RED PEARL KITCHEN

A Sexy, Hip Asiatic Restaurant in Hollywood!

The hottest restaurant trend in Manhattan the past two years has been the massive Asiatic eating space (think exotic 1940’s Shanghai-meets-cosmopolitan glamour), mostly in the so-called meatpacking district. (Love that term: when I lived in New York it was a dingy and dangerous area best to be avoided unless you wanted to buy a dead cow.) Think 17-foot tall ice Buddahs, gargantuan communal tables, many drinking levels, and opening costs which rival a Hollywood blockbuster…Buddakan, with 16,000 sq. feet, cost $13 million (1 noticed the managers needed earpieces to communicate)… while nearby Buddah Bar seats more than 600 and features pagodas and tanks filled with live jellyfish. Now, the trend seems to be extending to the West Coast.

There is a word, peripatetic, which means ever changing, and it aptly describes astute restaurateurs Tim and Liza Goodell. They open and close restaurants with abandon, change formats with a zest and talent which is admirable if breathtaking, and one never knows what they will come up with next. Well, now we know…because 1 have had several meals at their latest adventure...and I am urging them to stay pat and hold this hand for awhile because it is a good one.

Red Pearl Kitchen (6703 Melrose Avenue, at Citrus in Hollywood (323) 525-1415) is on the northwest corner where, many moons ago, Michel Richard opened the legendary Citrus and demonstrated that L.A. was ready for a sophisticated, fun French bistro. An English chef named Alex opened a nice place there for a year or so, and then the Goodells opened and closed Meson G here. But with this contemporary Asian boite, we are experiencing a repeat of the New York scene.

Sexy, hip, but retaining a sense of warmth and welcome, Red Pearl Kitchen is going to influence the culinary landscape here in Los Angeles. Tim and Liza tested this concept first in Huntington Beach and then in San Diego, but this is the Big Apple West Coast version. . . .and I think they have gotten the formula right. The food is familiar enough to Oriental food aficionados, but inventive enough to whet their appetites anew.

Think Spicy Tuna Tartare ($1 2), six dollops served on crispy, delicious tempura-fried eggplant; Strawberry-Cinnamon Ribs ($9, and better than it sounds, inspired by a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, braised with fresh strawberries, star anise and cinnamon, the results are savory, not sweet, a complex blend of flavors melting right off the bones); from Cambodia, Shaking Kobe Beef and Papaya ($17), cubes of buttery Wagyu beef soaked in pungent fish sauce and ground chilies before being ‘shaken’ in a sizzling wok, you’11 feel the heat on your tongue; Spicy Chicken Drunk Man Rice Noodles ($I0)....and some delectable desserts ranging from Cardamom Pots de Crème ($8), served in a café au lait bowl, thick and satiny, topped with a soft cloud of whipped cream, to Passion Fruit Andaji ($8) with coconut ice cream.

You get the idea. -…familiar stuff but with a twist. Los Angeles can use a few more of these grandiose palaces of extravaganza.. . .we have the awesome Republic, which still knocks me out with its imaginative design and decent food, and Jeffrey Chodorow’s Social Hollywood has become a regular stop on the nightlife circuit of the young and reckless; we’ll he reviewing their Moroccan Room restaurant shortly. I’m looking forward to sunning myself at the upcoming Sunset Beach. Regretfully, we’ll he losing the most breathtakingly beautiful venue of all, L’Orangerie, when it closes its doors on New Year’s Eve, to be reborn in late Spring ‘07 as a new Nobu Matsuhisa.

One of the several reasons I’m celebrating the charms of Red Pearl Kitchen is a response to its decor: it’s downright steamy, sexy, even hedonistic in its metallic gold stained flooring and sensual draperies, something like a luxury opium den. (Now how would he know that? Don’t ask, it’s a long story.) Designed by Max Schlutz and Ginger Thomas, the spot uses projections of Chinese films against tactile silk larmpshades, and stirring materials like slick acrylic and cool steel against soft and lusty shades of orange and red (my favorite colors). The electric blue private dining patio features two communal tables and a wall lined with Chinese dolls. The main dining room is appointed with orange booths and red leather sofas, and is lit by a chandelier fashioned from authentic kimonos. The lounge area, accessible through a circular entryway, features hand-carved, lacquered daybeds and antique Chinese drums, along with the giant Red Pearl Lady painting. Flat-screen television plays anything from Chinese game shows and soap operas to sporting events; a genial manager, Michael Govia, told me that he picks the visuals himself.. The outdoor patio seats 16, 94 the main dining room, and an additional 40 in the lounge. See what I mean? Spectacular!

