Restaurant Review: Luna D'oro By George Benington.

Continued from page 45 Queen, the imaging computer a product oftechnology used first inthe architectural and engineering fields,says Dr. Hill,who says "The need arose because it's very difficultto give patients a good idea of what they'll look like afterward. Before, we had to say 'This is sort of what you'll look like,' using a Polaroid shot where we'd draw the nose without the hump on it."

This formidable hunk of science was built by Business Information Technologies, Inc., of Champlain, Illinois, and Dr. Hillfirstbumped into itat a national meeting of the American Academy of Facial Plastic surgeons in Atlanta in August, 1985 and later at a lips-suction shindig at Palm Beach. Now he's the envy of the Maine Society of Otolaryngology, and Drs. Diehl, Kristin, and Gardiner have already been sniffing around to scope out the CAMEO II. Looker. Cost isjust $20,000, less than most plastic surgeons' Jaguars, and for $55 at your initial screening, you can see for yourself what you've been missing all these years.

Or what you'd like to be missing.

Augusta resident Dr. Hill, who performs his surgery at Kennebec Valley Medical in Augusta, came here from California a fewyears ago ("I was tired of Southern California, tired of the climate, and tired of no change of seasons"), and says that prospective elective plastic surgery cases suffer from "the same misconceptions out west," as far as walking in with a hopeful glossy of Kim Bassinger is concerned. "The most common misconception is that people think they can request what they'll look like," he says. "You can alter your appearance favorably, but there are limits governed by your original facial structure," he says. "Also, scar revisions are another thing - of course you cannot make scars completely go away without leaving any trace."

Embarrassed, I feel my Mel Gibson glossy burning in my shirt pocket. "Elective surgery has been 80-percent women, but that is changing more, though," observes Dr. Hill, an affable, conscientious professional witha monogrammed Cross Pen and a good deal of insight into his clients. "We get car salespeople, real estate people, people working in department stores, people who are retired - they have a common thread - they're peopiewho are in changing situations (new job, new marriage, etc.), and visibilityis important to them. "There we go." "Now we have Louise on the image board. Head back a little bit." Louise, Dr. Hill's associate and medical makeup expert, instantly appears on the SummaSketch Till video screen, a product of Summagraphics®. The software connected to the imaging device is a garden-variety AT&T PC. "Ah, she's captured now!" says Dr. Hill. The software graphics shimmer impressively and the computer displays a three-dimensional series of high fashion words in the Showtime mode, as in "Your Cameo II system is now being installed, Cameo II Vx., Computerized imaging, Thank you for watching our presentation. "

I look over at Louise, who is very attractive, with a face so symmetrical th t a... "Er, L . ?"OUlse. "Yes," she says softly. "Have you ever... "

Louise is a good sport. She laughs. "Last Easter weekend. I had a chin implant. It's sylastic, orjell-filled.Would you like to touch it?" (Would I!)

Sure, said Nick Adams.

He touched it.

It was very satisfactory, smooth as a bannister.

Louise is more than a good sport. Like Dr. Hill, she has been able to change people's lives with her art, which is considerable. A glance at her before/ after book shows truly stunning transformations: a nice-looking I8-yearold boy with a wine stain covering half his face is completely, absolutely, convincingly rescued from shyness he must have carried likean accordion to school. And withmedical makeup alone. Three visits! Page after page of burn victims have been saved from incomprehensible . sadness. Dozens of people are living much happier lives because of her work. And Dr. Hill is straight, polite, proud of his work, and full of honesty and empathy for the people who come to him for help.

All of us here at Portland Monthly were deeply saddened to learn of the recent death of Dr. Hill, a talented, witty, and intelligent man who, according to American Health magazine, was one of a handful of specialists nationwide using this computer imaging technology. Weare happy to say that a fellow plastic surgeon and Louise Laliberte Hill will continue the spirit and work he pioneered.

LUNA D'ORO

By George Benington

Restaurant Row, in case you are not yet familiar with the moniker, is on Middle Street across from Jordan's Meats (a nice counterpoint), and is composed of Cafe Always, Hamilton's, and its most recent addition, Luna D'oro. Nowhere else in Portland is so much culinary diversity packed into so few square feet. Most of the diversity results from adventurous crossings of traditional boundaries chefs coming from unique backgrounds, often different from the style of their respective restaurants. In this case, Chef Alain of Luna D'oro is French.

Luna D'oro is a romantic little place, with seats for 25 or 30 in one L-shi.ped and another tiny room. Each table has an appealingly cliched Chianti bottle candle dripping with wax. Even when the place is full, it is very private and cozy.

The night we went, the whole m!>odand spirit of the place was much in line with our own; The service was unfortunate. Our waiter, after having dismissed his colleagues, was alone in a full house. Too, the chef was apparently distracted that evening: We ordered one entree and were served another in its place. The menu is broad and interesting with a distinctly Northern Italian selection and features some amusing ideas about letter capitalization. The wine list has a much more interesting selection of Italian wines than most Maine Italian restaurants. The baked snails in garlic butter were served in the shell and had a hint of Sambuca. The garlic bread was good. The entrees are a standard selection of linguine, fettuccine, pesto, Alfredo, several preparations of veal, chicken, calamari, and shrimp. Each Specialita is served with a side of Fettucine Alfredo. We managed to convince our waiter to serve one of ours with Linguine al pesto. The pesto seemed fresh, but had rather imperfect balance: a bit too basily.1t was, however, better than one finds in most New England restaurants. We'll never know what the chicken Piccata was like because, although we ordered it, we were served the chicken with shallots, artichokes, mushrooms, and red wine. It was good, tender, but it suffered from an excess of oil and butter in which it floated: a flaw several of the entrees shared. The Veal Saltimbocca was probably the best item we tried, and was certainly better than any other I have had in Portland. The veal was fresh, tender, it was served with whole sage leaves and fairly high quality prosciutto. Again, it swam too much In oil. The salad was wonderful except that we had to ask for it after we finished our entrees (a practice actually preferred in most Continental restaurants but not intended here). The greens were tart and had zing and the dressing was a house vinaigrette.

Luna D' oro is charming in some ways because of its innocence, its atmosphere, and the manner in which the food is prepared and presented. Other Portland and Maine Italian restaurants are more static, as if they feel their reputations are secure-no need to experiment. Luna D'oro is certainly worth a try.

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