Cooking with flair

Alicia Robinson

Eating at cooking show host Martin Yan’s newest restaurant,

SensAsian, is a dramatic experience.

SensAsian is designed to be theatrical, and its opening Wednesday

in Costa Mesa lived up to that. Yan made a personal appearance for

the occasion, working the lunchtime crowd and playing to the handful

of cameras that trailed him around the restaurant.

Yan was in his element as he showed off the kitchen and a 22-inch

wok, shook hands with people eating lunch and even tried to play

matchmaker between one table of all men and another of women.

After hosting more than 2,300 episodes of “Yan Can Cook,” the

Chinese-born chef is comfortable in front of a camera. He’s also

familiar with the restaurant business. It is his second SensAsian --

the first is in Irvine. He also has a handful of Yan Can restaurants

scattered around California, including one that opened in Costa Mesa

in May.

While cooking, the chefs sometimes have to perform for an audience

of diners. The restaurant’s centerpiece is an exhibition kitchen

edged by a glass partition and a counter along the outside where

people can sit and watch their food being prepared.

“This is a theater,” Yan said. Pointing to the kitchen, he added,

“That is the center stage, and everybody in the dining room can see

the performance. All of us are cast members.”

The decor is meant to give diners a sense of being in Asia, Yan

said. Photos from his world travels hang on the walls, and the blond

wood furniture, paper lanterns and pillars painted red with gold trim

lend the subdued atmosphere an Asian flair.

The menu is Pan-Asian, said Chef David Ang, one of a number of

chefs from a variety of countries who make dishes such as Thai

seafood and coconut soup, Indian curried vegetable samosas, and

Peking duck salad.

Many of the recipes are Yan’s creations, but chefs are encouraged

to be creative, Ang said.

Yan said he wants to educate people with his dishes and take them

on a culinary tour of Asia.

He chose Costa Mesa for his second SensAsian restaurant because

the people here are well-traveled and enjoy multicultural Asian food,

he said.

“This concept, people in this whole area love this type of

cuisine, the best of different regions,” he said. “They’re very

worldly, very receptive, very adventurous.”

The addition of Yan’s restaurant will help round out what is

turning into Costa Mesa’s “restaurant row,” said Dan Pittman,

spokesman for the Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau.

SensAsian joins Chat Noir, Turner New Zealand, Scott’s Seafood and

Macaroni Grill on Anton Boulevard. The proximity to the Orange County

Performing Arts Center is a draw for new eateries and patrons,

Pittman said.

“More of the restaurants are starting to move in here,” he said.

“It really is becoming a destination for dining.”