A fusion of tastes from the Far East at Pan-Asian restaurants.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2001 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Deborah S. Hartz

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla._Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese and Japanese food used to be considered ethnic eating. An inexpensive, casual-yet-exotic evening out. A time to enjoy pad Thai, chicken tempura, moo goo gai pan or spring rolls while dressing down and relaxing.

Then in the 1990s, Pacific Rim brought all these flavors together in creative dishes that the yuppies flocked to eat. "Fusion" was the catchword of the day. And Pacific Rim/Pan-Asian was the big kahuna.

Perhaps the first and best practitioner of this cooking in South Florida was Jonathan Eismann, who is still going strong at Pacific Time on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

Today, however, Pacific cooking is riding another big wave with many restaurants opening that serve their own takes on this special cuisine.

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ROY'S

Consider, for example, Roy's in Boca Raton. It's the brainchild of Roy Yamaguchi, working with the people at Outback Steak Houses. Yamaguchi made his mark at Roy's, his first restaurant in Hawaii, which opened in 1988. The most recently opened Roy's in South Florida is his 23rd location, including Tampa and Orlando.

Here, he offers his signature Euro-Asian cooking. That's a blend of European techniques with Asian/Pacific ingredients apparent in such offerings as Roy's Seared Mahi-Mahi in Lobster Sauce With Macadamia Nuts or duck breast in poha berry reduction.

Yamaguchi, who was born in Tokyo, says he's been perfecting his Euro-Asian cuisine for 19 years.

"When I started cooking, I liked French cooking," he says. He worked at L'Ermitage in Los Angeles, where he says, "I learned more in 2-{ years there than I could have anywhere else." He found himself making sauces and learning to "feel when a dish was right."

He was soon combining his Japanese heritage with classic techniques and this led to the cuisine he prepares today.

"At the beginning, my cooking was more French than Asian. But now it can't be too Asian or French," he says. "I take...

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