Tastes from all over

IN L.A., everybody loves Italian, but close on that all-purpose cuisine is Euro-Asian. Chinois on Main has, for example, mined this very rich vein for almost 24 years. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a new crop of contenders -- Geisha House, Katana, Koi, Beacon. The new restaurant that aims to satisfy the urge for something pan-Asian with a few French touches is Celadon Galerie Culinaire on West 3rd Street in Los Angeles.

Owner Louie Chang has named his 3-month-old restaurant after the exquisite and much admired green glaze of Chinese ceramics. His design has given the former Yi Cuisine space a polished Asian look, weaving bamboo, orchids and opulent textures through the dining room and the adjacent lounge and bar. Thick staves of bamboo lean against the front window and in the foyer; water slides down the ribbed glass of a striking fountain. The decor isn’t over-the-top. It’s stated and subtle, all the better to show off chef Danny Elmaleh’s cuisine.

You probably haven’t heard the name of this young chef before. That’s because he was sous-chef to Josiah Citrin at Melisse, and most recently, executive chef for Citrin’s more casual Lemon Moon, both in Santa Monica. Now he’s getting the chance to star on his own and create a menu that reflects his unusual background.

Israeli-born, he grew up in Japan, attended the Culinary Institute of America and cooked at a French restaurant in Kobe, Japan, and at an Italian restaurant in Milan. All that experience is brought to bear on his menu at Celadon, which includes touches of the Middle East and North Africa as well as Europe and Asia. Elmaleh, whose parents are Moroccan and Japanese, has an instinctive knack for fusion. At 31, he’s just developing his own style, informed by everywhere he’s lived and cooked and tasted.

First up on the menu is crudo, or raw seafood. The term comes from Italian cuisine, but Elmaleh’s take is Japanese in style. The silly-sounding tuna tartare “lollipops” are actually more like a sushi sandwich -- sheets of nori in a gauzy tempura batter sandwiching tuna tartare and a shiso leaf. And they’re irresistible. He gives sushi a Latin twist with a terrific hamachi citrus salsa, a slice of excellent raw yellowtail topped with chiles and citrus, enhanced with a little ponzu gelee and a line of citrus “dust.”

Like the food, the colors of the dining room are rich and vibrant. Bolts of orange dupioni silk unfurl overhead. And in the center of a room is a playful chandelier made from ostrich eggs. Upholstered booths are lined around the perimeter, beneath wraparound dark wood shelves that hold rows of crimson votive “candles” (only the light is coming from flickering flame-shaped bulbs). In the corner, the requisite blissed-out Buddha smiles his enigmatic smile.

Over several meals at Celadon, I’ve discovered the best strategy is to eat meze-style. Cover the table with appetizers and nibble away. That’s where Elmaleh shows his best stuff and where he breaks new ground with his very personal fusion.

Dishes come out on long platters, sometimes clear glass, sometimes porcelain, and they’re mostly enough for four to share and get more than a bite. This style of eating makes for a companionable evening.

The Vietnamese shrimp toast delights and surprises, the deep-fried shrimp coated with black-and-white sesame seeds so they’re speckled like the feathers of a guinea hen. Each sits on a thin slice of very crisp toast, a purple orchid tucked beside it.

There’s also a fine variation on Chinese chicken salad with crisp, almost crystalline rice instead of wonton skins and tatsoi greens that look like petals of some exotic emerald flower. They’re tossed with peanuts and slices of moist chicken in a rice vinegar dressing perfumed with sesame.

Hummus “parfait” is twin glasses of a delicious fluffy hummus sprouting celery sticks and served with warm pita bread sprinkled with za’tar, a Middle Eastern spice. Another standout is pork saltimbocca tonkatsu. As the name indicates, it’s both Italian and Japanese inflected: thin slices of pork rolled up with mozzarella, dusted with breadcrumbs and fried enough to cook the meat and melt the cheese. It’s a great idea, one that I’ve never seen before -- like a well-traveled grilled cheese sandwich.

Ahi tuna pizza doesn’t make it, though, mainly because the crust tastes like a limp pita and the slices of raw tuna just sit on top, unintegrated into the pie. If you think of it as a tuna crostini, it makes more sense. But in the end, it’s dull, and on two occasions, our table didn’t finish it. And while I love the idea of octopus dressed up in pesto, the noodles beneath are mushy.

