Good Food and Gaiety

In your desire to escape the memory of dining hall food, you will probably rush madly hither and you. Let the following guide you. The Carnaval Room of the Sherry--Netherlands offers dinner and supper dance music by sundry gypsies and Lester Lanin. Down the street a bit, Le Ruban Bleu, 4 E. 56th Street features no less than ten night club artists to form a pleasant distraction during the meal time. A block away is Le Coq Rouge at 65 E. 56th Street. It supplies Phil D'Arcy's trio and Eddie Davis' orchestra. There is dancing here. If you are after the best, and want to pay for it, head for the "21" Club, at 21 W. 52nd. If you saw "All About Eve," you also saw the "21."

Returning to earth, Joe King's "G-A" at 190 Third Avenue is tops for inexpensive German-American food, thick brew and community singing. Lum Fong has got it if you are looking for real stuff in Chinese food, while Sallo de Champagne, 135 MacDougal St. in the Village offers comfortable couchs to sit and relax on. It has a truly unique atmosphere, and serves terrific wines and champagnes.

Theatre

The theatregoer will find a broad and varied fare this weekend, ranging from such long run favorites as South Pacific and Kiss Me Kate to one-week old adaptation of Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon.

Leading off the list of popular musicals is Guys and Dolle, a brassy, tough affair starring Vivian Blaine. Guys and Dolle, which was called from a Damon Runyon gambling story, is running at the 46th Street Theatre.

Irving Berlin's newest offering Call Me Madam, features noisy Ethel Merman in an apparent take-off on Perle Mesta, current ambassador to Luxembourg. Berlin's score has been effectively combined with a Lindsay and Crouse book to make one of the top musicals of this, or any other, season. (Imperial).

Running quite a few paces behind these works are the mediocre Bless You All (Mark Hellinger) and Cole Porter's Out of This World (Century). Comedian Charlotte Greenwood has kept Porter's musical in the black.

Mike Todd's Peep Show features some cleaned-up Scollay Square gags and a more appetizing chorus line. Burlesque followers can pick up this number at the Winter Garden.

Old favorites, South Pacific, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Kiss Me Kate are still drawing full houses. South Pacific is at the Majestic, starring Mary Martin, but not Ezio Pinza. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is playing at the Ziegfield. Anne Jeffreys has replaced Patricia Morison in Cole Porter's Kate, at the Schubert.

The straight plays offer an even more interesting selection for this weekend than the musicals. Hits like Death of a Salesman or Madwoman Challiot are now on the road, but the current fare is by no means lean.

Claude Raines has drawn impressive notices for his performance in Darkness At Noon, Sidney Kingley's adaptation of Koestler's novel of the same name. Tickets are scarce for this tragedy but it is certainly worth investigation. (Alvin).

Christopher Fry's The Lady's Not for Burning, is another excellent opus, with John Gielgud and Pamela Brown heading the cast. (Royale).

The Country Girl, Clifford Odet's newest play, concerns a drunken actor (Paul Kelly) seeking a return to stardom. Both Kelly and Uta Hagen give brilliant performances in this drama. (Lyceum).

Frederic March and Florence Eldridge are co-starred in Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. (Boadhurst).