Oh, the woes of a local burger aficionado. Near Penn, choices are slim for that most quintessential of American meals: On the one hand, beefy checks and relatively long waits are the norm at the Marathon Grills or Copabananas of campus, while on the other hand - McDonalds.

Step inside a small Italian villa - err, step inside Branzino restaurant. Located at 261 S. 17th St. in Center City, Branzino is a small, but cozy BYO to gather with friends for wine and good food. I especially liked the decor, which included soft green hues and murals that made it seem like one was looking out onto a countryside.

Since its construction, the Cira Centre has served as the shiniest welcome sign to University City Penn has ever seen. It has simultaneously served as a building that has confounded students with an array of questions: What exactly goes on there? Is it an office building? A conference center? And how exactly do people walk inside when it's shaped so weirdly? One question (is the food there good?) was answered at Rae, the building's first floor occupant, with a resounding yes.

I have an admission to make: My "fine dining" experiences here at Penn have largely ignored restaurants close to campus. What can I say? I'm an adventurous kind of guy. Not that there aren't great restaurants nearby. Penne's subdued setting below the Inn at Penn and mature clientele don't exactly endear it to the BYO-fanatic student crowd.

Despite the costume controversy that marked Penn President Amy Gutmann's Halloween party last year, there will be no official censorship policy implemented for tonight's annual soiree. Gutmann came under criticism last year for posing with 2007 Penn alumnus Saad Saadi, who was dressed as a suicide bomber.

The Ivy League title hopes of Harvard, Columbia and Cornell all rest on Penn. All four of those teams are tied for second place in the Ivy field hockey standings at 4-2, but it is the Quakers who take on 5-1 Princeton on Friday at Franklin Field. A Tigers victory will ensure that they will be the champions of the 2007 season and garner the Ivy League's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

A new program at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will hopefully attract more students to Penn, University officials say. Beginning with the Class of 2012, SEAS will implement its first Honors Program. Selected students will take honor-level courses, complete a research requirement and contribute to the community.

Originally opened in 1773, City Tavern has proudly upheld the time-honored techniques of 18th century American chefs. Every dish offered on their menu has a unique story behind it. My guest and I began to order our appetizers and our server came to life from being a formal colonial servant to animatedly telling us the story behind each dish: How W.

Whether you're a college student with a big appetite and a small budget or you prefer sampling a variety of dishes rather than just one, Joy Tsin Lau's daily dim sum lunch is a perfect choice. Dim sum, a Cantonese term meaning to "touch the heart," or "order to your heart's content," is the Chinese equivalent of tapas.

For Tobi Olopade, it looks as though the non-conference season was just a bit too good to be true. On a team awash with older and more highly-touted players, it seemed like the freshman track runner-slash-soccer walk-on was improbably carving out a niche as a go-to striker on coach Rudy Fuller's Penn team.

Nobody does steak finer than Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Don't be misled by the name, though. Ruth's Chris is far from a one-dish restaurant and is the perfect dining location for anyone interested in spending the night out in a more formal setting. The Ruth's Chop Salad started out the meal right, although my date and I opted to share it, due to the size of the dish and the entree we both were eagerly anticipating.

University President Amy Gutmann's refusal to disclose the details behind former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson's resignation represents an outlier in a long trend of openness as an academic and administrator.

When most Penn students think about getting a sandwich their top choices probably come down to Geno's, Pat's, or Koch's. That's a shame, because one of the best sandwiches in Philadelphia is the banh mi, or a Vietnamese hoagie offered at many small eateries.

Nine more days. With Penn's season opener against Drexel less than a week and a half away, the Quakers took to the floor last night before a sparse crowd. Faced with the first real rebuilding effort at Penn in the past several years, Miller said after the annual Red and Blue scrimmage that getting under the lights, as it did over the weekend in a scrimmage at Colgate, could do his young team good.

Instead of ESPN or an intense game of Halo, the giant flat screen in the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity house living room last night featured complicated diagrams of advanced physics and descriptions of abstract string theory. Physics professor Mirjam Cvetic spoke to about 20 fraternity brothers in a presentation on the basis of string theory and her complex theoretical research on the subject.

Few Penn students are eager to trek into West Philadelphia past the safe haven of 40th Street, but for those willing to make a small trip, there are some pleasant culinary surprises. One such destination is Dock Street Brewery and Restaurant, a new eatery located in a converted firehouse at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue.

A hectic, slightly hapless afternoon in New York is behind me. Smartsave map in hand, I made it to the U.N. building two minutes after it closed to visitors; a clutch of taxi drivers refused my fare; and I took the sweltering 456 subway line to the Whitney Museum of American Art arriving at 5:10 p.