January 20, 1999

Achieving three-star rating from Guide Michelin no longer guarantees that a chef can run a profitable restaurant in France; some three-star restaurants have had to close, and many others are in financial straits; chefs say that difference between a great two-star meal and a three-star meal is minimal and that Michelin has tended to accord coveted third star to most luxurious places; such restaurants typically require two employees for every diner, and even dinner bills of $500 a person will sometimes fail to cover the costs; photos (M)

Israeli Campaign Files Taken For the second time in a week, the Washington offices of an American polltaker advising the Israeli Labor Party were burglarized and Labor campaign files stolen. Page A11.

David Gonzalez About New York column discusses Archbishop John Hughes Heritage Center, climate-controlled archive and exhibition space at New York Archdiocese seminary in Yonkers, NY; John Cardinal O'Connor says archive's value goes far beyond church matters; says it offers often overlooked perspective on growth of New York City as seen through church's network of schools, charities and societies that turned immigrants into Americans (M)

New York restaurants vie to come up with distinctive pre-meal drinks, or aperitifs, which should be somewhat bitter and somewhat sweet and contain only enough alcohol to lift the spirits without numbing the taste buds; Tabla's Ginger Citrus Snap is the most audacious; recipes (M)

Pres Clinton, without mentioning impeachment, makes forceful argument against his conviction with virtuoso performance in State of the Union Message on same day that White House counsel Charles F C Ruff opens his defense in Senate; Clinton details ambitious agenda for his remaining term, exhorting Congress to tackle urgent problems and implying it has more important business than impeachment; alternately baits House Republicans and extends hand of bipartisanship (M)