Thursday

The year in dining

The meals at these restaurants should lure you back again. Here are the Top 10 eateries of 2003.

By ELIZABETH EVANS
Special to the Register

I live with a man whose basic philosophy of life can be summed up like this: There are no great wines, just great bottles of wine. He doesn't look to the past or the future, just this moment.
An interesting life view, but to be honest, the bane of a restaurant writer's existence. Because if we apply that thought to the dining experience what we get is: There are no great restaurants, just great meals in restaurants.
It makes it difficult to recommend anything.

BLACK SHEEP BISTRO: Lamb and duck are the dishes to order at the Tustin restaurant. This dish, Borrego Borrego Borrego, features three kinds of lamb.
PAUL E. RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

So when it comes to reviewing restaurants, I eschew this temporal thinking and attempt to give the long view. However, when it comes to the end of the year and a list of the best-reviewed restaurants, I must admit that a certain emotion enters the picture. My Top 10 is not a scientific poll; it is an inventory, in alphabetical order, of the restaurants I visited this year and liked best. The ones I would return to on my own time, where I had at least one dish I crave to this day, with the je ne sais quoi that makes a great dining experience. Meals I hope can be repeated as often as possible.

Black Sheep Bistro - The most European of restaurants I've visited in a long time is this 15-year-old spot in Tustin. The setting is simple, but the attitude toward unrushed food is a refreshing change.
Lamb and duck - the chef makes his own duck confit - are the dishes to order. Save room for a tasting from the cheese tray.

Black Sheep Bistro, 303 El Camino Real, Tustin, (714) 544-6060...