FIRST IMPRESSIONS: My friend Chris called last...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: My friend Chris called last week to tell me that her hairdresser had told her that the trendiest new restaurant in town was Fung Wong (123 N. Robertson Blvd., (213) 854-3346). “It hasn’t even opened yet,” I said. “I know,” she replied. “It’s opening next week. But it’s next door to the Ivy, and it’s going to be hot .”

Well, now it’s open, and, while I’m not sure how trendy it is, I’m very sure that it is unusual. This quietly attractive Chinese restaurant has an entirely vegetarian menu (it does serve seafood). There’s no squab in the minced squab in lettuce leaves, but rather a combination of pine nuts, spices and vegetables that bears absolutely no relation to fowl. Fung Wong serves a squidless version of black bean squid and a shrimpless version of fried shrimp. There is also an odd appetizer made of deep-fried yogurt.

There is another restaurant serving this Chinese Buddhist vegetarian food--the inimitable Fragrant Vegetable in Monterey Park. The food at the Fragrant Vegetable is considerably more sophisticated, but it lacks the cachet of a high-class neighborhood.