Pearl

I had already been to Pearl, it seemed, before I'd ever walked in.

But it wasn't a Little Pete's flashback I was having when I cracked the door at 1904 Chestnut St. No, that greasiest of greasy-spoon coffee shops had been transformed into something at the complete opposite end of the Pretension Spectrum.

Pearl, at first glance, was all too familiar - as a caricature of the prototypical Old City lounge re-created off Rittenhouse Square.

It's a slick hybrid of nightspot flash and culinary trends that co-owner Scott Stein began to perfect at Red Sky, the austere Market Street lounge-eatery he recently sold. It could have survived on DJs and martinis alone, but the food, to Stein's credit, was always better than expected. At Pearl, meanwhile, which he owns with dad David, brother Sean, and childhood friend Brett Perloff, the concept has been given a $2 million polish of high design and a talented young chef to make it purr.

Beyond the long white bar near the entrance, dark bead curtains shimmered above tall-backed suede booths in the dining room. Moody music pounded the air. And high-tech shifting lights were set to an oddly harsh glow - the kind that highlights stains on fabric. It also made the roving dark-suited managers with ear-piece headsets look more like Secret Service agents than members of the hospitality business.

My mood lightened for a moment when I saw the drinks list, a smart collection of artisan sake, Asian beers, fun cocktails, and good international wines. But it darkened again when I gulped at the prices: A tiny bottle of Hou Hou Shou sparkling sake, which sells for $9.99 in the state store across Chestnut Street, was listed for $45 at Pearl. And that was peanuts compared to the "bottle service" markups in the exclusive lounge upstairs, where jet-setters eagerly drop $250 for an ordinary bottle of Jose Cuervo and $275 for Maker's Mark, the entry-level choices.

So what, I wondered, was a talented chef like 28-year-old Ari Weiswasser doing in a place like this? It turns out he's cooking with integrity. And he's lending Pearl, through an impressive head-chef debut, a reason for foodies to visit.

Not that Pearl's "pan-Asian" concept exactly offers fresh turf for an ambitious young chef to roam. The menu touches every cliche in the Asian fusion playbook, from tuna tartare to miso-glazed black cod, tempura-fried rock shrimp, and calamari salad.