GAMBERO ROSSO CROWNS ITALY'S BEST RESTAURANTS

GAMBERO ROSSO CROWNS ITALY'S BEST RESTAURANTS

(ANSA) - Rome, October 26 - A restaurant tucked away in the hills of central Italy was declared the nation's best by the 2010 Restaurants of Italy guide released Monday.

Published by the leading food and wine magazine, Gambero Rosso, the guide again put the Ristorante Vissani, named after its chef and founder, Gianfranco, in first place with 95 points out of 100.

Located in the Umbrian countryside near the town of Terni, Ristorante Vissani's 100-euro menu features such inventive selections as clam souffle in a pineapple-licorice sauce and smoked rice with tea leaves, olives and rum cream.

In a close second with 94 points came La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, overlooking the bay of Naples, whose scorpion-fish carpaccio and codfish pesto make it the guide's premier seafood entry.

In third place, Le Calandre near the city of Padua won 93 points out of 100 with adventurous dishes like pigeon in a juniper-raspberry sauce and brazed veal kidney dressed with vinegar, caramelized onions and ''mustard sherbet''.

The only new entries to the top 21 restaurants this year are the Met restaurant in Venice's Hotel Metropol and the Oasis in the small town of Vallesaccarda near Naples, whose menu of hearty, traditional fare like pasta in rosemary hare sauce and roast lamb won it 90 points out of 100.

The guide rated nearly 2,000 restaurants around the country on a grade of one to three forks.

Publishers said this year's edition also includes a rating for wine lists in addition to a new wine bar and bistro category.

For beer drinkers, the guide also has 276 restaurants with gourmet ales on tap, around 40 more than last year. Photo: Vissani