DIET DINING

Dining out is commonly regarded as a sure-fire way to break your diet. To make it easier for the legions of local dieters to eat out (and enjoy it) many high-profile restaurants are featuring spa cuisine -- “gourmet” weight-control cooking which was first introduced at the world’s best known health spas. Here are some places to indulge , guilt free:

THE CAFE (Ritz Carlton Hotel, 33533 Shoreline Drive, Laguna Niguel (714) 240-2000). This open and airy cafe in the stately Ritz offers a “fitness cuisine” that manager Marie Vento describes as more “health conscious than diet conscious.” Both calorie and protein counts are listed next to the selection. For an entree you can choose Pacific sole with bitter orange and mint sauce (48 grams protein, 178 calories, $14) or a steamed chicken breast wrapped in spinach and wild mushrooms (58 grams protein, 324 calories, $15.) For dessert, there’s a 100-calorie fruit ice. The Cafe is open 6:30 a.m. to midnight daily. Reservations recommended. (Reservation desk open daily 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) All major credit cards. Dinner for two (food only) $60.

400 NORTH CANON (400 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 271-1856). Not just another cool pink and gray pasta restaurant, 400 North features a wide-ranging low-fat, low-salt, low- cholesterol cuisine. The menu lists several categories: Oriental, Mexican, fish and pasta. Entrees range from smoked trout to grilled rosemary chicken and from Chinese chicken salad to vegetable melange. The calorie count varies on what you order. Open Monday-Saturday for lunch and dinner. Reservations suggested. Valet parking for dinner only. Mastercard, Visa and American Express accepted. Dinner for two (food only) $40.

GEOFFREY’S (27400 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu (213) 457-1519). “Malibu Fare: A Taste of the Healthy California Life Style” is now the only life style available at Geoffrey’s. On April 1 all three of the restaurant’s menus went low-cal--nothing served is more than 500 calories. As you brunch on the modern, flower-banked terrace, choose from a variety of dishes, including chilled prawns with curry sauce or chicken sausage and zucchini pasta and for dessert, grilled honey papaya with poppyseed sauce or Malibu Fare cheesecake with ricotta and Neufchatel cheeses. A nutritional guide listing calories, protein and sodium counts on each item is also available. Open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations required for dinner. All major credit cards. Valet parking. Dinner for two (food only) $96. LA FAMIGLIA (453 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills (213) 276-6208). Back in the ‘70s, La Famiglia owner Joe Patti’s son had medical problems, spurring Patti to think healthy. He began to demand pure ingredients from his suppliers and introduced “no butter or flour” items in addition to the regular Italian menu. Start with a lightly dressed salad and then choose one of the following entrees: eggplant parmigiana, chicken cooked in white wine, poached whitefish, veal casalinga and shrimp scampi. Another calorie cutter served in this peach-and-cream-colored “homey” environment is whole wheat pasta with fresh tomato sauce. Open Monday-Saturday for dinner, 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.; for lunch Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Reservations suggested. All major credit cards. Valet parking, dinner only. Dinner for two (food only) $35-$50.

MAX AU TRIANGLE (233 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 550-8486). This comfortable restaurant occupies an unenclosed airy perch that floats above a new arcade and serves light meals. The three-course “Beverly Hills Spa Cuisine,” served daily at lunch and by request at dinner, is guaranteed to clock in under 700 calories. Lunch may include an appetizer of sushi made with wild rice and feta cheese, followed by thinly sliced salmon in a mustard grain sauce, and topped off with a soup of raspberries with passion fruit champagne. But the price isn’t so lean--$22 for lunch and $35 for dinner. Open for lunch Monday-Friday; for dinner Monday-Saturday. Reservations recommended. Full bar. Valet parking. All major credit cards accepted.