MELVYN'S - DESERT DINING IS A STAR-STUDDED AFFAIR

It's a showstopper, this place, especially at night. Like clockwork, the luxury automobiles snake up the narrow driveway and the valley crowd make their entrance and into the acclaimed Melvyn's. On weekends, it's very possible you might spot a celebrity or two or three.

That's when Brian Ellis, maitre d' at Melvyn's swings into his act and ensures everyone is happy. So happy that Ellis was awarded the coveted title of "Maitre d' of the Year" for the state of California earlier this year.

Goldie Hawn, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and Arnold and Maria Schwarzenegger have

During the week it is a delightful time to see the regulars in attendance enjoying light lunches, while Saturday and Sunday is reserved for champagne brunch. The dinner menu caters to an array of palates with a continental flavor,

Melvyn's enjoys a prominent profile among the food gurus who either evaluate the overall picture or canvas their readers' opinions. Either way, the restaurant scores exemplary results, and also claims bragging rights after they were named "One of the 10 Best" by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, a popular TV show.

Chef Juan Castaneda has worked at Melvyn's since 1986, and he upholds the continuous tradition of indulging guests when it comes to preparing food.

"We are open to satisfying any customer," he says with a smile. "If we have the items in the kitchen, we will make it," he continues, referring to special requests. "There is no 'No' in the kitchen - this is a big kitchen," he insists.

Melvyn's signature dishes are the House Salad and Veal Ingleside. "I like the veal because it is bland and you can add your own flavor, " says Castaneda, adding that his creations extend into Cajun, Mexican, Italian and Creole cooking.

The Mexican-born chef is so passionate about his cuisine he hardly leaves his assistants alone because he says he really loves cooking. At 38, he doesn't even think about retiring because he says, "You will never learn everything."

Castaneda welcomes the freedom he has at Melvyn's to develop his own creations. "In the United States there are a lot of different types of dishes," he says, explaining that he is influenced by Britain, Spain, France and Mexico.

His favorite spice? Curry. His favorite dishes? Papaya with Dungeness crab and olive dressing and Chilled Atlantic Salmon and cucumber salad and asparagus.

The menu changes are seasonal, and with 25 different entrees featuring seafood, veal, chicken, lamb, beef, pork and pasta, making a selection is a pleasant challenge.

My favorites bordered on the 'exotic' but I hope I can visit again to try more of Chef Castaneda's culinary creations.

It's a toss up which of these I really savored, but here's the dish on them. Fresh whitefish, grilled with mango and sweet basil sauce was a first for me, but the mango sounded intriguing to my taste buds.

Roasted pork loin stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes and spinach in a raspberry sauce was quite a combination, and again, another first for me. I am partial to sundried tomatoes and spinach, but I was curious about the raspberry sauce. My opinion? Simply delicious.

Dinner comes with a choice of house salad or soup of the day and vegetables. It's a good idea to request different seating arrangements if you're staying at the inn so that you can people watch as well.

Between bites, the tables are within range of exchanging niceties with your fellow diners. Two couples struck up a conversation one evening and ended up discovering they were teachers, and then began comparing benefits they enjoy in Canada and the United States.

Dinner is never complete until dessert arrives. Melvyn's tempts waistlines with "A Bouquet of the Primadonnas of delectable European Desserts" all of which are irresistible.

Chocolate Bomb - chocolate goulache and chocolate cake laced with Myers Rum and Kahlua is certainly a sweet explosion, while Raspberry Tarte - chocolate cake layered with whipped cream and fresh raspberries, topped with Bavarian cream and Chambord is just divine!

I wish I could introduce a new custom of serving a dessert midway between courses, and then the Souffle Grand Marnier would be worth the wait (preparation time is 20 minutes).

If the night is still young, you might want to stop at the Casablanca Lounge, a piano bar with nightly entertainment and dancing. For pre and apres-dinner drinks, the long oak and mahogany bar is the place to sit and sip your favorite cocktail, perhaps a martini a la Melvyn's (the same one that ranked the best in a Best of the Valley readers' poll).