For Masa 14's new chef, a change of jobs and continents

Antonio Burrell switched more than neighborhoods when he left the British-themed CommonWealth Gastropub in Columbia Heights for the Latin-Asian hybrid Masa 14 in Logan Circle this fall. For starters, his pantry at the new restaurant couldn't be more different. "Lemon grass, ginger, chilies. . . . I brought them all back into my life," says the chef, 34. After a year of focusing on Scotch eggs, fish and chips and London broil, he says, "I'm getting to do the food I like to cook."

Also a veteran of Vidalia in Washington and the late Aquavit in Minneapolis, Burrell is executing a blueprint drawn up by a small team of collaborators, foremost among them business partners Richard Sandoval and Kaz Okochi. Sandoval is chief officer of the New York-based Richard Sandoval Restaurants, which includes Zengo in Penn Quarter; Okochi is chef-owner of Kaz Sushi Bistro downtown. Reading the list of small plates at Masa 14, which includes tuna sashimi flatbread and pork belly "tacos" supported on steamed Asian buns, a diner can imagine who added what twist to a dish.

Masa 14's debut menu gives us ample reason to return. One of the better flatbreads, crisped in the restaurant's oak-fired oven, scatters serrano ham, sheer slices of cantaloupe, tangy goat cheese and peppery arugula on a cracker-thin canvas. Green-curry chicken, strewn with wisps of spinach and tender carrots, teases the tongue with its gentle heat. Those pork belly tacos pack some welcome flavors, among them pineapple and pickled onion. But the bun has been inconsistent: light one meal, gummy the next.

Captured by picture windows that dare strollers not to pause for a peek, Burrell's new roost became one of the biggest draws on the street when it opened last month. Masa 14 balances a bare concrete floor and industrial-looking ceiling with blond wood and gentle lighting; the effect is inviting.

So are the cocktails, shaken or stirred at one of the longest bars this city has ever seen. Tequila connoisseurs are in for an especially good time; there are more than 100 choices to mull, including my latest favorite, the El Tesoro de Don Felipe Anejo. It hints of white pepper and is poured with a generous hand. "Better a little more than a little less," the bartender explains, and I don't argue.

1825 14th St. NW. 202-328-1414. http://masa14.com. Small plates, $5-$13.