Restaurants with staying power are owned by pros who are constantly gauging culinary trends, refining menus and changing with their patrons' changing tastes. Maureen's, a four-year old gourmet restaurant on Longboat Key, is owned and operated by two professionals who know how to keep things fresh. Steve (the chef) and Maureen (front of the house) operate in two locations-Longboat Key and Wildwood, New Jersey, the location of their summer restaurant.

When the Horns returned to Florida this fall, they renamed their restaurant Maureen's Palm Grille. The change reflects a more relaxed, bistro-like attitude. The dining room is still stunningly sophisticated in a restrained, big-city way. And the martini bar has retained its many offerings because customers here are crazy about odd and traditional martinis as well as those cute containers they come in. But the menu has expanded to include chicken and dumplings, braised short ribs, burgers and crabcake sandwiches-though it still includes such old favorites as the osso buco, bouillabaisse and the Vermont salad.

The biggest change is breakfast. The Horns are serving it. Eat inside or, better yet, choose an umbrella table out on the stone floor patio that used to display artwork from neighboring Corbino Galleries. Now a single statue in the garden is surrounded by glass-top tables and plastic side chairs. Settle back with the newspaper and order from a breakfast menu that is truly one of the best to be found on or off the island.

Russian eggs ($9.50), a turn on eggs Benedict using smoked salmon, Hollandaise and caviar, is a huge favorite and deserves to be. It's served with Lyonaisse home fries. You could also opt for the traditional eggs Benedict, sausage and biscuits, a shrimp omelet or one made with roasted mushroom and goat cheese. Steve's favorite omelet ($7.50) is a crepe-like egg stuffed with smoked salmon, red onions and tomatoes. It's crowned with sour cream and dill. Rich but light.

If you've got a sweet tooth that needs filling at breakfast time, try French toast made with challah ($6.25) or a stuffed version with banana, cream cheese and strawberries. Butter and warm syrup send this thick confection into a dizzying stratosphere of sweet indulgence. Purists may order two eggs any style with toast; if they wish to get risqué, Fontani sausage, Virginia ham, or applewood smoked bacon can be added. And, of course, the health-conscious can settle for cereal with skim milk, yogurt and fresh fruit, granola, even oatmeal with brown sugar and golden raisins.

Besides the usual juices and hot beverages, Maureen's serves up mimosas, bloody Marys or bloody-tinis-which combine Absolute citron and Pepar vodka with bloody Mary mix. The garnish is kosher salt and cucumber. Sounds nourishing to me.

Breakfast on Maureen's patio is relaxed, unhurried and pleasurable. You're apt to see lots of folks you know. No buffet lines here-everything is cooked in the kitchen and served with an eye toward presentation. Your server keeps refilling the coffee cups; and yes, you can have ketchup on your home fries. But you'll have to ask for the Heinz because aesthetically minded Maureen can't adjust to seeing the plastic bottles on her pretty tables. She's also made another concession to her clientele. She's relaxed the no-kid rule. In fact, she and Steve bought two artistically painted high chairs over the summer. Now you grandparents can show off visiting tots at breakfast on the patio or inside. Just don't try it at a late-night seating in the dining room. The regulars would not be amused.

Maureen's Palm Grille

5350 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key

383-7774

Major credit cards

Closed Mondays

Dinner: Tuesday-Sunday, 5:30 to 10 p.m.. Reservations suggested.

Breakfast: Wednesday-Sunday, 8-11 a.m. and until noon on Sundays. No reservations for breakfast.

This town is reeling in ravioli and big house reds. New Italian restaurants, wine bars or gourmet markets open faster than we can gather a few friends together to experience them. Which may explain why 15 South Ristorante Enoteca escaped our radar until recently. This St. Armands Circle establishment combines a retail wine emporium with a relaxed neighborhood cafe and a bit of a cosmopolitan supper club atmosphere, too.

Make your entrance through a classy bar and retail wine area to the dining room, which is outfitted with bistro tables and attractive wooden chairs. Friendly greetings abound. With white tablecloths and napkins but no booths or banquettes and less-than-gentle lighting, it's comfortable inside but not intimate.

Instead, 15 South is a place to see and be seen, to table hop and chat with friends. The noise level is up there (it used to be higher until owner Joe Casadio lowered the ceiling and installed acoustic tiles). Color photos and prints that depict life in the port city of Genoa share space on the yellow walls with Venetian carnival masks. Waiters are clad in formal shirts and black bow ties, and the snappy bus staff wears logo T-shirts.