Best of Boston

1998 Best New Restaurant, Suburban

Blue Ginger

Asian-influences fusion cuisine has made it to the suburbs. This time around, it is being done with intelligence, restraint, and style, in this case by Ming Tsai, a Yale-educated, French-trained Chinese chef who was a pacesetter in San Francisco and Santa Fe before coming East. Star of a 40-part series on the TV Food Network, Tsai mixes Western (mainly French) and Eastern (mostly Chinese, with a little Japanese thrown in). The resulting dishes, like the fabulous Long Island duck breast marinated with achiote pepper, candied ginger, thyme, and garlic, should be enough to get even the most devoted urbanite to venture out to Wellesley.

583 Washington St., Wellesley, 781-283-5790,