Michael Mina restaurant review: Fresh, new twists

There's something that feels felicitous about Michael Mina's new restaurant in the space that used to house Aqua. How he got there reads like a Hollywood script: A chef who made his career at Aqua comes back eight years later, bigger than ever, and tries to make the place as cutting-edge as it was when it opened nearly 20 years ago.

Lots has happened to the well-known chef since he left Aqua, with a bad taste in his mouth. The restaurant he helped make carried on for a while, but a family feud after the owner died eventually sank it. In the meantime, Mina went about building his empire, which now includes 17 restaurants all over the United States.

Despite his success, Mina wanted to come back to the spot where he was named James Beard Rising Star Chef in 1997 and Best Chef California in 2002. During negotiations for the space it looked as if he had lost his bid, but the deal eventually fell into Mina's lap.

So, can a chef go home again? There have been vast changes in the dining scene in the last decade, with preparations becoming more complex and interiors becoming more casual. When Mina opened the original Michael Mina in the Westin Saint Francis in 2004, it was still the era of Bernardaud china, Frette linens and dark-suited waiters. So when he took over Aqua this year, he decided to turn the Westin restaurant into Bourbon Steak; Aqua became Michael Mina, but with a decidedly modern bent.

Mina preserved the bones of the restaurant - even 20 years later, it remains one of the most beautiful dining spaces in the city - but he darkened the color palette, removed the tablecloths and relegated most of the fine china to the remainder bin.

Waiters' suits have been replaced by black chef's jackets, dark denim pants and charcoal gray aprons. Three artisans created the custom Japanese-style porcelain, which now rests on dark walnut tables with a finish as soft as baby powder.

The biggest change occurred in the kitchen, where burners were replaced with flat surfaces, oven steamers and circulators- equipment that is de rigueur today but wasn't used much even a few years ago. The menu also took on a more Japanese sensibility.

Changing approach

All this leads to yet another question: Can a chef so steeped in fine dining reinvent himself?

The proof is on the plate, and it's often spectacular. Mina has kept the fine-dining edge, adding the vibrancy and excitement diners expect today. It's ironic, because Aqua was a pioneer when it opened - it earned four stars even though it was larger and less formal than Fleur de Lys and other places of similar caliber.

Mina's menu may not be as experimental as some younger chefs - after all, he's now a ripe 42 years old - but it's a menu with depth, and it reflects his years of experience. The chef says this restaurant is his home base and he intends to spend time in the kitchen working with chef de cuisine Jeremy Ravetz, who worked for several years at Thomas Keller's Per Se in New York before becoming executive sous chef three years ago at the old Michael Mina.

Mina's new sensibility can best be illustrated by the Australian Wagyu shabu shabu ($17). The rectangular plate is visually stunning, framing square chips of daikon, logs of pickled root vegetables, frilly leaves of bok choy and tissue-like mounds of beef that drape like silk around quarter-sized coins of foie gras and slices of radishes.

The waiter brings a fluted paper cone filled with a rich dashi broth, then adds a capsule of foie gras fat. After the fat melts, diners dip the various components into the intense broth to cook. The staff then removes the broth and transfers it to a handmade cup with a thin, delicate lip for sipping. This shabu shabu seamlessly blends East and West.

Good service crucial

In this and other dishes, waiters are integral to the experience. They add the sauce, transfer the meat to the already garnished plate or prepare things such as the tuna tartare. It makes dining at Michael Mina an interactive experience.