Top 25 Triangle restaurants

Restaurant of the Year

Lantern

423 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill,

969-8846 www.lanternrestaurant.com

Cuisine: Pan-Asian

When Andrea Reusing opened Lantern in 2002, she showed many of us for the first time the delights of a world where a talented chef with a Western background turned her attention to Asian cuisines. It was a world where calamari crackled atop a bed of seasonal greens, red-cooked pork was redolent of cinnamon, star anise and Szechwan peppercorn, and ethereal steamed sea bass floated in a broth sparkling with ginger. It was a world whose landscape was an understated contemporary decor, softly lit by a constellation of parchment lanterns.

Seven years later, those lanterns cast their glow over a culinary scene that has evolved but still reflects its creator's original vision. Reusing's passion for local produce, which characterized her cooking long before "locavore" became a buzzword, remains abundantly evident in dishes such as Fickle Creek Farm pork terrine with pickled local green tomatoes; tea- and spice-smoked local chicken with house-made XO sauce; and fried North Carolina flounder with garlic, chiles, tamarind and fresh lime leaf.

If anything, the chef's cooking has matured over the years and now embraces a wider palette of flavors. Hers is most emphatically not "fusion cuisine," however. For all their freshness, her dishes still respect the tradition of the Asian cuisines that inspired them.

A charming bit of evidence of her attention to detail is the house-made fortune cookie that's delivered at the conclusion of the meal. A recent fortune read, "Do great deeds by focusing on their minute aspects." I'm thinking someone slipped Lantern's mission statement into that cookie by mistake.

Allen & Son

6203 Millhouse Road, Chapel Hill

942-7576

Cuisine: Barbecue

Bin 54

1201-M Raleigh Road, in Glen Lennox shopping center, Chapel Hill

969-1155

www.bin54restaurant.com

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Bloomsbury Bistro

509-101 West Whitaker Mill Road, at Five Points, Raleigh.

834-9011

http://www.bloomsburybistro.com

Cuisine: Contemporary

Bonne Soirée

431-10 W. Franklin St., in The Courtyard, Chapel Hill

928-8388

Cuisine: French

China Palace

5210 Garrett Road, Durham

493-3088

www.mychinapalace.com

Cuisine: Chinese

Dos Taquitos Centro

106 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh

835-3593

http://www.dostaquitoscentro.com

Cuisine: Mexican

Elaine's on Franklin

454 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill

960-2770

http://www.elainesonfranklin.com

Cuisine: Contemporary

Enoteca Vin

410 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh

834-3070

http://www.enotecavin.com

Cuisine: Wine bar, contemporary

Fairview

3001 Cameron Blvd., in the Washington Duke Inn, Durham

490-0999

http://www.washingtondukeinn.com

Cuisine: Contemporary

Fins

110 E. Davie St., Raleigh

834-6963

http://www.myspace.com/finsrestaurant

Cuisine: Pacific Rim fusion, seafood

Four Square

2701 Chapel Hill Road, Durham

401-9877

http://www.foursquarerestaurant.com

Cuisine: Contemporary

Frazier's

2418 Hillsborough St., Raleigh

828-6699

http://www.fraziersbistro.com

Cuisine: Contemporary

Il Palio

1505 E. Franklin St., in the Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill

918-2545

http://www.sienahotel.com

Cuisine: Italian

J. Betski's

10-120 West Franklin St., Raleigh

833-7999

http://www.jbetskis.com

Cuisine: German, Polish

Magnolia Grill

1002 Ninth St., Durham

286-3609

http://www.magnoliagrill.net

Cuisine: Contemporary Southern

Margaux's

8111-111 Creedmoor Road, in Brennan Station, Raleigh

846-9846

http://www.margauxsrestaurant.com

Cuisine: Contemporary, seafood

Maximillians

8314 Chapel Hill Road, Cary

465-2455

http://www.maximilliansgrill.com

Cuisine: Fusion

Nana's

2514 University Drive, Durham

493-8545

http://www.nanasdurham.com

Cuisine: Contemporary Mediterranean

Panciuto

110 S. Churton St., Hillsborough

732-6261

http://www.panciuto.com

Cuisine: Italian

Saint Jacques

6112 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh

862-2770

http://www.saintjacquesfrenchcuisine.com

Cuisine: French

Saffron

4121 Davis Drive, in McCrimmon Corners shopping center, Morrisville

469-5774

http://www.saffronnc.com

Cuisine: Indian

Vin Rouge

2010 Hillsborough Road, Durham

416-0406

http://www.vinrougerestaurant.com

Cuisine: French

Vivace

4209 Lassiter Mill Road, in The Alexan, Raleigh

787-7747

http://www.vivaceraleigh.com

Cuisine: Italian

Zely & Ritz

301 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh

828-0018

http://www.zelyandritz.com

Cuisine: Tapas