Admitting that you have a thing for Asian fusion restaurants is like saying you prefer the Eric Clapton covers of Robert Johnson to Robert Johnson.
But as I see it, Asian fusion cooking can have something to say in the hands of the right chef. It doesn’t have to mean mealy seared tuna, limp field greens and sweet sauces.
No chef in America has done as much to burnish the reputation of fusion as Jean-Georges Vongerichten. He opened the original Spice Market in New York as one of his first forays into casual, high-volume dining with a menu that riffed on Asian street food. It was so popular when it opened that reservations were impossible. When I stopped by one evening and asked just to peek inside, I was turned away at the door by a bouncer.
The Atlanta branch of Spice Market in the W Hotel Midtown reprises many of the dishes made popular in New York. It would be a fun restaurant to like.
I stopped by for lunch last Friday and found a mostly empty dining room, and food that had …