North Asian cuisine

Second Bite Review, March, 2012

After four years under the direction of Max Levy, Bei has a new chef. But don’t worry—Xavier Mauerhofer is keeping all the Bei favorites, while infusing the North Asian menu with more Chinese flavors and French cooking techniques.

Mauerhofer’s signature dishes show off a mastery of textures and stimulating exploration of flavors. The Opposite House’s decision to hire Western chefs to head their Asian restaurant is an interesting one, but it is successful in that the chefs are less tied to the traditional roster of Asian dishes and can instead think outside the box.

The Dungeness crab salad is fresh and rich, set off by spicy bits of red pepper and sitting in a base of refreshing cucumber and shiso jelly with mustard foam and tiny slices of Fuji apple. The five-spice foie gras is a chef’s specialty. It’s beautifully presented, a long tube of foie gras mousse accessorized with little squares of dried nori, the plate sprinkled with pine nuts, wolfberries and dried apricot. Eat it all spread on pieces of bamboo charcoal bread for a truly stimulating combination of flavors.

Main courses take the menu in a more European direction and are satisfying but less exciting. We liked the inclusion of enoki mushrooms with the slow-cooked cod, and the complex blend of ingredients gives the dish’s broth an interesting, caramel-like flavor. The wagyu short-rib is made with a Korean marinade, explains the chef, but to us the dish tasted like typical, heavy, high-end French fare.

The milk chocolate mousse is infused with black tea flavors and has a texture like crème brulee without the crunchy top. We liked it, but we’re more impressed with the house-made ice creams, especially the basil flavor.

All dishes are available as part of the six-course ¥498 (plus surcharge) tasting menu.

Sienna Parulis-Cook, March, 2012