Baked clams casino was a tasty dish, except that the bacon squares over several of the clams were fatty, without a smidgeon of meat.

Also pointing dramatically skyward was a sprig of rosemary atop a fine, flaky baked Atlantic salmon, encased in a pumpkin-seed crust, perched on mashed potatoes that are liberally sprinkled with shrimp chunks, bacon squares and flecks of chives.

In a photo finish for top grades was hot onion tart, made of sliced onions, and smoked bacon squares in a creamy melange, served between rounds of crisp and flaky puff pastry.

Even hoary old New England clam chowder took on verve with the addition of bacon squares, celery, a few diced potatoes and an abundance of clams.

We began one dinner with the hot appetizer sampler, which consisted of two stuffed mushroom caps, two marinated jumbo shrimp and two clams casino with bacon squares on top.

Food: Breakfast, Day 3: peaches, bacon squares (8), apricot cereal cubes (4), grape drink and orange drink.

What the menu calls mesculun greens (from the Provencal word, mesclun, a mixture of tender greens and leaf lettuces) was tossed with thin slices of pear, huge fried oysters and bacon squares in a warm, tangy raspberry vinaigrette.

A shared spinach salad, too generous for two, was a welcome mixture of large spinach leaves, warm bacon squares, fresh mushroom slices, hard-boiled egg halves, strips of Swiss cheese and canned black olives, with a creamy peppercorn dressing (which was on the bland side).