Pearl Vision

Akoya cooks up love in this club.

by David Snyder

Mark Stehle SQUARE MEAL: Chef Greg Garbacz's torched tuna tataki is complemented by a subtle avocado crème fraiche.

It's often difficult to look beyond the past. It doesn't matter what character Jason Alexander plays from here on out, for example — we'll only ever see George Costanza. And although he delivers epic performances time and time again, Sir Anthony Hopkins has been indelibly marked as the serial killer who once ate a census taker's liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

But if restaurateur Scott Stein has his way, when you hear the word "Akoya" — the name of his reinvented Asian pub on Chestnut near 19th — you won't think of Pearl.

Akoya, of course, is a type of pearl (the name's a tribute to his great-grandmother, who received a string of akoya pearls when her husband met famed pearl entrepreneur Mikimoto Kokichi at the 1926 Philadelphia World Exposition). The big hurdle is that the pub occupies what used to be the restaurant space inside Pearl, the upscale night club/restaurant hybrid that Scott, along with his dad, David, brother Sean and friend Brett Perloff, opened in 2008.

Pearl's nightlife product has prospered. Maybe a little too well.

"We were noticing more and more that we kept having a nightlife reputation," Stein told me in an interview. That success apparently eclipsed the kitchen, helmed then by chef Ari Weiswasser. "It was tough getting past that shadow," Stein said. "For the level of food we were putting out, I didn't think we were being taken seriously as a restaurant."

Solution: Separate the restaurant from the night club and shift the concept to more casual, affordable Asian fare. Hence, Akoya.

Visually, not much has changed with the space. Customers have to make their way past Pearl's bouncers and velvet ropes to dine (a separate entrance would help). And aside from zebra wood behind the bar and a striking black-and-white mural by Lisa James, the cool, lounge-y décor — which works here — still remains.

But there's plenty to like about this retooled spot in terms of food. I loved the fact that the menu assembled by chef Greg Garbacz (Weiswasser's former sous chef) is loose and flexible, one of the more intuitive and navigable small-plates menus around. Geeks could call it open-source dining — the noodle and hot dish sections provide guests with the comfort of the conventional three-course route, yet the snacks, small plates and yakitori categories provide a wide berth to play and share. This is all at reasonable prices.

The thoughtful simplicity of some of its smaller dishes is where Akoya excels. The avocado crème fraîche was the perfect complement to lightly torched tuna tataki, one of the strongest dishes on the menu. I loved the subtle depth that came from blending puréed edamame into hummus. Chicken gyoza was solid. Garbacz deserves props for showing restraint with the truffle oil in his fries. And the bar crowd's explosive cheering at Villanova's Elite Eight victory over Pitt provided the big distraction I needed to polish off the addictively bitter and tangy house-made kecap manis sauce that accompanied the beef yakitori (I confess — I literally drank it).

I found beautiful harmony, too, in the pistachio scallops, a holdover from Pearl's original menu. Delicate pistachio truffle vinaigrette and seared cipollini onions were the perfect dance partners for the creamy, perfectly cooked bivalves.

Still, there are signs that Akoya needs a bit more polish. The kitchen struggles on occasion when it comes to balancing and layering flavors. Sometimes, dishes were devoid of necessary elements. Without bolder sweet and fishy components, for example, aggressive green curry and cilantro left the crab pad Thai tasting angular and incomplete. Lobster pad Thai, too, was remarkably hollow. At other times, certain flavors overwhelmed. Sesame orange vinaigrette, pico de gallo and crème fraîche eclipsed the delicate flavor of raw yellowtail in a hamachi taco. The tartness of wasabi aioli seemed to work against the sweet meat in the short rib sliders.

Execution, too, should be tighter. Peking duck spring rolls were dry, and the braised short rib and duck entrées were overcooked. I had loads of fun piling house-cured salmon, avocado and crème fraîche onto toasted lavash to build the Philly flatbread roll, but the salmon itself was suspiciously fishy.

The cookie dough maki dessert alone, though, will get me back in the door. A cool vanilla ice cream interior melts into the pure, salty dough in which it's wrapped. These flavors then blend into a hypnotically deep miso peanut butter dipping sauce.

Akoya delivers a compelling model — a broad spectrum of flavors, at fair prices, in an upscale setting. Whether it can emerge from the shadow of its popular upstairs neighbor may not be within its control. But with a few tweaks, who knows — the next time you hear the word Akoya, you may just think of food instead of jewelry.

(david.snyder@citypaper.net)

Akoya | 1904 Chestnut St., 215-564-9094, akoyaphilly.com. Hours: Daily, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Snacks, small plates, tempura, soups, salads, $4-$15; noodle, rice, yakitori, $4-$24; hot dishes, $17-$25; sides, $4-$6