The Los Angeles Zoo last week invited the first visitors into a pair of new gorilla habitats: one that houses a family grouping of four western lowland gorillas led by a silverback male named Kelly and another that is home to two young male gorillas who joined the zoo from their former home at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. Campo Gorilla Reserve is a $19 million facility of threequarters of an acre with a forested pathway and five viewing areas, including two that are glassed in, so visitors can get up close and personal with the largest primate in the world. Information: www.lazoo.org.

UPDATED GUIDE

TOUR BEST RESTAURANTS FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

The Zagat restaurant guide formula is well-known: "From the Diner's Point of View." The publishers recruit restaurant reports from local diners in cities around the country, a locally based editor condenses them into paragraph-long reviews and Zagat calculates the restaurants' numeric scores in categories that include food, decor, service and cost. Their latest release is the updated "America's Top Restaurants 2008" (paper, $15.95), covering 1,416 restaurants in 42 major cities, including Honolulu. This is a useful one to tuck into your luggage.

Top spots in Honolulu: Alan Wong's (28 of 30 points), La Mer (27 of 30), Hoku's (26 of 30), Ruth's Chris Steak House (25 of 30). One brand-new spot made it into the listing, Cassis by Chef Mavro, though ratings were left blank as the restaurant was barely open at publication time.

ONLINE PETITION

HOSTEL FANS RALLYING TO CELEBRATE AMERICAN GROUP'S ANNIVERSARY

The American branch of the Hostelling International is rallying fans of inexpensive hostel hotels. The organization will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary, and they're lobbying the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate this event with a postage stamp. They're asking travelers who believe in this budget-friendly form of accommodation, with its tendency to build friendships across international lines and make travel possible for young people, to add their names to an online petition at www.hiusa.org. There are more than 4,000 hostels in 89 countries.