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
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
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
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
Cuisine: Contemporary
Il Palio
1505 E. Franklin St., in the Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill
918-2545
Cuisine: Italian
J. Betski's
10-120 West Franklin St., Raleigh
833-7999
Cuisine: German, Polish
Magnolia Grill
1002 Ninth St., Durham
286-3609
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
Cuisine: Contemporary Mediterranean
Panciuto
110 S. Churton St., Hillsborough
732-6261
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
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
Cuisine: Italian
Zely & Ritz
301 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh
828-0018
Cuisine: Tapas
