FOOD&DRINK

Bistro 88

Austin's Jeff Liu to open restaurant in Xiamen this fall

By The Main Course By Dale Rice
AMERICAN-STATESMAN RESTAURANT CRITIC
Thursday, July 03, 2008

Thirty years ago, to borrow loosely from one of his customers, Jeff Liu galloped into Texas on a Chinese steed. Now he's riding in the opposite direction on a bronc with Lone Star origins.

Liu, the proprietor-chef of Bistro 88, an Asian-inspired restaurant that has been among the area's finest since it opened here nine years ago, is launching a Texas barbecue spot in China this fall.

Unlike the typical barbecue joint in Central Texas, however, this one will be upscale and large. It will have 10,000 square feet with marble floors indoors and 15,000 square feet outdoors on the water in Xiamen, a coastal city that is about an hour from Hong Kong and equidistant from Taipei. Plus, it will have mechanical bulls.

Liu calls it a "sexy barbecue joint," and says it will have plenty of "Don't Mess with Texas" and "Keep Austin Weird" slogans on display, which might help attract employees from the nearby Dell Inc. operation.

This all came about, Liu says, because of a family friend who's an international businessman and exporter. He comes to Austin annually and eats at Bistro 88 each time, repeatedly telling Liu that Xiamen needs a place like his restaurant.

Finally, last year Liu went to the coastal city, looked at the available space and liked what he saw. Rather than replicating Bistro 88 there, he suggested opening a Texas barbecue place in Xiamen. After explaining to his new business partner that it was different from Korean barbecue, and showing him the mechanical bulls, he sold his partner on the idea.

Liu will spend about three months in China this fall, with the goal of opening the restaurant in the first week of November. Then, with Austin remaining his home base, he'll travel back and forth.

"I think it will be a fun, fun place," he says.

But, understanding his partner's concern that Texas barbecue might not be a big hit in China, Liu agreed to make about 40 percent of his menu similar to what he offers at Bistro 88, food that is as elegant as anything I had in a recent three-week visit to Beijing.

At a recent trip to the Austin restaurant, dinner began with an amuse bouche, a complimentary starter of delicate vegetable noodles in a sauce made of green tea, wasabi and dashi (a fish soup base) served in a small square bowl. It set the perfect tone for the evening.

We followed with two of Liu's classic soups: carrot-jalapeño ($4 for a cup), a creamy, slightly zesty soup, and the Thai hot-and-sour seafood ($4.50 for a cup), a bisquelike soup with small chunks of seafood and a more substantial kick.

The smoked squid salad ($5) that followed captured the attention and the taste buds of both my dining companion and me. Liu imparts the flavor by steaming the squid in liquid flavored with smoke and then preserves the tenderness by immersing it quickly into ice water. He then slices it very thin and mixes it with Japanese tree mushrooms, chives, red chile pepper, sesame seeds, sesame oil and spices, marinating it for two hours before serving. It was exquisite.

The entrees were beautifully presented and full of flavor. The baked salmon ($24) was stuffed with crabmeat and served with noodles and sautéed zucchini, while the sesame shrimp ($23) was sautéed in a wok in a spicy sweet-and-sour sauce and accompanied by mashed potatoes and baby bok choy.

The desserts, a Grand Marnier-spiked crème brûlée ($6) and a chocolate crunch bar ($7), were lovely.

It was the kind of meal that should be a hit in a growing, sophisticated city. But something tells me the Bistro 88 food might not be ordered at a pace commensurate with its 40 percent space on the menu. I'll wager on Texas barbecue being a hit in Xiamen.

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859