Take for example, Divina, the upscale Mexican eatery on 23rd Street and Collins Avenue. Even though critics raved about the food, its ambiance bordered on perfection, the service was great, and the prices reasonable, it went under this past September, less than nine months after its debut. Then just before Christmas two of its owners, partners Sonia Lyn and Sam Hakman (who also run the Miami Beach restaurant Oasis), reopened the spot as Chow, billing the new place's cuisine as "Asian-Tropical."
The interior, so elegant in its Divina days, has been changed only slightly. The wide kitchen along the back wall is still in view of an open, airy dining room whose walls are rag-painted in a rich terra-cotta color. Divina's Mexican paintings and ceramic pots have given way to pretty ginger palms and kites adorned with Chinese characters. And the tables, enough to accommodate about 75 people, are now dressed with pink, blue, or green vinyl tablecloths with a candle at the center. Large picture windows framed with bamboo shades look out on to 23rd Street.
Two girlfriends and I stopped in on a recent Saturday evening at about nine o'clock to share a few appetizers and some wine. We chose a bottle of pinot grigio from the skimpy list, which offers only five whites (three of them chardonnays), two reds, and a sparkling wine. Overpriced at $34, the pinot grigio was nonetheless light and lemony, a good complement to the spicy fare. Also on the menu are several sake cocktails and two types of beer: one from Thailand and the other from China. Although the three of us made up fully half the patrons in the restaurant, our waiter was conspicuously absent during much of the meal, leaving us to negotiate the menu on our own.
It consisted of ten abbreviated descriptions of "cool and warm starts," the same number of entrees, and a half-dozen vegetable side dishes. Ingredients are drawn from a global palette that includes elements of Asia and the Caribbean -- garlic, ginger, chili, lime, soy, pineapple, curry, coconut, guava, plantain, banana, and sweet potato -- as well as some unexpected items such as hemp and truffles. It should be no surprise that an Asian influence dominates the menu when you consider chef Deborah Stanton's experience, which includes stints at two Asia-centric New York City restaurants: Vong, a Thai-French standout, and the Japanese bistro Mika, where she worked as executive chef.
Of the five appetizers we tried, grilled stuffed grape leaves with warm lentil salad was the best: Tender grape leaves wrapped around a rice and herb mixture contrasted nicely with the slight crunch of al dente lentils that had been spiked with pepper. Another starter, crisp shrimp with sweet-potato cakes, was alluringly complex, especially when dipped in the soy and ginger-lime sauce that accompanied it. Simpler and very tasty was a side order of spinach and shiitake mushrooms. On the other hand, the "steamed mochi," warm, sticky coconut rice and curried vegetables wrapped in banana leaves, was chalky and undistinguished. We were later told by our waiter that the banana wrappers are meant to be eaten, but I wouldn't recommend doing so. My husband and I tried them on a subsequent visit and found them to be as tough as wallpaper.
Since that first promising visit, whenever I have passed by Chow I've checked to see if others have discovered the place, and each time I've found it nearly deserted. One time I even peered in the window to be sure I wasn't missing a crowd at tables in the back. Bad move! Three waiters noticed me and tried to beckon me in, literally jumping up and down and waving their arms.
A few weeks after my first meal there, I returned, this time for dinner with my husband and one of his colleagues. Business was improving, it seemed, with about a dozen other diners in the restaurant. We were eager to try more of the exotic appetizers, especially organic baby lettuce with a hemp miso vinaigrette. The greens, a selection of red and green leaves, were a bit tired, though the dressing woke them up a bit. The thick, grayish dressing had a slight peppery zing and an almost earthy depth. (I regret to say we felt no narcotic effect from the hemp, but we did seem to give in to a sudden fit of the munchies, ordering way too much food once our elusive waiter reappeared.)
