Developing an appetite: A guide to the area's growing restaurant scene

Art is good for the eyes and uplifting for the soul, but you still have to eat. There's Wolfgang Puck's Water Cafe inside the new Institute of Contemporary Art, a good place for families and other diners. But we won't all fit into the 1,100 - square-foot restaurant with 85 seats, at least until the outdoor seating opens next spring, doubling the seating capacity.

Although the area adjacent to the ICA looks barren now, there are actually restaurants all over the area and the nearby Fort Point Channel neighborhood. The best news for diners, perhaps, is that within the next several years, there should be many more eating opportunities in the area, pointing to a vibrant restaurant scene and plenty of choices. For those planning an ICA visit, here are some suggestions -- and a preview -- for places to refuel.

Gallery-going is a great family outing, and the ICA's eclectic mix will be especially enticing for a wide age range. Because of the businesses around the ICA, there are quite a few casual lunch spots -- something that can be hard to locate in other parts of the city. Some, like Pressed Sandwiches down Northern Avenue or Marco Polo on Congress Street, are best for a quick sandwich.

Kids and adults alike might enjoy Eastern Pier Seafood, a longtime, reasonably priced Chinese restaurant, where you can practically see the seafood swimming under the pier. Although the Cantonese-style food covers the gamut of dishes you might find in Chinatown, salt-and-pepper shrimp is a favorite here.

Another couple of seafood-centric places are the Daily Catch in the federal courthouse and the Barking Crab nearby. Daily Catch specializes in hearty seafood and pasta dishes; the Barking Crab is literally a shack, the kind of place where a family can relax.

If a good walk is part of your dining plan, you might head down Northern Avenue to No Name, venerable for its brusque but friendly service, fried seafood, and rustic atmosphere. You can tell the family all about the Fish Pier and its history as you chow down on chowder or splurge on a lobster.

Maybe you've got a family rift on the seafood question. Legal Test Kitchen has as many meat dishes as fish on its menu, plus treats like pizettes, wok dishes, and burgers that would appeal to any member of the family. And what young person wouldn't be thrilled with his own personal TV in this tech-friendly place?

Water Cafe, Puck's contribution, promises to be much more than an ordinary gallery stop-off. For one thing, the place is open to the public, although ICA admission does get you a 10 percent discount. For another, it's Puck, so that means gourmet pizzas, grilled paninis, and more. A water view and outdoor seating add oomph to a meal here. And along with the museum, the cafe will be open until 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.

Nostalgia might lead you to Anthony's Pier 4. Its heyday -- when lines snaked across the parking lot and stars posed for photographs with the late owner Anthony Athanas -- has passed. But the vast dining room and its fresh seafood still have a certain pizzazz, as does the extensive wine list.

Aura at the Seaport Hotel manages to combine the convenience of hotel dining with some imaginative New American fare. Sauciety is another hotel-lobby restaurant, this one in the new Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel next to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Its concept -- mix-and-match sauces -- works best if you follow the chef's suggestions. Trend-setters might want to venture farther and drop into Lucky's Lounge on Congress Street, where comfort food and a hip vibe attract a lively crowd.

For a special night, you might want to go over one of the bridges onto Atlantic Avenue where an elongated restaurant row is developing. Miel in the vast, blue Inter Continental Hotel is still taking its baby steps, but the Provençal menu is intriguingly French. There's an added advantage: Miel has no closing hours -- food is served 'round the clock for night owls and time travelers.

Meritage in the Boston Harbor Hotel is known for chef Daniel Bruce's way with cuisine and skill at pairing it with wines. But another attraction is the two-tiered system of portions and pricing. Each dish -- from seared scallops to wine-braised short ribs -- can be ordered as a small or large plate. It's a way to try out fine cuisine without breaking the bank.

A little farther down, Sel de la Terre offers French country cooking in a warm ambience. Chef Geoff Gardner creates savory dishes, like roast chicken or homemade country patés, all served with wonderful breads. And the handsome little bar area is a magnet, especially due to the rosemary fries.

It may take a decade, but the South Boston Seaport district promises to be an epicenter of activity. And where there are people, restaurants spring up like mushrooms. Some already on the horizon, or at least in planning stages, are the mid-priced Italian restaurant Salvatore's, a Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, a Legal C-Bar and Grill in the Westin , Georges Bank planned for the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel under construction , and a Flour Bakery & Cafe on Farnsworth Street in the Fort Point Channel area.

Further off are three concepts on Congress Street by restaurateur Barbara Lynch of No. 9 Park and B & G, and a restaurant on Congress by Mark Allen of Le Soir in Newton. The Doulos family of the former Jimmy's Harborside plans to rise again with a proposed Jimmy's and several other restaurants on the old site on Northern Avenue. It all points to good eats in the area's future.