Two new Pan-Asian restaurants recently opened in downtown Oak Park, occupying opposite ends of the price spectrum.
Hutong Café set up shop last month at 1113 Lake St., taking the place of Los Cazadores Mexican Restaurant, which closed in early 2009. The owners of Sushi House, just a few doors east, acquired the property and have spent months transforming it into a café.
The restaurant is “fast-casual,” according to owner Diana Johnson, where you order at the counter and have the food brought to your table. She pulled together the menu from a variety of Asian influences — Korea, Thailand, Vietnam — but the main focus is on Beijing-style street food.
Johnson said one of the signature dishes is Kung Pao, a choice of chicken, tofu, shrimp or beef, seared with soy sauce, scallions, garlic snap peas, carrots and peanuts. They’re open for lunch and dinner every day and offer entrées ranging from roughly $7 to $9.
She acknowledged that there’s a growing number of Asian eateries in Oak Park, but believes this concept is different and rejects comparisons to other chains.
“Panda Express is food waiting for you, like you’re going to the school cafeteria,” said Johnson, a Glen Ellyn resident who owns six Sushi House restaurants with her husband. “Here, you order and they cook it right away.”
Bob Johnson, who focused on the build-out side of the business, said they completely gutted the space, starting from scratch. They enlisted the help of locally based Aria Group Architects and decked the storefront out in reds, grays and wood salvaged from a reclaimed bridge to make it look like a neighborhood place in Beijing.
Meanwhile, a second Asian eatery opened right around the corner last week, at 122 N. Marion St. “Seven Ocean” takes the place of Lido’s Caffe, the Italian coffee and gelato spot that closed in January. Oak Parker Tanapat Vannopas will offer fine Asian dining with a mixture of dishes from Japan and his native Thailand.
“Chef Tee,” who also owns a Thai restaurant in the city called Tatsu, is offering a prix fixe menu with seven courses for $55. That includes four appetizers, two entrees and a dessert, with an extra charge for wine pairings.
The food is a fusion of several Asian cultures, from Korea to Vietnam, according to restaurant manager Michael Benjawan. Some items include curry fish timbale, topped with coconut milk, or lobster stuffed gyoza, accented with a savory ponzu sauce. They plan to change the menu frequently.
“He wanted to introduce something different that would challenge his skills and allow him to express his artistic creativity,” Benjawan said.
Seven Ocean is open every day from 5 to 10 p.m., and reservations are recommended at www.opentable.com.