TAKE 5: WHAT'S HAPPENING : DINING.

Free food, fun at NoHo fest: A number of local restaurant chefs will be participating in the NoHo Theatre & Arts Festival Saturday and Sunday on Lankershim Boulevard between Chandler and Magnolia boulevards.

Saturday sees Lakeside Cafe's Victor Clemons and his spicy Mexican meatloaf at noon followed by Dwayne A. Jordan of the Universal Grill with an almond-crusted chicken breast dish.

Among other culinary stars of the event will be television chef Franko McGonagle, known as Fabulous Franko, with his crab-meat artichoke spinach dip and hot pepper scampi.

Also on Saturday, chef-owner Brian Sheehan of the Eclectic Cafe will show off his rosemary chicken pasta, chicken Madeira and bruschetta.

Sunday highlights include Clemons and his smoked barbecued turkey, Joseph Abrajkio of Roma via Paris with a penne dish and soup while McGonagle brings forth his seared ahi tuna and Thai chicken.

The two-day festival runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free - and so are the small-portioned food samples.

Attendees will be able to attend free theater performances. Dancers, jugglers, magicians and wandering performers will add zest to this annual street event. For information, call [phone].

?13 - Larry Lipson

?sart

Focus on four photographers: In the jumble of kitsch and commerce that is La Brea Avenue, the Jan Kesner Gallery provides a provocative oasis.

With a discerning eye, Kesner assembles shows that consistently stimulate and amuse. This month, she's using her space to shake up conventional wisdom about the natural and man-made environments we inhabit.

Through June 28, ``A Special Showing'' will highlight the work of four artists whose talents have been seen at the gallery before. Individually distinct, these four photographers - Roger Minick, Donald Blumberg, John Humble and Richard Misrach - share a fascination with odd landscapes, ironic contrasts and the surprising narratives that often hide behind familiar subjects.

Minick's work puts a candid and humorous slant on the ritual of visiting the National Parks and Monuments of the West. Misrach has emerged as one of the most important photographers of the contemporary American West, focusing on the way that human and U.S. military mistreatment have produced a ``man-mauled'' terrain.

Blumberg has splintered images of historic televised moments to create disturbing fragments of late 20th-century American political history. And Humble has memorably depicted L.A.'s haphazard growth in a series of large-format, color-saturated photographs.

Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, the gallery is located at 164 N. La Brea Ave. There is no admission charge. For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

film

Not your average love story: Romance is painfully hilarious in ``Addicted to Love.'' One of the darker comedies to come along in awhile, this visually inventive farce suggests what might happen when your scorned lover turns creatively vengeful.

Matthew Broderick is a naive astronomer whose childhood sweetheart (Kelly Preston) runs off to New York and takes up with a charming Frenchman (Tcheky Karyo). That guy's ex, played by a punked-out, edge-of-psychotic Meg Ryan, teams up with Broderick to spy on, then systematically destroy, the new relationship - while inadvertently falling in love with each other.

The feature directing debut of producer-actor Griffin Dunne, ``Addicted'' has the kind of unsettling humor that really gives its gags punch, even as it boldly risks making the stars unlikable. It's a risk that paid off in big laughs.

?13- Bob Strauss

music

Night Tripper: The doctor is in.

That would be Dr. John, the New Orleans piano sensation whose real name is Mac Rebennack.

The hoodoo guru also known as the Night Tripper didn't become widely known until the 1968 release of his swampy voodoo album, ``Gris-Gris,'' but he had been active in the world of Big Easy r&b since the '50s.

A stunningly inventive boogie-woogie pianist with a big growl of a voice, Rebennack first gained notice as a session guitarist, contributing to records by Professor Longhair, Frankie Ford and Joe Tex.

He appears Saturday at the House of Blues in West Hollywood in support of his latest album, ``Trippin' Live.''

After ``Gris-Gris,'' which featured the classic ``Walk on Gilded Splinters,'' a favorite Dr. John disc might be ``In the Right Place,'' on which he collaborated with producer Allen Toussaint and the Meters.

Another goodie, ``Dr. John's Gumbo,'' offered an updated selection of early rock 'n' roll, blues and r&b, including New Orleans standards ``Junko Partner'' and ``Tipitina.''

After completing his 1994 autobiography, ``Under a Hoodoo Moon: The Life of the Night Tripper,'' the doc looked back at '40s and '50s big-band blues on ``Afterglow.''

The House of Blues is at 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Show time is 10 p.m. and tickets are $22.50. Information: [phone].

?13- Fred Shuster

theater

Shakespeare and a comfy chair: Anyone who attends live theater on a regular basis knows there's something at least as important as quality acting, inspired direction and brilliant scripts: seats that won't leave you feeling as if you've just had a hernia operation.

For years the Valley's Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has had the first three elements, presenting polished productions of classics by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Brecht and other godfathers of the Western canon. All this, plus a bucolic outdoor setting in a natural canyon ravine.

The downside was the rustic seating arrangement, which required spectators to shift and squirm while perched on old railroad ties.

Well, now you can hear the Bard and spare your buns, because the theater has installed permanent amphitheater-style terraced seating. Artistic director Ellen Geer says the new seating also improves sight lines and acoustics.

Theatricum Botanicum opens its 1997 season Sunday with a 4 p.m. matinee of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy ``As You Like It,'' running in repertory through Sept. 14. Opening later this summer are Tennessee Williams' ``Sweet Bird of Youth'' (July 6); ``The Robber Bridegroom,'' from the novella by Eudora Welty, with book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman (July 27); and Shakespeare's ``A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (Aug. 29).

For information, including season subscriptions and group sales, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) John Humble's ``Pacific Coast Highway at Alameda Street, Wilmington, January 22, 1980,'' is one of the images on display in a four-photographer show at the Jan Kesner Gallery on La Brea Avenue.

(2) DR. JOHN

(3) Seeing Shakespeare's ``As You Like It'' at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum Actor-writer-producer Griffin Dunne makes his feature directing debut with ``Addicted to Love.''