The one-page menu features 18 choices under the ‘dim sum’ category, a few salads, 8 skewers, 8 hot pots, a handful of noodle and rice dishes, a selection of wok-fired dishes, some separate vegetables, and a half-dozen intriguing desserts. As a pompously self- styled ‘expert’ on Chinese cuisine, admittedly less-knowledgeable about Thai, I have eaten of Asia widely for more than fifty years, so I have strong opinions about the authenticity of the food set before me. It’s when I hit Pan— Asiatic fusion that I become a little confused…if it is delicious but not authentic, does it matter? Not really...it’s what’s on the plate which counts, not whether the food was prepared exactly according to century-old rules. So if the Udon Noodles ($12) contain bacon, a fried egg, and smoky miso, but tastes pretty good, should I complain? Nope. It’s delicious. It’s when dim sum skins arc a little tough that I rebel. . .I’m a stickler for soft and silky dumpling covers, and here they are exactly that; someone in that kitchen has a skilled hand with rolling dough, so I eagerly sucked up the duck foie gras in the shu mai ($14). The Vietnamese Shrimp Summer Rolls ($8) are ideal starters, chilled shrimp, mint, shredded lettuce and carrot rolled up in a rice paper wrap and served with spicy peanut dipping sauce, a perfect palate pleaser. Steamed BBQ Pork Buns ($7), soft white bread-style dough stuffed with shredded pork seasoned with spicy sauce and steamed; too filling for me hut my companions eagerly consumed them. The wok-roasted Edamame ($7) are prepared differently here than elsewhere, seared in a hot wok with a little sesame oil, salted and brought to the table smoking hot. The Korean BBQ Short Ribs ($9) are just superb. Of the salads, I liked best the Spicy Lahh of minced beef ($8), but I’ve never met a chopped meat dish I didn’t like, thus a skewer of Curried Lamb Meatballs ($8), while dry, was equally welcome. The Hot Pot of Hot and Sour Jungle Shellfish Curry ($11) is a little weird, hut the Kobe Beef Red Curry with rice noodles ($11) is spicily sensational. My favorite Hot Pot was the Short Rib, Pumpkin, Massaman Curry ($10), the small cast-iron pot brought to the table reveals a stew fragrant with coconut milk, nutmeg and such goodness. Spoon it over rice and scarf up the short rib meat with morsels of pumpkin. The Five-Spice Chicken Wings ($8), rusty red- glazed morsels bathed in. a fragrant sauce have a slightly crisp skin which gives way to tender and flavorful meat. I later asked the chef about these, far better than any buffalo wings, and he told me they were braised in double dark soy and vegetable oil, which gives them the melting quality I loved.

On my first visit, Director of Operations Michael Tsue, a veteran of the Goodell operation, greeted me and my several guests, including Hilly Elkins and Sandy Love, and sent out several dishes which he wanted us to experience. One was extraordinary, Black Noodles Drunken Beef, Gai Lan ($11), which had a smoky sexiness, the supple noodles deeply colored from a sauce sweet with a hint of spice. Actually, it’s the rich ropey pieces of short-rib meat which won me. A signature dish, the Shao Hsing-Garlic Cashew Chicken ($14) was even more enticing, with meltingly soft morsels of chicken which were not overcooked. We were almost surfeited, but the Black Pepper-Caramel Shrimp ($16) stimulated our appetites. I found my métier in the wok-fired dishes, especially the aforementioned Shaking Kobe Beef ($17) with papaya and mint, a variation of the shaking beef offered from the great Vietnamese restaurant, Slanted Door, in San Francisco’s Ferry Building, though Red Pearl’s brilliant, Thai— born Executive Chef Ped Phommavong tells me that he has been p reparing this dish for many years.

In addition to a late-night bar menu, served from 11 pm to 1 am, there’s a whole menu page offered of specialty cocktails; ie. Red Pearl, Drunken Samurai, Tokyo Rose, Madame Butterfly, Kill Bill...all $11. I usually abhor these offbeat things, but I was happily taken aback by the spicy, intriguing flavor of several. Another recommendation: sake, beer or a crispy white wine. Michaela Partin is the G.M. here, and a major word must be said about the beautiful, 30-year old Pastry Chef Nicole Lindsay, who has been with the Goodells for four years. Almost all of her offerings are $8, and I heartily recommend the Vietnamese Coffee Sundae (a jigger of coffee poured over the luscious borne made ice cream), the Cardamom pot de crème with banana fritters (which were crispy, soft inside, served with a sweet sauce), and there is always her sensational Chocolate Soufflé Glace, with coconut creme and almond ice cream.

RED PEARL KITCHEN is that rare restaurant which really gets it…at once trendy, healthful, and fairly priced. With its exotic upmarket decor and well- trained staff (my server, Kwee, was utterly charming), it’s a dining experience featuring food not seen on any menu elsewhere.., so satisfying that I could — and will — easily return here several times a week. And for a final touch, they are using Valet Girls, well-trained drivers who make the entrance to any place more appealing, especially when the half-dozen women are all dressed in silk Chinese hot pink.

Open daily for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m, while the lounge/bar serves until

2:00 a.m.