Riding a Wave of Fish Tacos.

TO some purists, the East Coast fish taco does not exist. Simply putting batter-fried or grilled mahi-mahi on a tortilla and topping it with cabbage, crema and salsa verde is not enough. No, it must be sold from a shack, misted with Pacific spray and approved by the board-shorts-clad aficionados of Baja California. Yet as New York trudges into fall and winter, three restaurants are assembling fish tacos that not only evoke memories of warm sand but elevate this humble surfer snack into a work of art. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]