Long defined by its annual food festival filled with hurricane drinks and clam-shuckers, Ninth Avenue has in recent years become the site of much more rarefied eating.  Still, on weekends, the walk can become a wade through barflies and hustlers, streetwalkers and frat boys – and therefore, a sanctuary amidst the insanity is particularly welcome.

Not since the opening of Marseille has Ninth Avenue produced a restaurant as sexy and stylish as Xing (pronounced "Shing" and meaning "star").  With a front room lined in bamboo and a back room swathed in red velvet, Xing leaves the honky-tonk of Ninth Avenue far behind.  The acoustics are right, the music lush and loungey, and the attentiveness to your comfort more akin to a four-star establishment.

Asian tapas is how Xing defines its cuisine, and with the inventiveness of its new chef, Lulzim Rexhepi, Xing covers the continent.  Crispy asparagus avocado rolls with a pomegranate dipping sauce is pure Japanese, as is crispy tofu – while sweet-and-sour eggplant crosses the border to China.  A red curry lo mein with Chinese long bean and lichee kicks the palate into overdrive – the kind of dish which tempts you into another bite, even as your mouth breathes fire.

And if you’re sipping one of the exotic Asian cocktails such as Electric Karma and Beijing Dream, it’s not long before you’re feeling as if you’ve been shuffled off to Shanghai.  Not to worry, however, as the attractive and stylish waitstaff works as obsequiously as the justly-famous flight crew at Singapore Airlines to insure that all your needs are addressed.  Dessert, for example, starts when the chef sends out a small plate of sesame seed tea cookies and anise jello, and soon after, there’s a take-out container filled with five warm spiced donuts with fresh fruit dipping sauces.  The only question then: to share or not?

One thing’s for sure: Xing flies you to Asia without any resultant jet lag.