyn Monroe in a TV biopic, for God's sake.) But if you're willing to suspend disbelief, Lying to Be Perfect is an enjoyable tale of female empowerment. It made me want to abandon doughnuts myself — though if I don't get Montgomery-level results in 30 minutes, I'm heading right back the bakery. High School Reunion Wednesday, 10 pm (TV Land) "It's a High School Reunion like you've never seen before!" exclaims the narrator. Luckily, that's not true. The reality series' new season delivers all the expected pleasures as classmates meet for a 20-year reunion at a Hawaiian resort. The Nerd has blossomed and now has a chance with the Hottie. The Ladies' Man has gone to seed and desperately wants to hook up with some- body. The Troublemaker is still a jerk, and the Popular Girl still a snob. The series is as fun as ever, despite the obviously rigged scenario. In real life, of course, the Nerd would never have a chance with the Hottie. Trust me. The Deep End Thursday, 8 pm (ABC) Four good-looking first-year law associates work too hard and have too much sex with each other. The partner with no principles threatens to fire them whenever they show more interest in doing the right thing than in making money for the firm. But they often do the right thing anyway, just before having more sex with each other. The Deep End is a generic TV lawyer series. It might have been more fun if the filmmakers fully committed to the absurd elements, such as the gor- geous client who sleeps with an associate because she thinks he's Jewish. But no — the series insists on its heart-tugging subplots and would-be inspirational speeches. "It's what we do in the worst of times that tells the world who we re- ally are," says the Partner with Principles. I turned off The Deep End with 10 minutes left to go. That, apparently, is who I really am. La La Land Monday, 11 pm (Showtime) British comedian Marc Wootton comes to the United States to show us how dumb we are. He pretends to be an idiotic actor, an idiotic documentary filmmaker and an idiotic TV psychic, interacting with real people in the L.A. film industry. "Fame and fortune are fleeting," the narrator says over the open- ing credits. "It's stupidity that's eternal." Unfortunately for Wootton, no one looks too stupid when confronted with his idiotic behavior. They're polite at first, then become exasperated, then walk away, as anyone would. So what's the point? Sacha Baron Cohen has satiri- cal ambitions when he fools real people as Ali G, Borat or Bruno. At his best, he exposes our racism, homophobia or nastiness while also making us laugh. Wootton makes viewers want to do the same thing his blameless victims do: walk away. Beauty or Bust Lying to Be Perfect attempts an extreme makeover TV by DEAN ROBBINS The moment I stepped into Luigi's Italian Restaurant and Bar, I was refreshed by the non- standard old Italy atmosphere of the restaurant. It has an ap- peal that is uniquely its own. It is family-owned and family- operated and you can meet at least one of the children of the founders, Peter Parrous, any day you visit. Luigi's is known in Fayetteville both for great Italian food at reasonable prices as well as its superb wine selection. It has been recognized as the "Best Italian Restaurant" with the "Best Wine List," among other awards. The wine list is more accurately a large book than a list. The wines are categorized by region or country and then further categorized by variety. Luigi's is so passionate about wine, they offer a free wine tasting every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. Said Nick Parrous, co-owner of Luigi's and son of Peter, "[The free wine tasting] was started years ago with the intention of educating people about wine. It gives us an opportunity to bring in wines from different regions and expose people to wines they normally would have never tasted. It has been very good for us over the years. We have developed a strong local following." He added that he or a manager who is well-versed in wine is always present at the wine tastings. If you aren't a wine connoisseur, that is no problem. They also offer a sizable selection of liquor and beer. I recently dined at Luigi's for dinner with two friends and found not only the atmosphere of the restaurant to be pleasant, but the service as well. There is indoor, outdoor and bar seating available. The restaurant is clean and organized and our server was professional and friendly. She took time to check with our table often and let us know when our appetizers and meals were on the way. My dining partners and I purposely ordered a wide range of items on the menu. For appetizers, we tried Luigi's complimentary bread and ordered brus- chetta, spinach and artichoke dip, she crab soup, and broccoli soup. I was par- ticularly interested in the bruschetta, which can vary widely from one restaurant to another. I enjoyed it more than any I've eaten yet. Luigi's makes it with hearty slices of Italian bread, topped with a generous helping of chopped fresh tomato, garlic and cheeses. The bread was baked enough to leave the edges crisp but not hard and melt the cheese. Delicious! Our appetizers were brought out at appro- priate intervals: bread, large appetizers and then soups. We had enough time to have finish each round of food before the next was brought out. Luigi's has a wide selection of entrees including pasta, chops and steaks, veal, chicken, seafood and sandwiches. They also offer a menu for children. I found it helpful that with any pasta entree, there is an option to add extra veg- etables or meat for an additional cost. You can have your pasta just the way you like it. We chose to order the baked cheese ravioli, chicken parmigiana and the NY strip steak. Portion sizes are large, so consider how many appetizers to order if you don't want to take half of your entrée home to eat later. We were all genuinely pleased with the quality and taste of our entrees. We also noticed that despite the order of steak, which takes longer to prepare than most other dishes, all three of our meals came out the kitchen steaming hot. When finished with our meals, the server efficiently boxed them for us at the table. Though we had difficulty finishing our entrees, we decided to order dessert. After all, there is always room for that! The server brought out a tray displaying each of the desserts, which I find to be more enjoyable than looking at descrip- tions on a menu. The desserts were reasonably priced, with the most expensive item being the tiramisu, at $6. We ordered the tiramisu and the cannoli. They were presented amidst an eye-appealing display of whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. Both were excellent as far as taste and the cannoli was adequate to share between three people. Our only disappointment was that the piece of Tiramisu wasn't as large as the display on the dessert tray. Our check was brought to us in a timely manner and I was glad to see that the prices were moderate for the quality of the food and service. Luigi's satisfies both the person looking for a casual restaurant with great Italian food and the person who prefers a fine dining experience with a romantic atmosphere and ex- cellent wine. They even have an extensive catering/to go menu. Said Nick, "Our focus is that we want to create a great dining experience. We want customers to go away feeling that they have relaxed and enjoyed themselves. We tell our staff our goal is to separate ourselves from the pack of restaurants in Fayetteville by making the customer's experience as good as it can be." Based on my own expe- rience at Luigi's, this restaurant is maintaining that high standard. For more information, visit www.luigisnc.com Luigi's: Set Apart from the Pack by SHANNEN DILL

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