“Real fusion”—not a mishmash of culinary cultures fighting it out on a plate, what you might call “con-fusion”—is the deal at the new Fusionaire(500 Via De Palmas, 561/367-3283) Japanese restaurant in Royal Palm Place.
Proprietor Edison Song, who also has both traditional and fusion-y Japanese eateries in the Midwest, said he was encouraged to open Boca restaurant by a former local chef. In Fusionaire Song has created a coolly contemporary restaurant whose warm, soothing earth tones belie the artfully elaborate presentation of dishes that range from nigiri and the always-popular wacky-maki rolls to a variety of small plates.
Among the more inventive preparations are the open-face spicy tuna and steak tartare “sandwich,” a tower of three different cold-smoked fish with mixed veggies and “dragon sauce,” uni tempura with oba (a minty herb) leaves and house-made cocktail sauce, and sea bass cooked “en papillote” with sake-braised shiitake mushrooms. There are also several lunch specials, beginning at $7.
