SMALL BITES BRANDYWINE A ZAGAT PICK.

Byline: Larry Lipson

A local restaurant, not a sushi bar, has broken through into the top rankings of the just-released 2003 Los Angeles/Southern California Zagat Survey ($11.95).

The ``tres intime'' Brandywine, 22757 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, matches the primo Italians, Valentino in Santa Monica and Angelini Osteria in the Beverly-Fairfax district with 26 points out of a possible 30.

Amazingly, Brandywine wasn't even listed in the 2002 survey.

Now it's rated the top continental restaurant in the region.

With a trio of sushi spots (Matsuhisa, Sasabune and Nozawa) tied for first with 28 points each, the 2003 survey/guide once again incorporates Orange County. (In 2002, Orange County was published separately.)

Zagat's L.A. survey results reveal that the average restaurant bill per person rose 7.1 percent (from $27.37 to $29.32) compared to last year. And at our more expensive restaurants, tabs jumped from $53.60 to $60.14 per person.

But we're also more generous. L.A.'s tipping has zoomed to 18 percent on the average.

And local dining-out frequency has risen despite the weakened economy from 3.6 meals per week to 3.7, Zagat tells us.

The survey/guide booklet can be purchased at local bookstores or by calling [phone] or ordering online at www.zagat.com.

FRENCH CHEF AT FABROCINI'S: Remember, it was the Italians who supposedly taught the French how to cook alta cucina/haute cuisine.

Consequently, the fact that French chef-owner Jean-Pierre Laposse has taken over Fabrocini's, 29020 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, doesn't mean that there will be radical changes in the menu. Assures Laposse, there will be very few, if any.

So Fabrocini's in Agoura remains primarily Italian.

But occasionally, a French-accented special like rack of lamb provencal or salmon with a green peppercorn sauce will sneak into the fare.

Information and reservations: [phone].

DINING FOR UNICEF: Some of the top restaurants in the country are participating in a promotional fund-raiser called ``Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF.''

Local dineries Melisse in Santa Monica, L'Orangerie in West Hollywood and The Belvedere (at the Peninsula Hotel) in Beverly Hills are joining in the Halloween promotion.

For every lunch and dinner patron served on Oct. 31, these restaurants promise to donate $1 to the UNICEF effort to eradicate polio.

For additional details and a complete list of participating restaurants, visit www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat.

TOMMY TANG ON A ROLL: Congrats to Thai chef Tommy Tang of the restaurant of the same name. (Tommy Tang's is at 7313 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.)

Tang has a new cookbook out titled ``Noodles & Rice & Something Nice'' and a new PBS cooking series airing nationally titled ``Let's Get Cooking with Tommy Tang.''

The television show can be viewed locally at 11 a.m. Saturdays on KCET.

The restaurant is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a special three- course meal for $20.

Information about the restaurant, the book or the show: [phone].