Restaurant Spotlight of the Week

Pauli Moto’s Asian Bistro

By Darien Bates

If you're a regular reader of this column, you understand the focus of it as a place where we explore the enormous and hugely varied mosaic of local Northern Virginia restaurants. The purpose is to do the work of research for area residents; to reveal to them the wide range of options in both genre of restaurant (fine dining, casual, fast food, etc.) and type of cuisine (Italian, Chinese, Tex/Mex).

The journey to find new places is fantastic, in that it often reveals places this reporter, and many of this column’s readers, might never try simply from lack of awareness. For the same reason, it seldom discusses national chains, as there is little need to bring awareness to these places.

That being said, this week presented an opportunity to visit the first location of a new franchise, and talk with a chef who was part of the changing popular perception of what food can be. Next Tuesday the doors will officially open to Pauli Moto's Asian Bistro, located in the Tyson's Corner Center.

The restaurant is a partnership between Paul Ardaji Jr., Paul Ardaji Sr. and Masaharu Morimoto, the Japanese chef part of the popular television show “Iron Chef.”

I became familiar with the show during my college days, when the idea of cooking relied heavily on the staples of pasta and canned tomato sauce. My mother, an expatriate farm girl from Iowa, prepared food that tasted great, but wasn't heavy on elaborate artistic expression (not a focus of most Midwestern cuisine).

In “Iron Chef,” the show where cooking became competition, and specifically, in the cuisine of Chef Morimoto, I saw new possibilities for what food could be, not just in the use of ingredients unfamiliar to me, but also in the final product, which often looked like it could serve as centerpiece as well as sustenance. The show served as my springboard into a new world of global cuisine.

With my memories of the show, I felt compelled to visit the new restaurant at Tyson’s Corner and talk with Chef Morimoto, who has been working to get Pauli Moto's up and running. A very creative chef who has used everything from squid to Skippy peanut butter in his recipes, Morimoto said that in creating a menu for Pauli Moto's he had to find a balance between the creativity he is known for and something that appeals to a wider popular audience.

In contrast to Morimoto's restaurant in Philadelphia, a very expensive, high end restaurant, Pauli Moto's is less pricy, but it still manages to capture the artistry and elegance that has typified his cooking.
Drawing from a range of Asian influences-Sushi from Japan, wok stir fry from China, Korean beef-the food is characterized by balance; hot and cold, rich and tart, crisp and soft.

Architect Jay Valgora, who designed the restaurant, described the appearance of the restaurant as a balance as well, representing the harmonies in the food. On one hand, Valgora used modern materials like translucent acrylics and stainless steel to create a sleek stylish feel. But it also is balances those space age materials with natural wood grain and copper light fixtures, to keep it from getting too spacey. It’s chic but not trendy.

The food is also a nice mix of dishes that stretch the conventional palette, and items comfortable for more conventional diners. Recommendations have to start with the Black Cod Miso, a startlingly rich, decadent fish, served with pickled peppers.

From the stylish presentation of the food, to the delicate flavors, the whole experience is just what I hoped would come from the Iron Chef.