Before you bake a whole rainbow trout, it will need to be cleaned and gutted, but if you buy one from the store it should already come this way. Once it's oven-ready, plop it in a greased pan ...

Chef Peter McNee roasts a whole petrale sole and serves it on a platter with baby carrots, savoy spinach and new potatoes. It's simple, satisfying and, at $21, one of the best deals around.

"Cooking fish whole definitely gives it a better texture and feel if you do it correctly." At Chapman's, 739 S. Third St., diners can order a whole fried branzino for $70.

Salt and pepper the outside and inside of the fish. Place two or three lemon and orange wedges inside the fish, along with a whole sprig of rosemary. Set aside. In a sauté pan large enough to fit ...

She wonders how to teach her son, who is 13, to eat a whole fish. She learned at a young age, not because anyone told her but because she watched others free the flesh.

Compare the whole fish of the day (vermillion snapper when I tried it) with the grouper plate. The snapper ($32) is flawlessly cooked, its delicate white flesh flaking into sweet, tender chunks.