Fusion Food That’s Making Waves

“You didn’t tell me it was another fusion place,” my friend Georgia says when she spots the sign for Splash. “ ‘Euro-Cal-Asian cuisine,’ what does that mean?” she asks, ever the purist. I admit I didn’t make full disclosure when inviting her for dinner. But then I knew what she didn’t: Serge Burckel is one of the few chefs in Los Angeles area who can pull off fusion cuisine with aplomb.

It could be because Burckel was a chef in Hong Kong for three years. The Alsace-born Burckel also worked with three-star chef Alain Senderens in Paris and at the three-star Aubergine in Germany. He came to L.A. to open the short-lived Cristal Restaurant in West Hollywood and has now turned up in Redondo Beach.

The million-dollar Splash is adjacent to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the harbor. Giant, brilliantly striped tropical fish swim across a series of canvases on one wall and an attractive aquarium is the bar’s focal point. The glass wall that separates the bright kitchen from the dining room makes the stainless-steel work area look like an aquarium, too. And there, leading the team of cooks is the tall, blond chef in athletic shoes. Behind the work tables is a huge, startling mural of Rabelais’ “Gargantua and Pantagruel” by the artist Jacques Halbert, a friend of Burckel’s who did the whimsical food-related paintings throughout the restaurant.

On my first visit, when I read “steamed pork chop, filled with parmesan creme served on apricot navy beans” and “Italian-style shredded veal shank with riso pasta served like a baseball,” I am, I confess, a little dubious. Each item sounds more preposterous than the last. But I find myself imagining how these combinations of flavors will taste. Either this meal is going to be very good or very bad.

Spicy fried prawns on a smear of dark, almost mustard-colored, tuna paste and topped with perky arugula are wonderful. Diced raw tuna is terrific, impeccably fresh, layered on white rice with Japanese pickles and matchsticks of nori. Mushroom cappuccino soup is a fanciful idea that really works. And duck firecrackers--wedges of crisp pastry with a duck and vegetable stuffing to wrap in lettuce and mint leaves and dip in a punched-up oyster sauce--are terrific. Perfectly cooked cappellini tossed in caviar, shallots and chives is simple and good.

A delicately flavored whole striped sea bass served with a melange of Asian vegetables from the wok is a big favorite at our table. But what I really love is the ravioli stuffed with porcini and foie gras in a celery broth scented with green apple. The transparent ravioli are made from a dough that’s more Chinese in style than Italian, with just a dab of filling in the center, and served in a splash of broth.

This food is well-conceived. It’s not just somebody throwing on a little soy sauce and ginger to give an Asian twist. Burckel has a real knack for blending flavors and cuisines. Not everything works, but even the failures are only near-misses.

The shredded veal shank looks more like a hockey puck than a baseball, but rice-shaped pasta layered with gelatinous shredded veal shank is seductive. And that steamed pork chop is fine except for the sweetness of the apricot navy beans.

In the kitchen, an oval table beneath a chandelier strung with glass chile peppers stands empty. It’s the chef’s table, our waiter tells us. It’s set in an alcove about 10 feet from the action at the stoves. “If you reserve ahead, the chef will create a special five- or seven-course meal for a minimum of six. Nothing will repeat what’s on the regular menu,” he tells us, awe in his voice. After all the jaded Westside waiters I’ve encountered, it’s heartening to come across someone who has fallen so in love with a chef’s food.

On my next visit, the chef’s table is occupied by one man and three women, who, oblivious to those of us on the other side of the glass, act out a pantomime of pleasure as Burckel ferries over a series of elaborately styled plates. It looks like so much fun that we vow to come back and try it. When we arrive, Burckel introduces himself, verifies that we will eat anything and quietly gets to work.

A whiff of summery watermelon entices me when the first plate is set before me. It’s a molded cake of pristine chopped raw shrimp and ribbons of basil, encircled with diced watermelon and its juice, then topped with a cantaloupe slice and a scoop of excellent caviar. The play of salt and sweet is fascinating.

Almost diffidently, Burckel announces soup: a light fragrant broth swimming with tender mussels, clams, asparagus tips and postage-stamp-sized ravioli punctuated with diced green apples. It’s a lovely lead-in for the next course: an elaborately folded banana leaf. When I remove the toothpick that holds it together, the leaf falls away to reveal succulent lobster and couscous pureed to mimic lobster butter. It’s an inspired idea. Ferreting out every morsel, Georgia beams: “It’s so nice to eat where the chef is not afraid of salt, butter or fat!” She’s right. Though I would add that those ingredients are used judiciously.

Tomato risotto is properly al dente, refreshingly tart. It’s stained a beautiful coral, decorated with green basil oil and a shimmering square of edible gold leaf. That’s followed by fat, delicious lamb chops in a mustard-bread-crumb crust, served with good mashed potatoes and slivers of sharp, pickled red onions.

Dessert is a fried banana on a bed of orange segments and an entrancing orange gelatin embedded with miniature chocolate macaroons. All in all, it’s a very satisfying weekend evening--except for the fact that diners are wrapping it up early and the kitchen is cleaning up as we savor our espresso.

Manager Dana Peters and chef Serge Burckel have created a relaxed, unpretentious dining experience. And Burckel’s sophisticated Euro-Cal-Asian cuisine just might be the argument for fusion. The South Bay has a new restaurant to celebrate.

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SPLASH

CUISINE: Euro-Cal-Asian. AMBIENCE: Hotel restaurant with glassed-in kitchen, featuring swank chef’s table. BEST DISHES: duck firecrackers, spiced fried prawns, cappellini with caviar, shredded veal shank, marinated striped sea bass. WINE PICK: 1995 Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma. FACTS: 350 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach; (310) 798-5348. Closed Sunday. Appetizers, $6 to $15; main courses, $11 to $28; Five-course chef’s table menu, $75; seven-course, $95. Corkage $10. Valet parking.