New Durham bistro aims for Blu ribbon

Restaurants have a way of taking on lives of their own.

Rifling through concepts, owners and chefs-much like their patrons-search for that perfect spot for a night out on the town. In the end, it's all about finding the right fit.

Blu Seafood and Bar occupies a fickle restaurant space that has spent over two years in a state of flux. From early ownership issues to a host of chef and menu changes, what was the Pan-Asian-inspired Grasshopper is now a restaurant that pays homage to the sea. Gone is the faux-bamboo motif, and in its place are a collection of rooms painted in blues and whites. Dumplings have been replaced by crab cakes, noodles with paella. The restaurant's transformation, which occurred over a few short weeks this summer, is more than superficial. There are genuine streaks of accomplished cooking coming from Chef Tim Lyons' kitchen.

Blu's focus is on Floridian cuisine, an eclectic brand of cooking that incorporates influences from the American South, the Caribbean and Latin America. Clams with Red Stripe beer and conch ceviche stand on a menu beside mussels with chilies and lime and the classic shrimp and grits. While the menu may be geographically broad, it is thankfully quite compact in form-a handful of main dishes are supplemented by a short list of nightly specials and usually a whole-roasted fish of the day. For lunch, the restaurant offers an array of seafood and non-seafood salads and sandwiches.

A visit to Blu starts off with the obligatory cocktail list comprised of overly sweet, vodka-based cocktails. Thankfully, things get better when one turns to the appetizer section of the menu and sees dishes like the aforementioned sage and cognac-cured beef carpaccio. Both plates exhibited an inventive lightness of touch not commonly found in area restaurants. However, the dishes are not faultless-the ceviche lacked salt and the beef was topped with unnecessary fried onions. Raw oysters also make for a noteworthy starter, even if they are somewhat pricey at $2.50 a piece and served on an incongruous bed of ice cubes rather crushed ice. Samples of the Naked Roy variety, a personal favorite of Chef Lyons', were particularly plump and sweet on a recent visit. Perhaps the only mild disappointment of the cold items was the citrus-cured salmon. Faintly perfumed with citrus, it was unfortunately sliced sloppily, making the fish chewy rather than silky.

From the hot portion of the kitchen came serviceable crab cakes piqued by a Tabasco aioli that actually packed a bit of heat. The lemon vinaigrette that accompanied the pan-roasted trout could have been more assertive, but the fish fillet itself was generously sized, fresh and sheathed in a coating of crispy skin. A large loaf of potato puree that skirted the border of the plate felt like a clumsy afterthought and added little to the dish.

Blu is a welcome addition to the Durham restaurant scene, even if it doesn't quite reach the highs of the city's most notable restaurants. Although it remains to be seen if Blu's unique concept will take root at this most capricious of locations, its future success or failure will not be for lack of an earnest effort or dedication to quality.