In a year when Americana took on an almost mythic importance, nostalgia ruled, and there was a resurgence of interest in comfort food, Baltimore often went in a different direction, at least as far as new restaurants were concerned.

Let's call 2002 the year of globalization -- maybe even the year of Asian restaurants, although the city did get a good new Lebanese restaurant, the Carlyle Club on University Parkway. (Come to think of it, Lebanon is in Asia.)

When a Maryland fixture like the Manor Tavern in Monkton introduces a new menu that includes scallops Shanghai and rare ahi tuna with Chinese dumplings as well as old favorites, you know Asian food has gone mainstream.

There seemed to be fewer new restaurants -- especially toward the end of the year -- probably because of the uncertain economy. You would think that the ones that did open would play it safe and be meat-and-potatoes or, because this is Baltimore, crab-cake places. But Baltimore's best new restaurants were both Asian: the quirky Soigne in Riverside and the hip Cafe Asia in Power Plant Live.

To name a few others, O's Place, a Chinese restaurant, opened in Woodlawn last spring, and Federal Hill got Thai Arroy this fall. There are two new Japanese steakhouses in the area, neither of which I've been to yet: Ginza in Owings Mills and Kobe in White Marsh.

The area got more than its share of new Indian restaurants as well, and they're starting to specialize in regional cuisine. Check out Mount Everest in Parkville, King's Kabab in Columbia, and the several new Bombay Grills that opened.

Of course, for every trend there's a countertrend. Jordan's, Ellicott City's new upscale steakhouse, is probably the year's best example that meat and potatoes are alive and well in Maryland.

But enough rehashing. The time has come for my annual awards. They are subjective and, of course, apply only to the eating places I've been to in 2002. Feel free to disagree, write me ugly e-mails or complain to my boss.

* Comfort restaurant of the year: You've heard of comfort food? The Peppermill in Towson is a comfort restaurant, with homey food, waitresses who take care of you and, most important, a fabulous amaretto bread pudding.

* Most uncomfortable seating: The benches are higher than the tables at the hyper-chic Red Maple downtown. Its fabulous design and Asian tapas make up for it.

* Best example of "If you have to ask how much it costs you can't afford it": The elegant Antrim 1844 in Taneytown.

* Best comeback: Cafe de Paris reopened in Columbia after it closed last year in Laurel.

* Most different restaurants over the years at one address: The runner-up is the space at 845 S. Montford in Canton, where Weber's on Boston and many other eateries were located before it became Red Fish this year. But the honors have to go to the new Catalina at 500 Harborview, where Pier 500, J. Leonard's Waterside, South Harbor Tavern and others once were.

* Weirdest garnish: The maraschino cherry in a cosmopolitan at the Wharfside in Catonsville.

* Appetizer to die for: Buttery-soft foie gras arranged with Asian pear, blue cheese and crisply fried onions at Linwood's in Owings Mills.

* Standout entree of the year: Actually there wasn't one, although there were more wonderful appetizers than I have room to mention. Which makes me think this might have been the Year of Small Plates.

* Best pizza: Strange as it sounds, the smoked salmon pizza at San Sushi in Cockeysville almost pushed out the sublime pizza Margherita at Semolina in Canton. But not quite.

* Most unexpected place to have great prime rib: The Owl Bar downtown.

* Best marriage of high-style and down-home ingredients: The sauteed frog legs on a bed of black-eyed peas and bits of pancetta, drizzled with a light lemon and herb dressing at Corks in Federal Hill.

* Best gelato: A scoop of meringue flavor that was like eating a cloud, creamy and very sweet with a bit of crunch, paired with a scoop of intensely citrusy lemon at Cafe di Roma in Little Italy.

* Best dessert for your chocolate fix: The dessert for two at Pierpoint, in Fells Point, featuring chocolate pate, chocolate ice cream and more -- including chocolate forks.

* Noisiest restaurant: No winner in this category. Maybe owners are finally getting the message.

* Best service: Linwood's.

* Best atmosphere: A toss-up between Cafe Asia and Red Maple. If Asian minimalism isn't your thing, the winner would have to be Linwood's.

* Worst name for a fine restaurant: The Tasting Room, in Frederick.

* Best restaurant meal of 2002: Dinner at the Tasting Room. It was the only four-star food I had this year, although our dinners at Red Maple, Soigne, the Black Olive, Cafe Asia and Corks came close.