In the summer, speed is of the essence where cooking is concerned. How else are you supposed to have time to swim, relax on the beach, play tennis, shower, watch the sunset with cocktail in hand, and have dinner for your houseguests on the table by the time the kids are in bed? (Read on . . .)

Italian Renaissance

Visiting Lidia Bastianich's house in Douglaston, Queens, is like being transported to an Italian hill town. The owner of Felidia and the matriarch of a burgeoning restaurant empire grows figs and cures her own prosciutto -- and on Sunday afternoons, the whole family gathers for lunch.

Quick Study

Chef Wylie Dufresne conjures an extravagantly flavorful summer meal -- tomato-and-onion tarts, mustard-brushed poussins, summer-berry-and-hazelnut crumble -- and tells you how to get it to the table in an hour.

Fisherman's Friends

Mario Batali, Nobu Matsuhisa, Eric Ripert, and other acclaimed chefs divulge their deep-sea secrets.

Cold Comforts

The ice-cream float of your youth has come of age -- legal drinking age, that is. The newest wave in desserts, they are bright, light, sophisticated, and full of spirit.

Eclectic Company

Some of New York's most gracious hosts talk about the personal touches that make a party memorable -- whether it's takeout sushi and TV or homemade frittatas for brunch.

DEPARTMENTS
Intelligencer
BY BETH LANDMAN KEIL WITH IAN SPIEGELMAN

City Politic
BY MICHAEL TOMASKY

While the mayor keeps sending out too many messages, Hillary has yet to articulate one the voters can sink their teeth into

The National Interest
BY LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

Market watch: Contrary to conventional GOP wisdom, Bush needs the bull market as badly as Gore

Media
BY MICHAEL WOLFF

Beat the press: Can Rudy continue to keep the upper hand?

Fishing lures: knives, platters, and other seafood essentials

Smart City
BY GILLIAN DUFFY

Chefs bottle their prize sauces -- and tell you what to do with them

Sales & Bargains
BY SHYAMA PATEL

Brilliant looks for summer that won't outshine your budget

THE CRITICS
Movies
BY PETER RAINER

Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet in a chilling corporate Elsinore-on-the-Hudson

Books
BY DANIEL MENDELSOHN

Harold Bloom on the importance of reading -- and of Harold Bloom

Art
BY MARK STEVENS

Art and showbiz intersect at a Frederic Edwin Church tribute

Classical Music
BY PETER G. DAVIS

Sweeney Todd at Avery Fisher Hall? Why not?

Television
BY JOHN LEONARD

Mystery! reveals the dark origins of Sherlock Holmes

Restaurants
BY HAL RUBENSTEIN

At Rockefeller Center, two restaurants vie with the view

CUE
Cirque du Soleil in 3-D; Lucy Pearl at S.O.B.'s; Art Spiegelman's stage debut; the Met's modern America

Classifieds
Strictly Personals