Restaurants Take Takeout Up a Notch

Think General Tso meets green market.

At a new crop of Asian restaurants in New York, chefs are cooking versions of familiar fare that emphasize higher quality and locally sourced ingredients—making the case that even Chinese takeout staples can fit into current food fashions.

In Williamsburg, the menu at Brooklyn Wok Shop includes a note that the meat is free of antibiotics and hormones. Edric Har, the chef and owner, also uses better cuts: His version of beef and broccoli features hanger steak from Pino's Prime Meats in SoHo.

"It's not just different for the sake of being different," said Mr. Har, 33 years old, who put in time on the lines at Michelin-starred establishments such as Le Bernardin before opening Brooklyn Wok Shop with his wife, Melissa, at the end of last year. "It's good food."

In Manhattan, Joe Ng and Ed Schoenfeld's RedFarm serves inventive dim sum—soup dumplings with black truffles, egg rolls stuffed with Katz's pastrami—shaped by a farm-fresh approach and an aesthetic to match. The restaurant's centerpiece is a rustic communal table, above which hang Edison lights, chopsticks and potted plants.

In part, these Asian-American chefs are able to revise classic recipes to fit the times because better ingredients are now available locally.

Simpson Wong, the chef-owner of Wong in Greenwich Village, shops at the Union Square farmer's market four times a week for produce to pair with Hudson Valley ducks and pork from an eco-friendly farm. His "locavore Asian" concept was inspired by the discovery that he could find local produce similar to the Malaysian markets of his boyhood.

"More and more farmers realize Asian produce can be grown here," including napa cabbage, yu choy and Asian pears, Mr. Wong said. He said about 85% of his restaurant's produce is local, as is nearly all the meat, eggs and seafood.

Of course, the younger chefs are reflecting a larger shift in food attitudes, and they have more freedom to experiment than the city's more established Asian-food purveyors.

"If you're a grab-and-go takeout place, or you're a 100-year-old dim sum place, I understand if you don't have all-natural Berkshire pork," said Eddie Huang, 29, whose Taiwanese steamed buns at BaoHaus are filled with Creekstone beef and organic tofu. "But if you consider yourself kind of a new restaurant, I think these days the standard should be all-natural, no hormones, antibiotic-free."

The difference in thinking is, in part, generational.

When the Hars started planning Wok Shop, they said their parents didn't understand the concept. Both come from Chinese immigrant families, and Melissa's father is a chef.

"This whole movement started with Alice Waters," Mr. Har said. "This is definitely not in their generation."

There are limits to sourcing locally and seasonally, and in Asian cooking those limitations can sometimes be felt more keenly. Despite the availability of locally grown hakurei turnips and bok choy, some key components of these cuisines cannot be found in any green market.

"Let's face it, the Asian larder is not the American larder," said Mr. Schoenfeld, a partner in RedFarm. "There are a lot of fermented foods. Not all of this is coming from here."

For produce such as lotus roots and lily bulbs, Mr. Schoenfeld said that "even when they're in season, they're in other parts of the world. We're local to a degree that it makes sense."

Sourcing food carefully is also more expensive. Entrees at Brooklyn Wok Shop range between $9.50 and $12, which may be on par with other restaurants off Williamsburg's Bedford Avenue, but are more expensive than local Chinese takeout joints.

"I would love to source things from a farm upstate," said Mr. Har, who estimates his food costs are twice those of a conventional Chinese spot. "Considering who we are and our price point, it's just not feasible."