Bon Appétit at New Guide's Picks in N. America, Europe

April 7, 2008 -- Urasawa, a nine-seat sushi bar in Beverly Hills, and Troisgros in Roanne, France, have been deemed the best restaurants on their continents by an upstart restaurant rating guide that aims to refine the approaches of competitors Michelin and Zagat Survey.

The Opinionated About Dining website and blog is the brainchild of Steve Plotnicki, who conducted a year-long online survey of more than 900 veteran "destination diners" to come up with The 100 Best Restaurants of North America & Europe ($6.95; available at amazon.com and opinionatedabout.com). Their responses encompassed more than 1,600 restaurants.

"When I see a strong consensus emerge on a restaurant that's not very well known, I find that most interesting," says Plotnicki, who has dined at 78 of the 100 eateries. "It sort of proves that if you set out to ask the opinions of people who fly around the world to eat, they are pretty much on the same page."

The rest of the top five in North America: The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif.; Jean Georges, New York; Manresa, Los Gatos, Calif.; and Per Se, New York. Europe's other winners: Bras, Laguiole, France; The Fat Duck, Bray-on-Thames, United Kingdom; L'Arpège, Paris; and Pierre Gagnaire, Paris.