This week's bar: Imoto

The scene: Sleek, chic and simple, as if transported bamboo reed-by-bamboo reed from one of Tokyo's traditional after-work watering holes, Imoto - the latest brainchild from Buccan chef Clay Conley - is a tour of Asia.

The tapas-style restaurant is a result of the months Conley and his wife, Averill, spent in Japan setting up a restaurant and the weeks they spent touring Asian cities and countrysides.

If Buccan is Conley's work of art, then Imoto is his playground, where he has set himself free to tinker with Asian flavors, and not just in food, but drinks as well.

The signature cocktail: This chef's inspiration of a drink need only be referred to by a single name, The Cantaloupe ($11), like Cher or Madonna; it stands on its own. Fresh cantaloupe and sugar are macerated, then shaken with shochu, which is a sort of Japanese vodka distilled from barley. It's served in a round tumbler over a perfect sphere of ice, a concept Conley fell in love with in Japan (so he bought the machine to replicate the Japanese ice ball).

Other drinks: For more of a snap from your drink, try the Yuzu Collins ($11), a mix of gin, yuzu (a non-alcoholic citrus juice), ginger sugar and shiso, a minty Japanese herb. The drink is redolent of florals, but packs a punch.

Bar bites: The small-bites menu is perfect for the after-work crowd. And Conley makes the small bites count with delicacies such as the Wianno Oyster Shooter ($13) with sea urchin, ponzu and scallion, which is a tour of Asia in a single swallow. For a special raw treat, try the two-way aji (a horse mackerel Conley has flown in daily from Japan) as a zesty tartare or a sashimi ($21). For a heartier bite, there are the Peking Duck Tacos ($17.50) which rival any stand-alone duck you can order in a restaurant.

Info: 350 South County Road, Palm Beach; (561) 833-5522