Chinois Puts Extra Funk into Fusion

It’s an idiosyncrasy, perhaps – but when I look at a menu or drink list, I immediately hone in on what strikes me as the most bizarre dish. Weird ingredients? I want it. Offbeat presentation? Bring it on. To be honest, the more unappealing a recipe might seem to be, the more I covet it.

This is not because I am masochistic. It’s because so often, I’ve been stunned by a chef’s successful creativity. There’s a reason professional cooks are professional cooks – like great artists, they have vision for food that mere mortals often don’t.

The latest culinary canvas I’m swooning over is Chinois Asian Bistro in Windsor. The menu at this stylish little eatery tucked on the Town Green is lengthy, and nearly every dish requires a double take for inventiveness. Owner Debbie Shu is thinking outside the wok for this mélange of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Hong Kong-style and Malaysian specialties, and the result is often delectable.

Every Asian menu must have egg rolls, because nearly everyone craves the crispy nibbles. Yet Shu mixes taro root in among the shredded cabbage and carrots, then sweetens things up with pineapple-citrus dip ($5). Another classic, spring rolls, come plump with crispy roast duck and cool cucumber ($8). While my table had to get our favorite of predictable panko prawns ($10), I was pleased to discover that the beautifully firm, crunchy-coated creatures arrived with a gripping wasabi-honey dip.

Debbie’s sister Kelly Shu and partner-chef Chang Liow also own Ume Japanese Bistro nearby on Old Redwood Highway, and their respect for pristine seafood shows in the ahi tartare ($12), the ruby red cubes of fish jewel-brilliant, glistening in sesame ponzu and scattered in paper-thin taro chips.

Open for two-and-a-half years, the space itself doesn’t excite so much. It’s quietly sexy with red column lanterns and a long row of charcoal banquettes, but stark with bistro seating and a bar in the entry. Service is polite if perfunctory. Yet who is going to look away from their plate, anyway, when the Thai green mango salad ($12) arrives? It’s a portrait of color and zing, tumbling julienne vegetable curls, cilantro, scallions, sprouts, peanuts, and more of those perfect prawns. Even the Chinois house salad ($6) is no afterthought, thanks to add-ins of Asian pears and taro root chips amid the organic field greens, and a splash of gutsy soy vinaigrette.

Chinois is one of the few Sonoma restaurants to offer dim sum, and the small bites hold some surprises. If you’ve had Day Break Radish Cake ($5) elsewhere, it likely wasn’t like this – four fluffy slabs make me think of crisp-edged French toast, peppery-sharp with radish and tamed with a thick, sweet soy syrup. Pot stickers ($6), meanwhile, get an intriguing boost from balsamic-citrus-soy sauce and a generous sprinkle of toasted chile flakes.

For an Indian treat, try the roti prata ($7). Most other versions bring chewy flatbread or doughy pancake. But at Chinois, the starch is feather light, presented in fat, deliciously greasy curls like croissants, to be dunked in thick, creamy, mildly spiced yellow curry.

And when was the last time you had a taste of Peru in Wine Country? Chifa ($15) is a mild introduction, layering chewy beef, tomatoes, onion and potatoes in a kind of wok-tossed casserole. Ladle it over jasmine rice and let the savory sauce soak in.

For all the very good plates at Chinois, the miso escolar ($16) is a standout. Chunks of sashimi grade butterfish are pan-seared to a golden finish and the silky, fatty meat gets sturdy support from crunchy bok choy. Another entrée of Cambodian glass noodles ($12) caused dueling chopsticks at our table, spearing shards of chicken and sliced prawn among the slippery, savory sauce.

As I studied the drinks menu, I couldn’t help but smile. There are imported beers, and a deep wine list from sommelier Liow (check out the funky glassed-in wine cellar in the alcove off the bar). But leave it to Shu and Liow to create a compelling cocktail collection based on soju rice-barley spirits. Somewhat familiar is the Tai Chi ($5), like an Asian mojito of soju, chilled sake, mint, fresh lemon juice and seltzer. Completely new is the Orange Creamsicle ($5), blending chilled unfiltered sake with orange juice and a dash of cream.

I zeroed in on the Asian Blonde ($5), a blend of soju, chilled sake, mint and what was called “capiscan.” Surely they meant capsaicin, the potent component that gives chiles their heat, but instead it was a clear salmon-colored concoction, floating in confetti of minced bell pepper and herb.

The drink was somehow reminiscent of salad dressing, in an eclectically delicious way, but more: a superb example of a culinary artist’s creative license.

Details: Chinois Asian Bistro, 186 Windsor River Road, Windsor, 707-838-4667.