A & E

For many a year, food choices around PNC Park, and Three Rivers Stadium before that, have been pretty much the same -- hamburgers, chicken wings, steak, pizza, sandwiches and a tossed salad here and there. Foods you don't really need to think about and can wash down with a beer.

Enter New Moon Fusion Restaurant, at the corner of East General Robinson and Sandusky streets. It's a stone's throw across the street from the Andy Warhol Museum on the North Side, about a block away from the stadium.

Considering New Moon's eclectic menu, it's a fitting location for the establishment, which opened in January. Even the specialty cocktails -- Zen-Gria, Lychee Martini, Mango Fizz -- reflect its artistic personality.

Co-owners Roger C. Li (also executive chef), Ada Keung and Benny Leung, all of Ross, offer soups, starters, main-dish salads, entrees and noodle/rice dishes -- as well as specialty cocktails -- aimed to tempt all the senses. Hot, sour, salty, sweet -- the foundations of Asiatic cuisines -- are blended with care by Li, who developed the restaurant's recipes after working in a variety of venues, from Chinese to American, French to continental.

A graduate of the culinary arts program at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Li says his cooking knowledge is mostly based "on hands-on experience instead of going to school." His family owned Chinese restaurants in his hometown of Philadelphia, and experience in other cuisines sparked ideas about how to meld Eastern ingredients and techniques with those of the West.

For example, an appetizer on New Moon's menu is Peking Duck Quesadillas with hoisin sauce, mozzarella and leeks.

"It's Asian-style roast duck wrapped in a tortilla, he says, with continental touches of the cheese and leeks.

The most popular item -- at both lunch and dinner -- is Crispy Honey Walnut Shrimp tossed with Grand Marnier Cream Sauce. The deep-fried tempura shrimp is served with broccoli and honeyed walnut halves, and laced with a sauce made with mayonnaise, sweetened condensed milk and Grand Marnier liqueur.

Another best-seller is pan-seared chilean sea bass with sauteed greens and ginger and scallion demiglace.

"I use a vegetable blend, including steamed asparagus, and a scallion-infused soy sauce, adding a little brown sugar for sweetness, " Li says. "The soy sauce is acidic, and it cuts down the oiliness of the sea bass, which is oilier and creamier than salmon."

If duck, shrimp or sea bass aren't your fancy, the menu features veal pot stickers, edamame (poached Japanese soy beans), California sushi rolls, pad Thai, jumbo lump crab cakes, teriyaki New York strip steak, Mongolian beef tenderloin and garlic-marinated kalbi (short ribs), all with Asian twists.

On the lunch menu are Fusion Bento Boxes -- grilled salmon, chicken, short ribs or beef tenderloin, or honey walnut shrimp -- with miso soup, a salad, a chicken spring roll and a California roll, as well as Express Lunch items -- such as Japanese eggplant, tofu and black bean sauce for vegetarians -- served with miso soup and jasmine rice. Li says he also will make vegetarian dishes to order.

On the outside, New Moon doesn't look like an Asian restaurant. Nor does it resemble one inside.

"We tried to stay away from a typical decor and just used bits and pieces," says Li.

A gently lit fireplace stands in the middle of the dining room, which features booths and tables worthy of intimate conversations.

By keeping the decor as simple as as possible, he says, "it's more relaxing."

The wine list includes West Coast selections as well as bottlings from France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Italy.

New Moon Fusion Restaurant, 20 E. General Robinson St., North Shore, is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 4-10 p.m. Saturdays. Hours vary on Sundays, according to whether it is a game day or there is special event. Reservations are advised for Friday and Saturday nights. Details: 412-321-3525

Crispy Honey Walnut Shrimp

Look for honeyed walnuts and tempura batter mix in Asian supermarkets and specialty food stores.

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• Water
• Dry tempura batter mix
• 8 large shrimp (15 or fewer per pound), peeled except for the tail, and deveined
• 8 large broccoli florets
• 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier liqueur, or less to taste
• Hot cooked Jasmine rice
• 8 to 10 honeyed walnut halves, purchased or homemade (recipe follows)
• Dried parsley, for garnish
• Sweet paprika, for garnish

Combine the mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk in a small bowl or cup. Set aside.

Fill a fryer or deep pot with at least 4 inches of oil. Place a fryer basket in the oil. Heat the oil to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Place dry tempura mix in a shallow dish for coating the shrimp. In another bowl, combine more dry tempura mix with water according to the package directions to make a batter. Dip the shrimp in the batter, then place the shrimp in the dry mix (see Photo A) and toss to coat. Roll the shrimp in the dry mix until the pieces are separate and look shaggy.

The shrimp are ready to cook. Stretch them out slightly as you add them to the fryer basket, one by one. After all the shrimp are added, do not shake the fryer or pot -- let them cook until they begin to turn golden brown and start to float. Shake the fryer basket a few times, then turn the shrimp onto a shallow plate (Photo B). The total cooking time should be 2-3 minutes.

Add the broccoli florets to the boiling water. Heat a large saute pan over medium-low heat, then add the mayonnaise mixture. Stir the mixture just until warmed through and loosened up. Remove from the heat and add the shrimp to the pan -- stir to coat. Drizzle with the Grand Marnier (Photo C) and gently toss just until combined, being careful not to break up the shrimp.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the broccoli from the boiling water -- it should be just fork-tender.

Place the hot rice in a small deep bowl and invert it onto the center of a dinner plate. Place the broccoli florets in a circle around the rice toward the edges of the plate (Photo D). Set the shrimp on their heads, tails up, between the florets. Sprinkle walnuts along the shrimp. Garnish the shrimp and broccoli with dried parsley and the rim of the plate with sweet paprika.

Makes 1 main-dish serving.

Honeyed Walnuts

This recipe appears in "First Impressions" by Betty Rosbottom (William Morrow and Company Inc., 1992), and was contributed by Rosbottom's friend, Nancy Roehrs. You will need a candy thermometer to prepare the nuts.

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 cups walnut halves (about 12 ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat generously with vegetable cooking spray.

Combine the sugar, water and honey in a medium-size heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Swirl the pan occasionally. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees (soft ball stage). Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the walnuts and vanilla to the pan and stir vigorously, using a spoon, until the syrup is thick and cream-colored, for about 5 minutes. Turn the mixture out onto the cookie sheet.

Using 2 forks, separate the walnuts. Let cool completely. The walnuts can be stored in an airtight container for as long as 3 weeks.

Makes 3 cups.

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