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Where starters shine

EVERY one of the appetizers has such a high production value -- the plates, the garnish, the rigorously studied look -- that by the time it comes to the larger plates, your eyes and your palate have been through so many changes that the main courses don’t register as well. It’s as if the chef is too serious when it comes to the big dishes. They’ve lost the wonderful light-hearted quality of the appetizers and are bogged down by too many ingredients and embellishments. Curiously, they’re not plated as well either.

The exception is the wok and side dishes, which include a terrific bowl of steamed clams sparked with Thai bird chiles and fragrant Thai basil. The flavors are wonderful together. Szechwan spicy noodles aren’t all that spicy, a bowl of wide noodles tossed with what tastes like peanut butter laced with chiles.

A better option is the special saraudon sizzling noodles (named for a Japanese dish) -- a big happy mix of noodles with crisp rice, bok choy, scallops and shrimp. I love all the textures, and especially the rice crust where it sticks to the sides of the hot stone bowl. I only wish the sauce wasn’t so sweet.

Best choices among the meat and fish dishes include the plum-braised short ribs, with the beef cooked to tenderness but still holding its shape and texture, lacquered with a glaze that highlights the flavor without overwhelming it. Still, they can’t compete with the little pork ribs with a ginger-cinnamon crumble over the top served one night as a special. That combination was magic with the pork. This should get star billing on the next menu.

You can’t go wrong with the grilled swordfish either. It’s garnished with grapefruit segments, a flurry of greens and a thickened yogurt to pull it all together. But grilled lamb sirloin with tabbouleh and tahini sauce sounds more exciting than it is.

And flat-iron steak comes, bizarrely, with grilled cheese panini. The beef is tough to boot. Still, the most expensive of the meat and fish dishes is $15; it’s hard to complain.

Service is generally good, except for the usual water torture. That would be when a server fills glasses to the brim, obviously hoping that a single bottle won’t make it all the way around the table. You could easily end up with two waters at $7 each on your bill before you’ve ever taken a bite.

The smart and savvy wine list put together by wine consultant David McDonald includes a number of wines that go beautifully with this kind of food, like the Champalou Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley, or Pic Saint Loup, a red from the Languedoc region of France. And if you want to go in the sake direction, Celadon’s list holds more than 30 selections, enough to keep you busy for more than one visit. In addition, the bar offers a slew of fanciful cocktails, including his and her aphrodisiac cocktails, and a selection made from sake and soju.

Desserts straddle the East-West line too, with a lovely black sesame custard escorted by a brulee of adorable baby bananas and an adzuki (red bean) custard tart. Otherwise, there’s a trio of creme brulee (the better to share) or a chocolate trio that includes a miniature chocolate souffle.

One more plus: the noise level. This is one of the few restaurants I’ve been to in months where it’s quiet enough that you can have a conversation with friends over dinner. If only we didn’t have to keep waving off the conscientious water pourers. Open late, till midnight most nights, Celadon is ready and waiting for anybody looking for a bite in a chic East-West setting. Say hello to Buddha for me.

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virbila@latimes.com

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Celadon Galerie Culinaire

Rating: * 1/2

Location: 7910 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, (323) 658-8028; www.celadongalerie.com.

Ambience: Euro-Asian decor with orange silk and lots of flickering votive lights. An inviting lounge offers a fireplace and Indonesian teak sofas loaded with silk cushions.

Service: Overly solicitous: Back off with the water pouring!

Price: Crudo (raw seafood), $12 to $14; yam cha (fried things), $12; soups and salads, $6 to $14; fish and meats, $13 to $15; wok and sides, $6 to $17; desserts, $9 to $10.

Best dishes: Hamachi citrus salsa, tuna tartare “lollipop,” Vietnamese sesame shrimp toasts, pork saltimbocca tonkatsu, saraudon sizzling crispy noodles and rice, black sesame custard.

Wine list: The sake list of more than 30 selections trumps the wine list. Corkage fee, $15.

Best table: A corner banquette.

Details: Dinner 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Friday; 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Full bar. Valet parking, $5.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.