Round about the PAC: some new favorites and old standards in life neighborhood.

• Author: Lavrakas, Dimitra
• Position: Alaska Business Power Lunch

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

There's a real trend happening near the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (PAC) in Anchorage to take advantage of this summer--sidewalk dining. Umbrella tables have sprouted up and down sidewalks, adding a real European flavor to downtown.

GO EAST AND EAT

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fifth Avenue's most recent addition, Ginger Restaurant, is decidedly not of the Old World. Billed as specializing in Pacific Rim cuisine, Ginger, across from J.C. Penney's, truly fulfills that promise. Thai and Japanese culinary treats dominate the menu, but each is distinctive and memorable.

The Bento, the Japanese answer to a boxed lunch, is all of $7 and includes jasmine rice, pickled Asian vegetables, plus a choice of teriyaki chicken, spicy chicken, teriyaki New York steak or grilled tofu.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

It comes quickly, digests easily and hardly dents the wallet. What more can you ask for?

Except perhaps for the overheard moan of a diner, "If I knew how to combine the ingredients at home as skillfully as the chef, I wouldn't have to come here."

A few doors to the east, the venerable Club Paris upholds the standards it has kept faithfully since the late 1950s. Home of the 4-inch-thick filet mignon, many a deal and romance was sealed here in its campy interior, complete with a wall of notables who frequented the dining room.

At the corner, Phyllis's Cafe & Salmon Bake, a well-known spot that tourists frequent during the summer season, has a delightful ambience that isn't overly hokey and offers a decent meal for a decent price. The outdoor patio is particularly accommodating with its glass windbreak and view of people and traffic rushing past on Fifth Avenue.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In addition to the fresh halibut and salmon (silver and king) and king crab legs, the cafe also carries on it menu buffalo, reindeer and elk--taste treats not usually available in most Lower 48 restaurants. And for amusement, if you were unable to score those tickets you wanted to a PAC event, then Phyllis's hosts an open mic every Wednesday and Friday at 9 p.m.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

PACKED WITH PLACES

At the quaint Kobuk Cafe, in the historic Kimball Building next to the PAC's Town Square, you can grab a sandwich, a latte and enjoy a seat by the waterfall. On a sunny day, office workers flock to the staggered stairway in front of the fountain.

Across the street, you can hurl yourself into the vortex that is Humpy's and swim through the usually...