February 8/New York/Marketwire -- In its third annual published dining survey, Opinionated About Dining (OAD) has named the "30 Most Important Restaurants in the U.S." The list is comprised of restaurants that earned a rating of at least 95 points in the 2010 sSurvey.

Thomas Keller's French Laundry in Yountville, CA, was, for the second year in a row, the only restaurant to receive a perfect score of 100, ranking #1 on the list. His New York City restaurant, Per Se, drew the second highest score of 99.73. The rest of the top five included, Masa, New York City, 99.00, Manresa, Los Gatos, 98.53 and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, 98.50. OAD also has published the list of the top 15 restaurants in eight different regions of the United States. A download of both lists is available at www.opinionatedaboutdining.com. The complete survey results, covering 1,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada will be released on March 1.

According to The Opinionated About Dining founder and publisher, Steve Plotnicki, the survey was conducted from September 1, 2009 through January 8, 2010 with over 1900 survey participants from around the world contributing more than 29,000 ratings.

"Our survey participants are dedicated restaurant goers who travel a lot for work and for pleasure. They truly are opinionated about dining establishments," said Plotnicki who added, "what sets our guide apart from other survey based guides is our weighting of participants based on their dining experience. OAD plans to publish a printed version of the 2011 Opinionated About Guide to the Important Restaurants in the U.S. in the fall of this year.

2010 Opinionated About Dining -- 30 Most Important Restaurants in the U.S.
1. The French Laundry, Yountville, Ca, 100
2. Per Se, New York, NY 99.73
3. Masa, New York, NY, 99.00
4. Manresa, Los Gatos, Ca, 98.53
5. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, 98.50
6. Mini-Bar, Washington, DC, 98.48
7. Urasawa, Beverly Hills, Ca, 98.43
8. Jean Georges, New York, NY 98.30
9. Alinea, Chicago, Il, 97.78
10. Corton, New York, NY, 97.53
11. McCrady's, Charleston, SC, 97.50
12. Le Bernardin, New York, NY, 97.17
13. Sushi Yasuda, New York, NY, 97.08
14. Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, NV, 97.00
15. Schwa, Chicago, Il, 96.71
16. Kuruma Sushi, New York, NY, 96.43
17. Eleven Madison Park, New York, NY, 96.27
18. Momofuku Ko, New York, NY, 96.26
19. Komi, Washington, DC, 96.11
20. Cyrus, Healdsburg, Ca, 95.93
20. Providence, Los Angeles, Ca 95.93
22. Marinus, Carmel, Ca, 95.81
23. Town House, Chilhowie, Va, 95.73
24. Coi, San Francisco, 95.72
25. Hugo's, Portland, Me, 95.66
26. Bouley, New York, NY, 95.45
27. Aubergine, Carmel-By-the-Sea, 95.39
28. L' Atelier de Joel Robuchon, New York, NY, 95.28
29. O Ya, Boston, Ma, 95.16
30. Elements, Princeton, NJ, 95.04.

From the February 15, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition