Mike Dunne, The Sacramento Bee's noted restaurant critic, named his top ten restaurants of 2005.

1. Biba, 2801 Capitol Ave., Sacramento; (916) 455-2422

2. Masque Ristorante, 3909 Park Drive, El Dorado Hills; (916) 933-8555

3. The Firehouse, 1112 Second St., Old Sacramento; (916) 442-4772

4. Lemon Grass, 601 Munroe St., Sacramento; (916) 486-4891

5. The Waterboy, 20th Street and Capitol Avenue; (916) 498-9891

6. Le Bilig French Cafe, 11750 Atwood Road, Auburn; (530) 888-1491

7. Dawson's American Bistro and Martinis, Hyatt Regency Sacramento, 1209 L St., Sacramento; (916) 321-3600 or (916) 443-1234

8. Paragary's Bar & Oven, 28th and N streets, Sacramento; (916) 457-5737

9. Lucca Restaurant & Bar, 1615 J St., Sacramento; (916) 669-5300

10. La Provence Restaurant and Terrace, 110 Diamond Creek Place, Roseville; (916) 789-2002

He notes that:

There's really not much difference between No. 1 and No. 10 on the final list, aside from style of food and personality of proprietors. They're all in the same league (fine dining), but different divisions (regional Italian, provincial French, New American).

They all more or less meet the same standards - they've been around awhile; they provide consistently fine service, though not necessarily without idiosyncrasies; their food is as creative in inspiration as it is steady in execution, which is to say their dishes represent imagination, precision, intellect; and their restaurant designs are individualistic, if not always elegant.

None is perfect. Sometime during the year I'm apt to get a complaint about any of them. Someone won't like the pacing of courses. Someone will feel that a server snubbed them. Someone will grouse about the size of portions. Complaints come with the territory, but the owners of these restaurants constantly try to improve, and to respond with speed and sensitivity when a shortcoming is pointed out.

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Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive