Grasshopper regains zesty Asian edge

a prolific restaurateur who has opened more than a dozen Triangle restaurants over the past two decades (among them Parizade, George's Garage and Vin Rouge), Giorgios Bakatsias is known as a trend-setter. Anytime he announces plans to open a new restaurant, local foodie circles start to buzz.

This summer, he raised the pitch to a white-hot hum. News that Bakatsias had teamed up with Charlie Deal, a rising-star chef from California, and that the partners planned to open three restaurants within the space of a few weeks, was Topic No. 1 in dining news groups. The big question: Could they pull it off?

Not quite. Grasshopper was the first of the three restaurants to open, in late August. It was also the least ambitious of the three, serving an abbreviated sampling of Deal's trademark contemporary take on Asian street food. Once the Durham restaurant was up and hopping, the plan was for its fancier siblings -- a steakhouse called Bin 54 and Jujube, an upscale version of Grasshopper -- would follow in quick succession, opening side by side in Chapel Hill's Glen Lennox shopping center.

But Grasshopper proved to be something of a problem child. Or maybe it's more fair to say that the restaurant was starved for attention. Too soon after Grasshopper's opening, Deal left the kitchen in the hands of his staff and turned his attention to the openings of Bin 54 and Jujube. As a result, food -- to a lesser extent, service -- suffered.

In the early months, execution of the menu was a roller coaster ride, from the high of a rustic hanging roast pork chow mein to the low of an unfocused cold presentation of lime leaf chicken, then back up with sweet basil shrimp stir-fried with scallion and rice noodles, then back down to dense, gummy pork-and-shrimp dumplings.

To his credit, Deal has seen the error and has returned to Grasshopper's kitchen. His return is evident, starting with hand-made dumplings such as the ones I sampled recently, supple wontons filled with a ginger- and coriander-accented chicken forcemeat, floating in a pellucid, scallion-spangled broth. And the open-faced pork and shrimp dumplings would now do a dim sum house proud.

Appetizer-size plates include fried calamari with a tamarind dipping sauce and a fragrant spicy coconut soup with sweet potatoes and shiitakes. Cha gio, crispy Vietnamese spring rolls filled with pork, shrimp and mushrooms, are a standout. So are seared Virginia coast scallops, their buttery flesh framed in a lustrous sauce of pureed sweet potato, ginger and mint.

Among heartier options, Vietnamese-style baby back ribs are meaty and tender under a dark, complex glaze of hoisin accented with lemon grass and ginger. Seared tuna is immaculate under a translucent tamarind glaze.

The jumbo shrimp, wok-fried with two-inch asparagus segments and blackened chiles, which goes under the name firecracker prawns, is a refreshing variation on the kung pao theme. My only quibble is that the tough ends of the asparagus haven't been sufficiently trimmed.

Don't be tempted to dismiss the listings under the heading of "Simple" as merely side dishes. "Asian tapas" might be a better heading for a category that includes the likes of wok-flashed pea shoots, Shaoxing wine-marinated shiitakes and Niman Ranch hanging roast pork.

Nor should you pass up desserts, which change seasonally and have recently included an ethereal coconut custard.

Fans of Giorgios Bakatsias' famous flair for dramatic decor won't be disappointed. The compact dining room is at once casual and vibrant, a contemporary study in bamboo and Chinese red walls lighted by pale green rice paper disks overhead. And the Zen garden patio is one of the most inviting in the Triangle.

Grasshopper's bar dispenses Asian-accented specialty cocktails with names like Ginger Silver Coin, as well as an excellent selection of artisanal beers and wines by the eight-ounce half-carafe or 16-ounce carafe. It's a pleasant spot to drink a toast to a promising new restaurant. And to taking things one at a time.