s the Thai restaurant craze crested and fizzled out a few years ago, I remember thinking, what’s next? Surely some wok-based cuisine or other will always remain in vogue. Indian food again? Vietnamese perhaps? Or would Chinese food make a sly comeback as the new sexy urban cuisine?

At Vancouver ’s Red Door, it would appear that all of these and more are the next It food. The Red Door serves up spicy Pan Asian fare in an atmosphere of familiar down tempo music and sultry black and red surrounds that’ll keep you ordering sharing plates and martinis till closing time (11pm weekdays, midnight on weekends).

Now open less than two weeks, the room was full when we arrived at nine pm on a Thursday evening. I must admit, I was expecting more hitches on my first visit to Vancouver ’s newest classy/casual dining room, particularly on a busy night. But the hostess (Jennifer) was not a deer caught in the headlights, as so many seem to be: she was brisk but welcoming. And our waitress (Veronica) was quick to explain the intricacies of the menu. General Manager Peter Baker (who opened Oritalia in 1999) dropped by our table and explained the dim lit feng shui of the room and the restaurant’s background.

The philosophy behind Red Door should not require explaining to Vancouverites: the food is Asian, often wok seared, and meant to be shared. So don’t order expecting everything to arrive simultaneously.

We start with calamari, which Veronica tells us is a hit with customers. I’m skeptical at first, but these are marinated to creamy perfection and served with a tasty sweet chili sauce.