San Diego Spotlight : Hedi’s Franco-Asian Blend Unusual, Often Excellent

Even though Western cooking techniques are in a state of flux, it is difficult not to flinch while watching a cook at the Gaslamp Quarter’s new Hedi’s use a blowtorch to “grill” lengths of flat bread.

This procedure takes place under the hammered-copper hood of the open kitchen, which obtrudes pointedly into the back dining room of this avant-garde cafe, every time a party orders what the menu bills as “housemade grilled Eastern bread with spices.” Although this simple, inexpensive offering embodies the general spirit of the menu in the way it emphasizes color, artsy plate arrangement and a melding of Western and Eastern cooking styles and flavors, it is not very successful, despite the crispness of the bread and the painterly appearance of the bands of bell pepper purees that streak it in bold shades of green, red and yellow.

Many members of an earlier generation of food writers, especially the late James Beard, liked to pose the question of which cuisine, French or Chinese, should be considered the world’s finest. To the degree a debate ever existed, it has been muted since cooks from both sides of the globe began hybridizing the two cuisines, generally giving precedence to Western cooking techniques and to Eastern flavors, regardless of the principal ingredients involved. This process goes on unabated at Hedi’s, supervised by Paris-trained chef Joseph Buley and Tunisian-born but Paris-raised proprietor Hedi Madani.

The attempt to assimilate East and West into a new amalgam could result in a cuisine with a split personality--table settings emphasize the difficulties by including both knife and fork and lacquered chopsticks--or in an exciting, invigorating style of cooking, which often is the case at Hedi’s. In some preparations, such as the excellent stir-fried prawns with “kung pao” sauce and the “Mongolian” lamb chops, only the presentation is French-influenced, while the flavors belong strictly to the East. Other dishes more pointedly synthesize the two styles, notably in the appetizer of smoked tea duck confit with spinach, which defies all logic by subjecting one bird to the techniques of two famous preparations--Chinese tea duck and French duck confit --and combining chunks of the tender, subtly flavored result with a garnish that includes mayonnaise and pickled ginger. This is not standard fare.

The lightness of the cooking is appealing, as is the retention of French-inspired presentation; to a degree, Hedi’s takes advantage of the better sides of both Asian and French cuisine. There is a tendency to sauce some dishes so lightly, however, that they remain both dry and devoid of the effect intended by the sauce, as with the grilled tiger eye calamari. This appetizer, of cooked squid stuffed in sushi-fashion with concentric rings of rice and vegetables, is colorful but dry, tough and tasteless, and, although the pencil-thin lines of sweet pepper-and-plum wine sauce that streak the plate probably could not save the preparation, they might at least add something if present in great enough quantity to be tasted.

Arrangements of deluxe greens, which technically could be considered salads, actually are integral parts of several appetizers, especially the grilled beef carpaccio with Granny Smith apples. Carpaccio, of course, is raw, as is this meat, ever so lightly charred at the edges but fleshy and toothsome with the crisp flavors and textures of the fruit and greenery that accompany it. A light salad also garnishes the crisp spring rolls stuffed with curried chicken and crystal noodles. The oblongs, slashed diagonally and arranged upright on the plate like an edible Chinese Stonehenge, are delicious, if too mild.

Having undertaken to offer strong flavors, Hedi’s frequently seems reluctant to serve them. A common complaint about the entrees is that many are seasoned timidly, and with those dishes noted as spicy, servers on both recent visits attempted to steer guests to order mild versions. This would have been a mistake--the thin, hot, lovely, stock-based sauce with the stir-fried prawns was sensational, as was the similar sauce with the expertly cooked lamb chops. Garnishes in both cases also were terrific, the prawns buried under a bird’s nest-like whirl of fried sweet potato shreds, the chops arranged over delicate “silver” noodles and sided with excellent grilled vegetables.

Adecided blandness and a certain mushiness disqualified the “mixed seafood steamer,” or shellfish and Oriental vegetables packed uncomfortably in a bamboo cooking basket. Sesame seed-crusted salmon, carefully cooked to a still-moist stage, was good, although the orange-mint vinaigrette again lacked punch. Better than either of these was a special of veal T-bone steak, tossed on the grill until charred but buttery. The tomato-basil cous cous garnish was a nice try that didn’t make the grade. Other entree choices include sizzling catfish with gingered sake sauce and barbecued pork tenderloin with honey mustard sauce and vanilla-flavored sweet potatoes.

The dessert list aims at the richness eschewed by the main body of the menu and excels both with a mousse-like torte of dark chocolate and macadamia nuts, and the finely clever “thin pie” of tender-crisp puff pastry baked with a topping of apples, mascarpone cheese and a bit of caramel sauce. The crowning glory--and the one that has the last say on the Franco-Oriental culinary marriage at Hedi’s--is the arrangement of sweet, cinnamon-flavored squares of crisply fried won ton dough that seem almost to float above the pie, and lend much more than might seem possible for so simple-sounding a trick.

The style of the restaurant is very au courant and youthful, and quite in the casual but sophisticated mood that seems to be taking hold in the Gaslamp Quarter. That having been said, tablecloths would be nice. At times, the place seems a little hard around the edges.

HEDI’S 815 5th Ave., San Diego 696-6262 Dinner Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday Entrees are $11 to $16.50; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $40 to $70 Credit cards accepted