For them, Mr. Nakamura devotes one-half of his menu to fairly uncomplicated, if refined, dishes in which a single, familiar ingredient carries the tune.
"You do have to maintain tradition, but it's not a display in a museum," said Yang Wen, a chef whose restaurant, Lotus Shadow, features refined dishes, like braised shrimp infused with jasmine tea, that are a world away from the homespun fare favored by old-school revivalists.
Over time, Mr. Samuelsson had refined his dishes, dropping an idea here, adding a little touch there, tightening and focusing everywhere.
The Web site Fancy Fast Food actually devises and presents recipes for seemingly refined, accomplished dishes that just rearrange and redeploy ingredients in items purchased directly from, say, Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Following a worldwide tour of 40 restaurants in five years – his self-designed educational programme – Charlie instinctively knew that the culinary world was ready for an inventive chef who cooked refined American dishes, using the best, fresh American ingredients, and insisted that traditionally friendly American service could be combined with European discipline.
But just a few minutes' walk away is La Ferme aux Grives (00 33 5 5805 0506), a sister restaurant where Guérard trials and refines his dishes before they appear on the menu of his main restaurant.
"I think we're refining these dishes rather than reinventing.
David Hart, who trained at The Sportsman in Seasalter, serves "refined but simple dishes" using local ingredients, some supplied by villagers.
