Chinese Breakout

Who would expect an omelet revelation at a Chinese restaurant? I didn’t. But then I took a bite of the cloudlike oyster omelet at Myers + Chang. As for the oysters, there were just a few, which was fine, as texture was everything. The flavorings were distinctly Asian: garlic and sriracha, the chili-vinegar sauce familiar from Thai cooking. Finally, the pillowy consistency and thin layers made it taste unlike most omelets I’ve had. It was more like a wok-fried soufflé.

1 Corby’s Picks
Myers + Chang
1145 Washington St., Boston, 617-542-5200

2 Chef: Alison Hearn
Appetizers: Tea-smoked spare ribs ($12); dan dan noodle salad ($7); pot stickers filled with shiitake mushrooms and Chinese greens ($10); chicken lettuce wraps ($10)
Entrées: Organic Scottish salmon ($15); oyster omelet ($12)
Side: Wok-charred greens ($7)

But then, Myers + Chang is unlike most Chinese restaurants I’ve been to. Rather than featuring Cantonese cuisine, it primarily serves home-style Taiwanese food based on traditional recipes. And rather than being in Chinatown, it’s in the recently pricey part of the South End, on the ground floor of a fancy new building on Washington Street. The look is 1970s lounge/coffee shop, more L.A. than Boston; the sleek décor’s strongest Asian touch is the red calligraphy running around the plate-glass windows.

This blend of influences makes sense when you consider Myers + Chang’s namesakes, who are two of the most accomplished Bostonians in the restaurant business. Christopher Myers is co-owner of Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay, and a veteran restaurateur. Joanne Chang is the owner of the terrifically successful Flour Bakery + Cafe, located 10 or so blocks up Washington Street, and a woman with an eye for real estate deals in up-andcoming neighborhoods (she recently opened another Flour near the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center). The couple are famously engaged, though they say they haven’t found time to get married.

Their new venture’s hybrid ethos is further underscored by its chef, Alison Hearn, who has what Chang calls a “rigorous” French background, acquired in Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne in New York and here at Craigie Street Bistrot and B & G Oysters. Like most French-trained chefs, she loves Asian food—but she’d never cooked it professionally.

Myers + Chang is an experiment, and the interesting, somewhat lopsided menu shows it. But it’s the experiment of people who know and appreciate good food, and that shows, too. Almost everything tastes fresh, brightly flavored, and clean (a prime example: the edamame celery slaw, $4, with a light lift of candied lemon). The flavors are clear but not wimpy. This is stuff you can imagine being served at home, and can eat often. Perhaps that’s thanks to Chang’s mother and grandmother, who both grew up in Taiwan and not only contributed many of the restaurant’s recipes, but also actually demonstrated techniques for its cooks.

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