from the
Posted on Sat, Feb. 16, 2002

Bellwethers still
Three of the city's finest flourish despite changes in the kitchen.

By Craig LaBan

There is no secret formula for creating a great restaurant, though when you find one it can seem like magic. Assembling just the right mix of space, decor, service staff, menu and clientele - not to mention the perfect chef to carry it off - can seem as tricky as trying to align the stars.
But when it happens, it is something to savor. Not only does it nourish with the excitement of sublime flavors; it wraps diners in a rarefied world that transports them through a seamless, memorable evening.

It can take years, if not decades, to build a dream restaurant. But how quickly can one fall?

It's a question that occurred to me over the last year as Le Bec-Fin, the Fountain Restaurant, and Susanna Foo - three of my four four-bell restaurants - underwent major changes in the kitchen. Would their delicate balance be shaken?

The four-Liberty Bell rating, my highest acknowledgment of a restaurant, is meant to be a rare distinction given to those that stand apart, setting standards for the region....

Georges Perrier replaced two chefs - one who had run his kitchen at lunch, the other at dinner, for more than a decade. The Fountain saw its leader of nearly two decades, Jean-Marie Lacroix, retire and then reemerge as chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Susanna Foo, still very present in her kitchen, recently hired a new executive chef, too.

Nobody wants to see a wonderful place change. But the news is surprisingly good. These restaurants still proved to be at the top of their game

It is a reminder that the greatest restaurants must be living, breathing, evolving creatures to survive. And that, sometimes, change is good...

Susanna Foo
Asian fusion cooking has become so common in the last decade that the typical Center City bistro is more likely to serve seared tuna and spring rolls than spaghetti and meatballs.
If it ain't sushi-grade fish, we won't eat it. That crabcake had better be breaded with panko crumbs. And what are mashed potatoes without a little kick of wasabi?

As with any trend that moves the exotic into the mainstream, there are a thousand imitators for every innovator, a league of dabblers who paint by number for every inspired chef who expresses new ideas through food with such natural ease that it becomes an extension of his or her personality.

That ease is the enduring appeal of Susanna Foo. Foo was one of the first chefs to produce "French-Chinese" cuisine, and she remains one of the best, blending the flavors of her native China with French ideas, infusing sauces with wine and stock, plating food with Western style, and preferring fresh ingredients to canned imported ones.

The restaurant itself is a haven of understated elegance. The servers are among the most professional in town.

But the cuisine is even more exquisite. Sophisticated and creative, with gorgeous presentations polished down to the finest detail, it is rooted in an authentically Chinese spirit.

The faintly bitter crunch of brussels sprout leaves in one of her stir-fries plays against the sweetness of scallops and the butter-softness of nuggets of filet mignon. Tiny croutons encrust her luscious crabcakes with the explosion of a "hundred corners."

Slivers of asparagus stalk mingle with look-alike rings of jalapeño, igniting a sweet-and-sour sauce that glazes crisp fried grouper deeply scored to resemble a pinecone.

Classic Chinese dishes you thought you knew take on exceptional luster. Wonton soup is more delicate, with a full-flavored broth and thin-skinned dumplings that harbor a gingery stuffing filled with seafood. And what may look like an average stir-fry turns out to be morsels of pheasant, artichoke hearts, and crunchy cloud ear mushrooms that bask in a sauce that is boldly spiced, yet ethereal.

Unlike many other mature chefs, Foo constantly seeks to refine her cuisine. And she has taken cues from her executive chefs over the years.

Bill Kim, a former sous-chef at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago who now heads the kitchen at the Inn on Blueberry Hill in Doylestown, helped organize her kitchen and polish presentations. Bruce Lim, the former owner of Ciboulette who recently opened Red Chopstix on Locust Street, deepened her knowledge of French cuisine, received at the Culinary Institute of America.

With new executive chef Patrick Feury, who opened Avenue B after years in some of Manhattan's finest kitchens, she has found a talented cook to intensify flavors and add more substance to the previously petite portions (an old gripe of mine). His ginger-and lemongrass-marinated venison with chestnut bread pudding is a fabulous, hearty Asian take on seasonal game.

Another fine addition has been pastry chef Luis Cotrina, a Spanish sweets master who came with Lim. With such desserts as quivering mango panna cotta, his delicate pear William mousse, and his coconut brulee, a caramelized round of coconut custard served with sauteed pineapple over a puddle of tapioca coconut cream, he offers a finale that captures the essence of this inimitable restaurant. •