Stuff food & drink.

• Position: Famous restaurants

His biweekly column in the Triad business tabloid identifies him as "a local critic who, in order to avoid special treatment, prefers to write anonymously." We'll call him The Tongue That Dares Not Speak Its Name. In three decades toiling for newspapers and magazines, The Tongue always has wrangled a way to write about his passion--eating--with eloquence and insight. The Tongue's taste really doesn't run to fancy restaurants; pretentious ones make him gag. Here are three current Greensboro favorites, where the only person trying to impress people is the chef:

Asahi

4520-B W. Market St.

(336) 855-8883

Yes, there's the usual slash-and-burn steakhouse in the front, but make your way to the sushi bar, where you'll find great service and raw surf clams. The crunchy spider roll is superb, and the sushi will make you wish you had been born under the Rising Sun.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Liberty Oak

100 W. Washington St.

(336) 273-7057

It's one of the few restaurants that has improved with age. Serving fresh ingredients creatively combined with sometimes a Continental, sometimes a California, accent and often a Southern drawl, this downtown hangout also has one of the most interesting wine lists in the state, a wait staff that's as eclectic as its menu and a casual ambience that makes eating out the event it's supposed to be.

Saigon

4205 High Point Road

(336) 294-9286

Saigon has been touted in Gourmet magazine as one of America's best eateries. The Triad knows it as a place that serves incomparable Vietnamese food in a setting that's fun and friendly. Start with the hoisin-basted quail. You won't stop until you're stuffed.

When it comes to recommending a Tar Heel-bred wine, the sommelier at North Carolina's only AAA Five-Diamond restaurant doesn't hesitate: "The Shelton Vineyard flagship is their Riesling ($10). It's nice and citrusy," enthuses Stacey Sondek, who minds the cellar at Fearrington House Country Inn & Restaurant. "On a summer day, it goes with everything." Another favorite: Shelton's Cabernet Franc ($12)...