A pan-Asian panoply of fresh new eateries

— -- Now that American diners have digested the rituals of the sushi bar and learned to drink their sake chilled, several more styles of casual Asian dining are poised to enter the mainstream and expand the comfort-food universe.

Modern (and often Westernized) noodle bars, izakaya taverns and pan-Asian small-plates eateries are beginning to pop up around the country. Some are branches of popular Asian eateries from Tokyo and London, while others are brands launched by American restaurant franchisers. Still others have won prestigious national culinary honors and critical acclaim.

With America's Asian population continuing to grow and a wave of young food-savvy diners embracing low-priced casual dining and exotic flavors, the time may be right for an Asian renaissance.

"There is such a fervor for it, a whole culture behind it," says David Chang, chef/owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York. "People are appreciating it more, and they understand it's not just sushi."

The genre received a major boost last year at the James Beard awards when the Korean-American Chang was named rising star chef and his Momofuku Ssäm Bar was nominated for best new restaurant. Chang had built his reputation over the past four years with the tiny and sleek Noodle Bar, which serves bowls of ramen noodles in broth topped with high-quality organic ingredients.

In 2006, he opened the cafeteria-style Ssäm Bar (ssäm is Korean for "anything wrapped") to showcase dishes of meat and rice encased in flour pancakes. This spring, he plans to open Momofuku KO, a 14-seat restaurant also in New York that will serve creative "vaguely Asian" dishes, but "is really food without borders."

"Our goals from day one have never changed: Let's make something that's delicious regardless of authenticity," says Chang. "But let's be respectful of food, where it comes from, and make it with good technique. And make it affordable."

On a larger scale, two noodle-bar chains are staking their claims along the coasts.