Horn: I'm a 33-year veteran chef so I don't cut myself very often anymore-maybe once every two months or so. It's a young chef thing. Besides, my hands are so callused by now, I'm tough to cut.

Trefry: I haven't been to the hospital for stitches in six years. But I do cut myself about every month or so.

Oldano: I've never needed stitches, although every few years I do nick myself. But don't ask me about burns. I haven't been so lucky in that department.

Knaggs: In 1980, in a kitchen in Monte Carlo, I chopped off the tip of my third finger, left hand. There was nothing to stitch; it just had to be cauterized. Talk about painful. I haven't done anything to equal that since, thank God. I've been cooking since 1972 and the more I do it, the more respect I have for knives. If I have one piece of advice to offer home cooks, it's this: Never, never try to catch a falling knife.

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THE BIJOU'S BACK

The popular downtown café re-emerges after a devastating fire.

On April 24, a fire destroyed the kitchen at the Bijou Cafe. Since then, owners J.P. and Shay Knaggs have been renovating and upgrading. See what they have been up to when the new and improved Bijou opens to the public the end of this month. Look for a private dining room/conference for 20, a full bar and lounge area and more restroom capacity.

What you won't see (unless you ask for a tour) is a completely upgraded and enlarged kitchen (two-and-a-half times bigger than the old one) that will allow J.P. to expand his menu. The cooks' line has gone from six feet to 24. There's a new refrigeration system (including those nifty under-counter drawers), state-of-the-art cooking equipment and plenty of storage space. It was a long, sad summer for area gourmands and business types who depend upon the Bijou Cafe for reliable Continental cuisine in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. But our patience has been rewarded.

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LIQUID ASSETS

A quick course in playing the wine futures game.

By Robert Paul

Talk about delayed gratification! Imagine buying a wine in the spring of 2000, getting it two years later and then waiting another five to 10 years to pull the cork. That's exactly what tens of thousands of people do every year when they buy Bordeaux futures. That's right- high-stake futures, as in pork bellies or soy beans.

Bordeaux's place in the wine world is unequaled, and wine aficionados always want the reds of this region. And they are really thirsting after the 2000 French vintage. The buzz is that there won't be another label like it for, well, maybe a century or so. Famous wine critic Robert Parker, a Sarasota Winefest honoree, has asserted that it's the best vintage he's met in 23 years of barrel-tasting Bordeaux wines.

From the premier tranche (first release) Bordeaux prices have been escalating rapidly. We are already up to the quatrieme tranche, and prices have doubled. Prices rose so quickly that a consumer could have purchased futures of this vintage for less than a wine merchant could have purchased the same wine six weeks later.

That's made wine futures look very attractive to a whole new crop of investors. It makes economic sense to buy now and drink later if you scored your store of wine for prices well below what you would have to pay by the time the wine appeared in stores. Enthusiasts also point out that the dollar has weakened compared with the franc or the euro since the Bordeaux was made, which could boost prices even farther. Moreover, access to some of these vaunted wines may be limited. Purchasing a few cases now may be your best (perhaps your only) opportunity to acquire these Bordeaux wines without having to resort to an auction.

Before you begin playing with wine futures, you need to understand that prices are not always what they seem. You might read, for example, that the premier tranche of Chateau Unamit is $100 a bottle. Is that the price at which you can buy that wine? The answer is a resounding "no." The price you would be offered at retail, even as a future, would be approximately double that. The reason becomes apparent when you consider the time-honored system. The chateau (winery) provides samples that a courtier (broker) takes to a negociant (wine merchant), who contacts major importers and private buyers. Then the importer calls his clients (wholesalers and retailers), who then call their customers. Prices rise at every stage of the process, and the enthusiasm of wine critics, negociants and wine importers who have tasted barrel samples can also increase the offering price.